Savory pies and enriched breads figure prominently on the Easter dinner table. We’ve already featured a couple Neapolitan examples on the blog: the casatiello and the incredibly rich pizza rustica. Today we head north to Liguria to present another classic savory pie served around Easter time: la torta pasqualina or, “Easter Pie”. … Read More
Cocktail di gamberetti (Shrimp Cocktail in the Italian Manner)
New Year’s Eve in Italy, as for so many other special occasions, means a special meal, the cenone di Capodanno, or ‘big supper’. Like Christmas Eve, this meal is often “lean” or fish based—at least before midnight, when it’s time to break out the cotechino sausage and lentils for good fortune. (In modern times, however, … Read More
A Neapolitan Christmas: Insalata di rinforzo (Cauliflower and Pickled Vegetable Salad)
This zesty cauliflower salad is a fixture on family tables in Naples during the Christmas season. The salad is called insalata di rinforzo—’reinforcement salad’—is because it was customary in the old days to make a first batch as an antipasto on Christmas Eve and to keep on ‘reinforcing’ it with more cauliflower … Read More
Pizza rustica (Easter Cheese and Salumi Pie)
Pasquetta, or ‘Little Easter’, known in English as Easter Monday, is a holiday in Italy and much of Europe. Folks traditionally take to the roads to drive out to the countryside and enjoy a fresh air picnic. In Campania and elsewhere, one favorite item in the Pasquetta picnic basket is the … Read More
Pollo arrosto ripeno (Angelina’s Roasted Chicken with Sausage Stuffing)
Apart from lasagna, nothing says Sunday dinner to me like a roasted chicken, sitting on the dining room table golden brown, with crispy skin, tender, juicy meat and—for special occasions—a savory stuffing. It’s a dish that was almost a universal feature of family dinners back in the day but, sadly, … Read More
Rotolo di tacchino (Roast Turkey Roll)
Turkey is a popular meat in Italy, often providing a less expensive alternative to veal in dishes ranging from scalloppine to ossobuco. But a whole roast turkey, Thanksgiving style, is a rarity. Back in Rome, I remember we had to special order our bird from a local butcher and presented … Read More
Pizza di scarola (Escarole Pie)
The word pizza in Italian has a broader meaning than it does in English. Besides the savory disk we all know and love, it also refers to both savory and sweet confections that we would likely call ‘pies’ in English, including Angelina’s pizza dolce, which doesn’t even have a crust. Then … Read More
Spaghettini al caviale di salmone (Thin Spaghetti with Salmon Roe)
Elegant cooking doesn’t need to mean complicated. Thin spaghetti with salmon roe is a pasta dish that you can whip up in the time it takes for the water to come to a boil and the pasta to cook—yet it is fancy enough for the most important or better yet, intimate … Read More