In most ways, the culinary culture in this country has vastly improved since I was a kid. I’m old enough to remember the days when if you wanted to cook with Italian parsley rather than the curly kind, you’d have to grow your own. Or if you wanted imported pasta … Read More
Saltimbocca alla sorrentina
Chances are, if you know anything about Italian food, you’ve heard of saltimbocca alla romana, veal scallops sautéed in butter with prosciutto and sage, then simmered in white wine. It’s a simple dish, full of robust flavor like much Roman cookery. But not as many people know its southern cousin, saltimbocca … Read More
Angelina’s Polpettone (Angelina’s Meatloaf)
Yes, Italians make meatloaf. They call it polpettone, or a ‘big meatball’, which is, in fact, what it is if you think about it. It’s made from essentially the same mixture of minced beef and pork (and optionally veal), lightened with bread and flavored with garlic, cheese and parsley that you would use to make … Read More
Spezzatino di vitello con piselli (Veal Stew with Peas)
You might not know it from the weather around here, but spring is finally here. And one of the great delights of this time of year in Italy is the appearance of tiny young vegetables the Italians call primizie. While in this era of year-round asparagus the seasons are not quite so discernible in … Read More
Il Gran Bollito Misto (Mixed Boiled Meat)
We usually think of boiled meat as a by-product of making broth, a humble if comforting dish for parsimonious souls. But in northern Italy, particularly in the Piemonte and Emilia-Romagna, they’ve transformed the dish into a regal spread. Traditionally, a true Gran Bollito Misto includes seven different cuts (tagli) of beef … Read More
Milanese con insalata di pomodoro (Milanese Veal Chop with Tomato Salad)
I once knew a charming couple from Milan named Omer and Maria Grazia. My memory of them is a bit hazy by now—sadly, we lost contact and it’s been years since I’ve seen them—but two food-related memories still stick out in my mind. The first was the time I made … Read More
Scaloppine al marsala (Scalopini Marsala)
The scaloppina (in the plural, scaloppine) and its manifold variations may be the most common secondo in Italian cooking. To me, it is typical of that Italian knack for using a bland main ingredient as a foil for a flavorful sauce. Pasta is the example we all know and love, … Read More
Vitello tonnato (Tunnied Veal)
If I had to mention one dish in the Italian repertoire that epitomizes elegant summer eating, this might well be it: vitello tonnato, also called vitel tonnè in dialect, which means’ tunnied veal’ or simply veal in tuna sauce. More often than not, though, it is called by its Italian name … Read More
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