The trifolati technique is one we’ve seen before on this blog. And although it is probably most often associated with mushrooms, you can make many different non-leafy vegetables using the same basic technique: slice it and sauté it in garlic and oil, and season with salt, pepper and finely chopped … Read More
Bignè di san Giuseppe (St. Joseph’s Day Cream Puffs)
Being a Catholic country, Italians celebrate Father’s Day on March 19, the feast of St. Joseph. The feast is associated with a number sweet and savory dishes, but none more so perhaps than the fancy, sweet version of zeppole usually called, appropriately enough, zeppole di san Giuseppe. Romans make their … Read More
How to Roast Chestnuts
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose… Roast chestnuts evoke wistful holidays images of days gone by. But how many of us have actually roasted chestnuts on an open fire? Too few, I imagine. And a shame, too, since anyone with a fireplace can do it … Read More
Fagiolini alla panna (Creamed Green Beans)
When most people (myself included) think of Italian style green beans, fagiolini in umido (green beans in tomato sauce) is likely to come to mind or perhaps fagiolini all’agro, a simple green bean salad. Here is a less well known but perfectly delicious dish from Lombardia that I recent came … Read More
Zuppa di porri (Tuscan Leek Soup)
‘Tis the season for soups! When the temperatures dive, there is simply nothing that takes the chill off like soup. The wonderful thing about soups is their enormous variety: they can be thick and stick-to-the-ribs, whole meals in themselves, or they can be light, even austere, just enough to whet … Read More
La ribollita (Tuscan Minestrone)
We’ve already gone over the basic recipe for minestrone on this blog. Once you’ve mastered that, it is a lot of fun to explore the many varieties of minestrone from all over Lo Stivale (meaning ‘the boot’ one of the many nicknames Italians give to their country). Perhaps the most delicious … Read More
Crema di cannellini (Tuscan White Bean Soup)
Here’s a quick and easy weeknight supper for you, Tuscan White Bean Soup: a purée of cannellini beans, seasoned with garlic and rosemary, and thinned out with water or broth to create a soup. Nothing could be simpler or more satisfying. And if you are using canned beans—which you can, why … Read More
Tortelli di zucca (Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli)
One of the nicest parts of this, my favorite season, is the arrival of wonderful produce: mushrooms, endive, chestnuts, cabbage, radicchio… but for me no other vegetable is as typical of the season as hard squashes. They are sometimes called ‘winter squashes’ but they start appearing in the early autumn and … Read More
