Weeknight dinners at our house much of the time revolve around pasta and vegetables. They are quick and easy, and the combinations are almost endless. For some reason, however, the combination of Pasta and Green Beans is not a particularly common one in Italian cooking, with the notable exception of … Read More
Aïoli with Spring Vegetables
While versions of it are made around the rim of the western Mediterranean, from Spain all the way to Sicily, this garlic sauce is best known in its Provençale incarnation known as aïoli. It is a commonplace to refer to aioli in English as garlic mayonnaise, but it is really … Read More
Spargel mit Sauce Hollandaise und Kartoffeln (Asparagus and Potatoes with Hollandaise Sauce)
This dish brings me back to my Vienna days: white asparagus and potatoes with hollandaise sauce. The appearance of asparagus in the markets of Vienna, as elsewhere, is a harbinger of Spring. Austrians (and Germans) have a thing for white asparagus. They prefer it to the green kind that is … Read More
Frittata ai carciofi (Artichoke Frittata)
The frittata is one of those categories of dishes, like risotto, where the main ingredient, in this case egg, can act as a foil to an almost infinite variety of flavors, being it meat, fish or vegetable. So by learning a single technique, you open up a whole new culinary … Read More
Carciofi alla romana (Roman-Style Artichokes)
Dear readers, I am back from my travels, at my blogging post just in time for the first day of Spring. Artichokes are back in season! And is there any vegetable more typical of Roman cooking, perhaps of all Italian cuisine, than the artichoke? What better way to get back … Read More
Risotto al radicchio e Saint-André (Risotto with Radicchio and Saint-André Cheese)
Risotto with Radicchio and Saint André Cheese is a dish that should prove that vegetarian dishes can be perfectly satisfying, even indulgent: a risotto made with vegetable broth, and flavored with a wonderful combination of bitter radicchio with the creamy savor of Saint-André cheese. Ingredients Serves 4-6 500g (1 lb) rice … Read More
Brodo vegetale (Vegetable Broth)
With the increased interest in vegetarian and vegan diets in recent times, you will find more and more recipes calling for vegetable broth instead of, or as alternative to, the more traditional meat broths. Ingredients When I make vegetable broth, I always begin with the usual aromatic vegetables that go … Read More
Funghi trifolati (Sautéed Mushrooms)
This is one of the easiest and most versatile vegetable dishes in the Italian repertoire: funghi trifolati, or ‘truffled’ mushooms, so called because the thinly sliced and sautéed mushrooms are said to resemble that other, more highly prized tuber. I use two methods to make funghi trifolati, and both are … Read More
