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Why This Recipe Works A good farro salad is all about the grain: plump, nutty and chewy, each one separate, carrying just enough olive oil and vinegar to make the tomatoes and basil taste brighter. A bad one is a sticky clump drowning in sharp dressing. Over four batches I made both. The lesson that…
Pasta e ceci is what happens when an Italian kitchen has almost nothing in it: a pot of chickpeas, a handful of small pasta, garlic, rosemary and good olive oil. It smells like a Roman trattoria on a cold evening, piney and warm, and almost all of it comes from the pantry. In Rome it’s…
The first time a pan of clams opens in front of you, the kitchen smells like the seaside: garlic, white wine and that briny, sweet clam liquor rushing into the hot oil. Spaghetti alle vongole is one of the simplest pastas on the Italian coast, and one of the easiest to get slightly wrong. Four…
Pasta con le Sarde (Sicilian pasta with sardines, wild fennel, raisins and pine nuts) is one of those meals I make when I want dinner to feel special, but I still want it to be realistic on a weeknight. Maybe you have a box of pasta sitting in the pantry and you are bored of…
Focaccia Genovese is my go to fix when I want fresh bread but I do not want to babysit a complicated dough all day. Maybe you have had that moment where dinner is ready, everyone is hungry, and the bread situation is sad. This is the kind of bake that makes your kitchen smell like…
Spaghetti alla puttanesca is my go to dinner for nights when I want something bold and comforting but I do not want to think too hard. You know those evenings when the fridge looks empty, you are hungry right now, and takeout feels like a trap? This is the kind of pasta that saves you,…
Sicilian Eggplant and Tomato Pasta (Pasta alla Norma) is the kind of dinner I make when I want something comforting but I also do not feel like babysitting a pot for hours. You know those nights when you are hungry, your fridge looks random, and you still want food that feels special? This is that…
Sicilian Orange and Fennel Salad with Olives is my go to fix when I want something fresh but I also want dinner to feel a little special. You know those nights when you have random ingredients and zero energy for a complicated recipe? This salad is exactly for that mood. It is bright, crunchy, and…
Pesto alla Genovese is the taste of the Ligurian coast in a jar: fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, aged cheese and olive oil, crushed into a fragrant green sauce. It only has six ingredients, which means every one of them, and every second in the food processor, matters. My first batch was good but not…