Italian food, travel & lifestyle
It’s hard for me to resist the jewels I discover each weekend at the local farmer’s market. The mere sight of baby gem lettuce makes my heart skip a beat. These tiny bundles of lettuce goodness are one of my absolute favorite basics for a salad; versatile, tender, fresh tasting. Baby Gem Salad with Anchovy Dressing showcases these little darlings with the respect they deserve. Thinly sliced radishes, golden bits of cooked egg all drizzled with a briny anchovy dressing – a symphony of flavor.
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Sole Picatta always reminds me of Thursdays at Scordato’s Restuarant in Hawthorne New Jersey with my grandmother. I so looked forward to those dinners as my grandmother ordered liberally from the menu, sipping a Whisky Sour (or two) then taking home most of her meal. Sole Picatta or any Picatta for that matter was an Italian-American favorite growing up. Each time I see freshly caught sole at either the farmer’s market or my fishmonger I think of those Thursdays. Sole Picatta may not be an authentic Italian dish, but who cares!
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A favorite post which my new and old subscribers may enjoy in preparation for Easter.
Southern Italians celebrate Pasqua or Easter with the gamut of ricotta type pies ranging from savory to sweet. Campania is famous for a mildly sweet wheat berry pie called Pastiera; a crostata made with ricotta cheese, cooked wheat grain and delicately scented with the flavor of orange blossom. Although Pastiera is a staple on the table for southern Italians at Easter, our preference has always been the Crostata di Ricotta, often referred to as the Italian Cheesecake….
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Sfratti, a cookie originating in the picturesque hilltop top of Pitigliano traditionally prepared by Italian Jews to celebrate the holiday of Rosh Hashanah (yes, it is months away). With Purim quickly approaching, many of us are baking in anticipation; in past years I have used the intoxicating spicy Sfratti filling for Purim treats, so why not just bake some Sfratti?
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