Easy Italian Recipes

Flavors of Sun and Spice

Calabria, the long, narrow toe of the Italian boot, is dominated by the Apennines at its center and bounded on both sides by coastline. As in Basilicata and Puglia, much is made here from relatively few ingrediente. Lamb, local cow's milk and sheep's milk cheeses, pork salumi, and vegetables are the dietary staples, along with hard-wheat pastas, often handmade in a variety of shapes and dressed with sauces of vegetables and/or sausages. Along the toast, swordfish, tuna, anchovies, sardines, and salt-cured cod (baccalà), are central to the menu. The sunny, dry climate produces intensely flavored tomatoes, artichokes, and sweet peppers, as well as the region's renowned eggplant (aubergine), which is prepared alla parmigiana and in many other ways. Chiles are everywhere, growing in gardens and hanging to dry, and their heat and flavor enliven much of the cuisine. lndeed, the terra alla calabrese is used throughout Italy to describe spicy dishes. Calabria is famous for its wild mushrooms and chestnuts, which grow in the Sila, a high mountain plain, and for its figs and citrus fruits. It also produces some of the world's finest citron (the peel of which is candied and used in baking) and bergamot (the essential oils of which are used in Earl Grey tea and liqueurs). The region's best-known wine is Cirò, produced in red, white, and rosé

Culinary Signature: Capocollo

The most celebrated of Calabria's cured pork products is capocollo, known in other parts of the country as coppa. It is made from a neck muscle that connects the head (capo) and neck (collo) of the pig. After an initial salting and curing, the meat is marinated in wine and spices, stuffed into a pig's bladder, tied, lightly smoked, and air dried for about three months. The result is a cured product similar to prosciutto, with a rich, sweet flavor.

Regional Specialties

Licurdia an onion and potato soup, often made with the region's renowned sweet red Tropea onions

Murseddu a breakfast ragù made from tripe, liver, and other variety meats and chiles served in yeasted pitta bread

Handmade pasta ricci di donna (lady's curls) and fileja, made by rolling dough around knitting needles or rods

Pitta yeasted flatbread

Anchovies known as alici when served raw with oil and lemon, and called acciughe when packed in salt.

'Ndugghia a spicy pork sausage, related to French andouille

Soppressata a pork sausage made with large chunks of meat and fat, black pepper, chiles, and sometimes pig's blood

Scamorza and caciocavallo mild, firm cow's milk cheeses

Photo: Deep purple eggplant (aubergine) is a staple of the Italian kitchen. particularly in the southern regione, and can be used in many different preparations. Melanzane alla parmigiana, thick slices of fried eggplant layered with tornato sauce and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, is a Calabrian favorite.

The Best of Land and Sea

Venice, a center of culinary and cultura! refinement since the Middle Ages, was the birthplace of the fork and the napkin, and it was in Venetian kitchens that both polenta and rice were first popularized in Italy. The cooking here revolves around the bountiful fish and seafood of the Lagoon of Venice and the Adriatic Sea—from shrimp (prawns), cuttlefish, and squid to sole, bream, and mullet—as well as salt cod (baccalà). Throughout the Veneto, risotto, often prepared with seafood, has traditionally been the most popular first course. Pasta turns up less frequently, with the exception of pasta e fagioli and bigoli. From Treviso, to the north, comes world-renowned red radicchio. To the west, Padua, Verona, and Vicenza have their own specialties, including squash-blossom fritters,potato gnocchi, pandoro (a sweet golden bread), and baccalà alla vicentina. The region's best known wines are Soave, a light white; Valpolicella and Bardolino, light, fruity reds; and Amarone, a rich variety of Valpolicella made in the passito method, in which the grapes are dried before fermentation.

Culinary Signature: Polenta

Maize carne to Italy from the New World via the port of Venice in the sixteenth century. Cooked into a mush as other grains had been before it, the golden grain—called grano turco because it was thought to come from Turkey—caused a sensation and became a staple of the Veneto and much of northern Italy. Slowly simmered with water or broth in a paiolo (hammered copper pot), it is traditionally eaten soft and warm with butter, milk, and cheese. It is also often poured into a thin sheet, cooled, cut into pieces, and fried. Although it requires more time to prepare, traditional polenta is creamier and has a more toothsome texture than quick-cooking polenta.

Regional Specialties

Pasta e fagioli a hearty, ham-based white bean soup made with pasta

Risi e bisi rice and peas with the consistency of a thick soup

Bigoli homemade thick, chewy whole-wheat (whole-grain) spaghetti

Risotto short-grain rice often made with seafood and cooked all'onda (wavy, or soupy)

Baccalà salt cod, served mantecato (pounded with olive oil and garlic until smooth and creamy) or alla vicentina (cooked with onions, milk, and cheese)

Seppioline cuttlefish, often served in a sauce made with their own ink

Brodetto seafood and tomato stew

Sarde in saor fried sardines layered with sweet-and-sour onions and raisins

Cicchetti the "tapas" of Venice—small-plate snacks, often seafood based, served at wine bars (bàcari)

Fegato alla veneziana thinly sliced calf's liver sautéed with onions and white wine