Easy Italian Recipes

 MAKES 4 SERVINGS

- 2 fennel bulbs
- 2 blood oranges or flavorful regular oranges
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Sea salt and white pepper
- About 24 Gaeta olives or other Mediterranean-style black olives, pitted

Fennel, cooked or raw, is a favorite winter vegetable throughout Italy, but the addition of orange slices makes this a Sicilian dish. The small brown-purple olives named for Gaeta,
a picturesque port town not far from Rome, are favorites throughout the country, though any good brine-cured Mediterranean-style olives can be used. This refreshing salad can also be offered at the beginning of the meal, as an antipasto. Serve with a dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Verdicchio.

Cut off the stems and feathery leaves from the fennel bulbs and reserve for another use or discard. Cut away and discard any discolored areas of the bulbs. Halve each bulb lengthwise and cut away the tough core. Cut the halves crosswise into very thin slices.

Using a sharp knife, cut a slice off both ends of each orange to reveal the flesh. Place the orange upright on the cutting board and, using the knife, cut downward to remove the peel and pith, following the contour of the fruit. Cut the orange in half through the stem end, then slice each half crosswise as thinly as possible. Eliminate any seeds and visible pith.

Divide the fennel slices among 4 plates. Sprinkle the orange slices over the fennel, again dividing evenly, and drizzle the olive oil evenly over the top. Season with salt and white pepper, and scatter about 6 olives on each plate. Let stand for a few minutes before serving, to give the orange slices time to release some of their juice into the fennel.

Buon appetito !

 MAKES 4 SERVINGS

- 12 veal scallops, about 1 Ib (500 g) total weight, each about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick
- 12 very thin prosciutto slices, about 1/4 Ib (125 g) total weight
- 12 fresh sage leaves
- All-purpose (plain) flour for dusting
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio

Saltimbocca means "jump in the mouth", a tip-off that this dish is particularly tasty. Elsewhere in Italy, saltimbocca can mean other recipes, but qualified by alla romana, it refers to thin-sliced veal, prosciutto, and fresh sage, a staple herb of the Roman garden. Some recipes cali for folding the layered ingredients in half, while others shape them into small, neat involtini (rolls). But the standard procedure, given here, is to secure the sage to the stacked veal and prosciutto with a toothpick. Pour a big-flavored white wine at the table.

One at a time, piace the veal scallops between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound gently with a meat pounder to flatten them somewhat; they do not need to be paper-thin. Trim the prosciutto slices so they are slightly shorter than the veal slices. Lay a slice of prosciutto on top of each slice of veal, and then top with a sage leaf. Secure the layers together with a toothpick.

Spread the flour in a shallow dish. In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Lightly dust the veal bundles with the flour, shaking off the excess. Working in batches, piace the veal, prosciutto side down, in the melted butter and brown gently, about 1 minute. Turn the veal and brown the other side, about 1 minute. Season with pepper and, if the prosciutto you are using is not very salty, season with salt as well. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the veal is a light golden brown and cooked through, 4-5 minutes. Transfer the veal to a warmed platter and tent loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining veal bundles.

When all of the veal bundles have been cooked and removed from the pan, raise the heat to medium-high, add the wine, and bring to a boil. Deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the pan bottom.

Pour the hot pan sauce over the veal and serve at once.

Buon appetito !

 MAKES 8 SERVINGS

- 4 large cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves
- 2 teaspoons crushed fennel seeds
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 bone-in pork loin roast, about 5 Ib (2.5 kg)
- 4 tablespoons (2 fl oz/60 ml) olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, halved and siiced
- 1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio

In Tuscany, the word arista is used for a pork roast seasoned with rosemary, fennel, and/or other herbs and garlic. According to legend, the pork roast received its name in the fifteenth century, when it was served to a group of visiting Greek bishops who declared it aristos—"the best." But most food scholars dismiss that story, pointing out that the fourteenth-century Italian author Franco Sacchetti referred to pork roast as arista in one of his novels.

Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C).
Using a chef's knife, very finely chop together the garlic, rosemary, and sage. Transfer to a small bowl, add the fennel seeds, season with salt and pepper, and mix well. Make slits 1/2 inch (12 mm) deep all over the pork roast and insert some of the mixture into each slit. Rub the roast with the remaining seasoning, then rub with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Place the meat in a roasting pan just large enough to hold it.

Roast the meat for 1 hour. In a bowl, toss the onion slices with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and scatter them around the meat. Continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the roast away from the bone registers 155°F (68°C), or the meat is pale pink when cut into at the center, about 11/4 hours longer. Transfer to a warmed platter and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Meanwhile, pour off most of the fat in the roasting pan and piace the pan over medium-low heat. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from the pan bottom. Simmer until the sauce is slightly reduced.

Carve the roast and arrange on a warmed platter. Spoon the pan sauce over the pork and serve at once.

Buon appetito !