Spring
Arrosto di Maiale
Roast Pork with Garlic
For this recipe it is best to use the hind leg of the pig (otherwise known as the ham) with its delicious skin. The skin is cut here to let the fat escape and to enable the meat to absorb all the flavours of the fat and seasonings. And, on top of that, it's delicious to eat!
Coscia Marinata Griglia
Grilled Lamb Steak
A good lamb steak cooked over a charcoal grill has an exquisite taste. The meat for this dish needs to be prepared the day before to allow it to become tender and to absorb all the flavours.
Crema di Acetosa con Bruschetta
Cream of Wild Sorrel Soup with Garlic Croutons
A delightful soup, which makes an elegant starter at a dinner party. Needless to say, you may use cultivated sorrel instead of wild, but it will be much less satisfying!
Insalata Primaverile
Spring Salad
The spring salad, in short, should be a mixture of vegetables: obviously all the things that can be found in abundance in spring - young lettuces, both red and green, the small shoots from perennial plants in your garden such as mint, chives, parsley etc. If you cannot find these, then buy some fresh spinach. The only rule is that everything should be perfectly fresh.
Maccu ('Ncapriata)
Broad Bean Mash
What polenta, the maize porridge, used to be for poor northerners, maccu was for southerners. It is a real peasant dish, reminding us that farmers sometimes had little but this left to eat in winter. Today, however, you can find maccu on the menus of the best restaurants in the whole of southern Italy, but especially in Puglia and Sicily, the main areas of broad bean cultivation. For this dish you have to find dried broad beans without the skin, just the two halves.
Pesto alla Genovese
Pesto Sauce
This recipe requires a fair amount of fresh basil. If you cannot find enough, supplement one fistful with fresh flat-leaf parsley. This alternative makes an excellent, albeit, different, pesto. In most countries, it is possible to make a lot of pesto when basil is plentiful and not at an exorbitant price. To preserve it, you should take the quantities in this recipe and multiply them by four. This will give you about sixteen or so individual portions, which are best divided between small jars.
Polenta Svelta con Gamberetti
Quick Polenta with Shrimps
A delightful and simple little dish from Venice, where the little pink shrimps of the lagoon taste very nice indeed.
Risotto con Asparagi
Asparagus Risotto
Perfect for vegetarians, other vegetable risotto dishes can be prepared in the same way. Instead of asparagus, use vegetables that, when slightly overcooked, dissolve leaving a creaminess ideal for risotto: broccoli, spinach, artichokes, marrow, courgettes, cauliflower. With some you can hold back a few choice pieces to decorate the cooked dish, just as asparagus tips are used for here. To enhance the flavour of the rice, recycle the vegetable cooking water.
Risotto Primavera
Spring Vegetable Risotto
I had always assumed that Lombardy was the birthplace of risotto, but it is Veneto. There are hundreds of risottos in Venice and Veneto, many more than in Lombardy. One featuring the radicchio of Treviso is a favourite, but this risotto is made with spring vegetables, as its name suggests, which gives it flavours of new life.
Spinaci Olio e Limone
Spinach with Oil and Lemon
This is one of the best ways of using an oil and lemon dressing. The oil gives a certain softness, and the sharpness of the lemon brings out the flavour of the vegetable.