Insalate

Antipasti, Holidays, Insalate

Octopus Salad

When I was a kid, we never heard of the Feast of Seven Fishes. It was simply Christmas Eve. It was held at my grandparents’ house in Brooklyn. The place was not very big, and had no formal dining room. Instead, they’d set up a table in the living room. And by table I mean […]

Antipasti, Holidays, Insalate

Baccalà salad

Baccalà, or salt-dried cod, once fueled the rise of Portugal as a global power, as it allowed the Portuguese explorers and merchants to sail across the world without starving. Interestingly, cod does not come from the Mediterranean, but rather from the North Sea. So go figure. It’s become a traditional part of the Italian Christmas […]

Antipasti, Insalate

Fennel-Kohlrabi salad

So this doesn’t really have an Italian name because it’s my own creation, but it certainly follows the rules of traditional Italian cooking: start with fresh ingredients, in season, and don’t do more than is necessary. Also, if you find two ingredients that belong together (e.g., tomato and mozzarella, escarole and canellini), just put them […]