Rice laced with spinach and cheese and fried—spinach arancini bring home a delightful taste of Sicily. That’s where I first tried this version of deep fried risotto balls a couple of years ago when we visited to explore some of my Sicilian roots. The treat—shaped as big as oranges, ovals, Read more
Comfort food in a baking dish is a good way to describe kugels—and this savory, nondairy noodle version from my new book, The Essential Jewish Cookbook, fits right in. A tangle of pappardelle noodles set in eggs with some onion and spices welcome you into the kugel repertoire with something Read more
Jews and Romans historically and spectacularly had their conflicts. But later, Jews also had centuries of fairly peaceful existence in Italy—even adopting and contributing to Italian cuisine. The holiday of Lag Ba’omer prompts my reflection on all that and a brand new Jewish-Italian recipe for a beautiful and savory pasta Read more
The Venetian Jewish ghetto turned out to be a surprising cultural crossroads and culinary mixing bowl—and one of the many dishes adapted and enjoyed by Venice’s Jews was artichoke risotto. As Venice marks 500 years since the creation of the ghetto and and as the new spring crop of artichokes Read more
At Hanukkah, what comes before the frying? The oil, the very precious olive oil. I set out to learn more about olive oil and its connection to holiday, history, and heritage—and celebrate the flavor of the oil in a delicious Italian recipe, Spaghetti Aglio e Olio. Besides sporting simply beautiful flavors of Read more
Although they are scrumptious, hamantashen aren’t the only thing to enjoy for the holiday of Purim, beginning sundown on March 4. After all, you need a little something to counterbalance all that sugar, right? According to culinary historian Gil Marks, one traditional Jewish-Italian dish for the holiday is the Venetian Read more
This recipe pretty much had me at crusty pasta. But then it got even better. The top and bottom crispy layers of thin egg pasta noodles (tagliatelle) give way to a tender interior of soft noodles and beef and sausage—all unified by a broth-based sauce. Besides pasta with crunch, I Read more
In honor of holidays in Israel last week (Memorial Day and Independence Day), I wanted to feature a recipe that represents Israel in a more personal way. This one comes from a Jewish woman I met who grew up in Russia. As you might know, life for Jews even in Read more
Although I’ve been Italian all my life, it took becoming Jewish to motivate me to make my own ricotta. Passover, specifically, bears responsibility for sending me down this path. Even though you can find kosher ricotta, getting your hands on kosher for Passover ricotta is a challenge for most people. Read more
No matter what cuisine you favor, if you love eating local, seasonal food grown with minimal impact on the earth, ramps are for you. The short season for these wild-growing cousins of leeks is right now, and it might be hard to see what all the fuss is about until Read more