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Pasta con la cicoria
Cicoria, or chickory, also known in English as 'curly endive', is a staple of the central and southern Italian diet, or at least so it was traditionally. People from Campania like Angelina are said to be especially fond of leafy green vegetables, so (read full article)
An Italian Cookout
For many Italians, Summer means outdoor grilling, just as it does for much of the rest of the world. One of my grilling favorites is the grigliata mista, mixed grilled meats. The choice of meats is up to the cook, but it usually includes lamb, pork, (read full article)
Spinaci ripassati in padella
Here's a 'master recipe' for one of the most common techniques in Italian cookery for preparing vegetables, particularly green, leafy vegetables. The technique is called rispassato in padella or saltato in padella which literally means 'tossed in the (read full article)
Millepetali di fiori di zucca
Click here to read the English versionEhm...sì, lo so che di solito sono "Millefoglie", ma stavolta credo che "Millepetali" vada meglio per definire questa ricetta - non ricetta :-DNon-ricetta perchè è così semplice che anche chi non ha mai messo (read full article)
Céléri rémoulade
I normally like my salads with a simple oil and vinegar dressing in the typical Italian manner, but once and a while I get the urge for one of those rich and creamy salads like cole slaw or Russian salad … or this French classic: céléri rémoulad (read full article)
Fagioli all’uccelletto
Tuscans love beans. They eat them as part of many of the famous Tuscan soups like ribollita, they eat them in a salad with tuna as an antipasto, and, of course, they eat them as a contorno, or side dish, especially with grilled meats like the mythica (read full article)
La vignarola
A Springtime Roman treat, la vignarola is a vegetable 'medley' made from spring onions, fava beans, artichokes, peas and tender lettuce. It comes in an entirely vegan/vegetarian version and one that uses a bit of guanciale or pancetta to lend flavor (read full article)
Funghi trifolati
This is one of the easiest and most versatile vegetable dishes in the Italian repertoire: funghi trifolati, or 'truffled' mushooms, so called because the thinly sliced and sautéed mushrooms are said to resemble that other, more highly prized tuber. (read full article)
Cavolfiore alla napoletana
Here's another quick and easy vegetable side dish or light supper: "Neapolitan style" cauliflower, known in Naples itself as cavolfiore con passi e pinoli.It may come as a shock, but this dish contains no tomato, giving lie to the notion that all Nea (read full article)
Cipolline all’agrodolce
If there were an 'all purpose' side dish, this might be it. Cipolline all'agrodolce, also called cipolline in agrodolce, in English 'sweet and sour baby onions', go with just about any meat dish, although it is particularly lovely with roasts. And, t (read full article)
Fagiolini in fricassea
So far on this blog we have seen many of the most common techniques in Itailan cuisine for cooking vegetables, including in padella (lightly boiled and then sautéed in garlic and olive oil), fritti (deep-fried in a flour and egg batter), gratinati ( (read full article)
Involtino di Pesce Capone al Radicchio e Pinoli con contorno di Patate Paglia e... -2!
Siamo a -2 dal Natale ed è un corri corri su tutti i fronti!Anche per me, la faccenda non è diversa, ma meglio un articolino flash che niente...insomma un qualcosina giusto per darvi un input in più :-)Tanti staranno pensando a cosa mettere in tav (read full article)
Mock «puntarelle» alla romana
One of the dishes I miss most from my Roman days is the winter salad known as le puntarelle. Puntarelle are a kind of chicory native to the countryside around Rome. In fact, the vegetable is sometimes called "Roman chicory" in English. The shoots are (read full article)
Cardi gratinati
Cardoons are one of my favorite winter vegetables but they can be hard to find. So when I spied some in the market the other day I did a double-take and smiled. I hadn't had them quite literally for years. The bunch I found was a bit bruised but woul (read full article)
Insalata di Barbabietole, Mele e Noci
Scroll down for English version Un'insalata veloce da preparare e che non richiede nessuna particolare abilità. Se si utilizzano le barbabietole precotte bastano davvero pochissimi minuti, un po' di fantasia nella composizione del piatto, che può e (read full article)
Insalata di Barbabietole, Mele e Noci
Scroll down for English version Un'insalata veloce da preparare e che non richiede nessuna particolare abilità. Se si utilizzano le barbabietole precotte bastano davvero pochissimi minuti, un po' di fantasia nella composizione del piatto, che può e (read full article)
Fagiolini in umido
While Sundays dinners at Angelina's house were once-a-week, belly-busting, meaty affairs, she practically lived on vegetables during the week. This was long before vegetarianism went mainstream and she would not have thought of herself as a 'weekday (read full article)
Agnello in Agrodolce
Scroll down for English version L'agrodolce mi piace molto. Non posso altrettanto dire dell'agnello che non è certo la mia carne preferita. Nonostante questo lo cucino, variando di tanto in tanto la ricetta per non annoiare il mangiatore d'agnello d (read full article)
Agnello in Agrodolce
Scroll down for English version L'agrodolce mi piace molto. Non posso altrettanto dire dell'agnello che non è certo la mia carne preferita. Nonostante questo lo cucino, variando di tanto in tanto la ricetta per non annoiare il mangiatore d'agnello d (read full article)
Quick Note: Salade frisée à l'anchoiade
One of my favorite cold weather salads back in Rome were puntarelle, a kind of chicory typically dressed with a kind of garlic and anchovy vinaigrette. Fond memories...! This salad is a more refined French cousin, fit for elegant dinners but rustic e (read full article)



