Recipe: Abbacchio alla Romana | Roman-style Suckling Lamb
Katie Parla
by Katie Parla
2d ago
Abbacchio—a suckling lamb that is about a month old and weighs no more than fifteen pounds— is a springtime fixture on Rome’s tables. In the days leading up to Easter, I place a special order with one of my favorite Roman butchers (Sartor, Liberati, or Mariani) for a whole abbacchio, then marinate it and roast it the with salted anchovies, garlic, herbs, and vinegar—the Roman way. The exquisitely tender meat is the protagonist of huge Easter feasts, which typically include no fewer than fifteen friends and family, but I have scaled the recipe down to just the shoulder for more accessible dail ..read more
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Review: Tavernaccia Da Bruno in Trastevere
Katie Parla
by Katie Parla
2w ago
[UPDATED] In Italian, “accia” is a pejorative suffix used to denote something terrible or nasty. Think: “Today was a giornataccia (a bad day). I had yet another crap meal in Trastevere!” In the case of La Tavernaccia Da Bruno, the “accia” is hardly fitting. This friendly, family run trattoria isn’t some nasty tavern, as the name jokingly suggests, rather simple and straight-forward trattoria that has everything going for it: really nice servers, 5 decades of family ownership, a well above average wine list (bonus points for being adorably handwritten on yellow legal paper and for listing a ha ..read more
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Recipe: Polpettone (Italian-Style Meatloaf)
Katie Parla
by Katie Parla
1M ago
I grew up eating a pretty run-of-the-mill meatloaf. It was basically the family meatball mixture shaped into a log with ketchup on top. Imagine my amusement when I first encountered Italian-style meatloaf. It was 2003 and I was living with students from Abruzzo. They were absolutely lovely people but definitely the best thing about them was that their mothers would send packages of food to them on the train from Avezzano to Stazione Prenestina in Rome. God forbid they be distracted from studying by cooking! Mind you, these care packages boarded the train, oil-stained and fragrant, unattended ..read more
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Recipe: Gattò di Patate (Neapolitan Potato, Cheese, and Ham Pie)
Katie Parla
by Katie Parla
1M ago
Popular in the Bay of Naples, this mashed potato pie is serious fuel for a winter hike. At cafés and rosticcerie, creamy potatoes are layered with little bits of cheese and ham, then sold by the slice and stuffed into aluminum containers for taking away. It’s a great way for those businesses to use up scraps, and you can, too, if you’ve got odds and ends in your cheese and cold cuts stash. Vegetarians can substitute sautéed vegetables for the ham. It’s all about using up leftovers, so anything goes, really. I love this recipe so much it was the subject of the premier episode of my new YouTube ..read more
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Recipes for the Feast of Seven Fishes
Katie Parla
by Katie Parla
3M ago
I grew up in an Italian American family in New Jersey, where’s it’s practically the law to celebrate Christmas Eve with the so-called “Feast of Seven Fishes.” No one knows why we eat seven kinds of seafood (though the repetition of 7 in the Bible could be a motive), though it is clearly a Catholic custom to abstain from meat on sacred days. I often joke that if you only served 7 types of fish on December 24 in Italy no one would accept an encore visit to your paltry spread. The truth is, no one here is actually counting, but if you’re dining in the south you can bet your baccalà there’s gonna ..read more
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Recipe: Pasta con Pesto di Pistacchi (Pasta with Sicilian Pistachio Pesto)
Katie Parla
by Katie Parla
7M ago
It’s still really freaking hot in Rome. While my weather app clearly shows the temperatures have dropped considerably since the hottest Roman summer on record, I simply cannot conjure the fortitude to turn on my gas stovetop to cook a multi-course meal. Enter pesto and its uncooked elements in its many forms–tomato-enriched sauce from Linosa, another from Trapani, and this pistachio pesto that conjures Sicily’s Mount Etna. The region around this dynamic, often-erupting volcano is known for its pistachios and wild herbs, and this recipe puts both front and center. Unlike pesto from Genova, pes ..read more
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Recipe: Pasta con Pesto di Pistacchi (Pistachio Pesto Pasta)
Katie Parla
by Katie Parla
7M ago
It’s still really freaking hot in Rome. While my weather app clearly shows the temperatures have dropped considerably since the hottest Roman summer on record, I simply cannot conjure the fortitude to turn on my gas stovetop to cook a multi-course meal. Enter pesto and its uncooked elements in its many forms–tomato-enriched sauce from Linosa, another from Trapani, and this pistachio pesto that conjures Sicily’s Mount Etna. The region around this dynamic, often-erupting volcano is known for its pistachios and wild herbs, and this recipe puts both front and center. Unlike pesto from Genova, pes ..read more
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Recipe: Spezzatino all’Uva (Molise-style Pork and Grape Stew)
Katie Parla
by Katie Parla
7M ago
There’s a saying in Italy: Molise non esiste (Molise does not exist), referring to the second least populated region that barely anyone in the country’s other regions know, visit, or think about. I’m here to tell you Molise esiste and its spectacular. Molise is a two-hour drive southeast of Rome (only about three-quarters of that duration if I’m driving) into the mountainous heart of Italy. The food is hearty, rustic, and omnivorous. Until 1970, Molise was part of the combined Abruzzi e Molise region. Now the two regions are separated, making Molise the second smalles ..read more
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Recipe: Pomodori Gratinati (Tomatoes Roasted with Breadcrumbs)
Katie Parla
by Katie Parla
7M ago
Some of my greatest summer memories are on the Italian island of Ponza where I learned there’s no such thing as overcooked tomatoes, just perfectly pulpy, falling apart juiciness. During a long weekend from Rome, the commencement to which was delayed by a transport strike, I ordered a takeout dinner from a rosticceria near the port upon my late arrival. There wasn’t much left, just some potatoes that had seen better days and roasted tomatoes that were practically bursting at the seams topped with seasoned breadcrumbs. I’ve made this compulsively as a side dish ever since. You absolutely must ..read more
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Recipe: Paccheri alla Norma | Pasta with Fried Eggplant, Tomato, and Ricotta Salata
Katie Parla
by Katie Parla
8M ago
Pasta alla Norma, one of Sicily’s most iconic recipes, features fried eggplant simmered in tomato sauce and served with pasta, all seasoned with a generous flurry of ricotta salata. My first experience with the dish was on an estate near Catania in northeastern Sicily, the birthplace of the dish, where my stepmom Shari trained horses in the 1980s. Twenty years after her tenure, we returned to visit her former boss Gaetano, a suave aristocrat with a sprawling property on the lower slopes of Mount Etna. It was the fanciest place I had ever been. The regal dining room was filled with beautifully ..read more
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