We all get stuck in a weeknight routine, I know. I’ve heard the complaints — “I don’t know what to make and I don’t have the time to make it anyway.” Maybe all you need is to take something familiar and give it a little tweak. Enter pork jowls. In Italian it’s guanciale, and it’s… Read More Weeknight Wow | Pork Jowl Pasta with Monkfish
In the Abode of the Dead they are known exclusively as moules, and, when served, Hades will eat them in breathtaking quantities. They are mussels — tiny, meaty, sweet little jewels that are revered like no other ingredient in these parts. I must admit, they are strangely beautiful. Their black and pearly shells contrast with… Read More The Beautiful Bivalve | Mussels with Chorizo and Broken Fideo
This is a Saturday meal. Not because it’s hard. (It’s not.) Not because it takes a long time. (It could.) But because if you head to a farmer’s market Saturday morning, or happen to run across some really fabulous tomatoes while you’re doing your weekly grocery shopping, this is what you should make. This time,… Read More Summer Produce | Short Ribs Braised in Tomato
While I was in Germany and France last month, just about everywhere I went, sandwich boards proclaimed in German or French “Lust auf Spargel?” “Fin de l’Asperge!” And it seemed every bistro and restaurant had specials celebrating the edible spring perennial. And truly, it is best savored when it is fresh and local. I enjoyed… Read More Spargel Pasta | Asparagus in Cream Sauce
It’s been so rainy today that everything in sight is a variation of green: the yet-to-be-mowed grass. The budding trees. The trembling stalks supporting the heavy heads of daffodils. My dinner of orecchiette bathed in butter, chartreuse leeks, backyard mint and verdant parsley. Tiny pasta ears cradle pale green edamame, the whole bowl crowned with… Read More Meatless Monday | Orecchiette with Leek and Pea Shoots
Late the first night in Rome many years ago, Hades and I wandered. Blinking in the bright lights of the wedding cake, looking for a spot to grab dinner, tired from our long trip, still adjusting to the time change. We came across a tiny nameless spot, umbrellas still up outside, despite the late hour. … Read More Are you awake?* | Cacio e Pepe
You can’t find a fresh, ripe, beautiful red tomato here in Ohio in January. You just can’t. So how could you possibly make a bolognese in the depths of winter? Make a white bolognese. Skip the tomatoes altogether and make a very Italian specialty. In doing so, you will make my single most favorite thing… Read More Winter Kitchen | White Bolognese with Fresh Pasta
Persephone's Kitchen 