Lidia!
Another cookbook has been added to the collection! Could anything be MORE up my alley than a cookbook? Photos, words, and food? i don’t think so! Lidia Matticchio Bastianich’s Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes is an awesome, almost history/anthropology cookbook. It is separated into regions of Italy – and then gives you a brief overview of the area; exports/imports/geography/climate etc., to help you understand WHY a recipe might have become a staple in that area. I’ve bookmarked many pages in the book, as you can see:
The first recipe I made from this book comes from the island of Sardinia and it’s Cauliflower with Olives & Cherry Tomatoes. ALTHOUGH, i didn’t have tomatoes! whoops, so just disregard that. haha Basically the recipe involves sauteing the cauliflower for a long time to really get some dark brown color on it – the olives are there to add a salty bite to cauliflower, along with the addition of ‘pepperoncino flakes’ aka crushed red pepper. It was delicious! Really gave a somewhat bland vegetable for a side dish, some depth!
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:44 pm
just saw her as a judge on Iron Chef – she is la italian bomb dot com (after you). and cauliflower is my fav veggie – bravissimo!