Description:
Michele Scicolone wrote Italian Holiday Cooking in order to save those most-loved recipes our immigrant grandparents and parents brought with them from Italy but we never thought to write down. Surely, this is comfort food at its finest. Savory Easter Pie is rich with onions and sausage; ricotta, Parmigiano, mozzarella, and Swiss cheeses; and ham, salami, and pepperoni. Can you smell it baking? Umbrian Ragu, more elaborate than most, calls for dried porcini mushrooms and black truffles. Venetian Risotto with Peas for San Marco is soft and creamy, served wetter than typical risottos, and is very simple to make. Scicolone's introduction to each recipe includes a bit of background about where it came from, for which holiday it's prepared, and tips for preparation. She also recommends a wine for every dish. And since no holiday would be complete without dessert, Scicolone offers a beautiful selection of cakes, cookies, and other desserts, including a Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake made with ricotta, Creamy Rice Fritters, and the elusive first recipe of the 150 she collected for this project, Vecchiarelle, which are little cookies flavored with red wine and honey. --Leora Y. Bloom
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