I love this newsletter (and I just splashed out for your first book), so I'm not being snide here, I'm being splendidly helpful - but 2lbs is not 2Kgs (the onion soup recipe, obvs).
Yes, most helpful, thank you. A reader emailed me earlier today and pointed out the error as well. I corrected it in the body of the newsletter and also in the printable PDF. But now I wonder if folks who only see the email version sent out this morning will not know that. I'll email a correction. 2 Kg of onions is a lot of onions to slice.
I was resisting the Via Carota cookbook (did I really need another Italian cookbook?) but was pushed over the edge by a few posts on IG (Giulia’s among them). And of course I DID need another Italian cookbook. It’s a gem and a pleasure to read.
Favorite cookbooks are hard to pick, and ever changing--but your Glorious Vegetables, Rachel Roddy’s A-Z of Pasta, Emiko’s books, and Giulia’s Markets of Tuscany are all nearly always out and in use.
The older I get the more I appreciate simplicity and stripping back in recipes (elemental! 😀), for sure.
I have both those books you mentioned; both keepers. I really love Giulia's Markets of Tuscany. It makes me happy to know GV is among your favorites. I think I was ahead of the curve with that book! xo
I do love a good, "elemental" Tuscan soup and carabaccia is such a forgotten dish, very hard to find now in Florence. I included a recipe in Florentine to retain that history before these forgotten dishes disappear completely! The story goes that it was one of Leonardo da Vinci's favourites.
I'll look up your recipe, Emiko. I remember reading something about Leonardo and this soup. A soup with such a history deserves to be rescued from obscurity!
My pleasure! Apparently there is a red onion from Tuscany that is the proper onion for this soup. Judy Witts Francini mentioned something about it. I used good red onions from the farmers' market. In my own onion soup recipe (in Glorious Soups...) I use a mix of red and yellow. The key (as you know) is the long, slow simmering to bring out their sweetness.
A cookbook I often use may not be known to many others: "The Best of Ciao," by Nancy Radke. I bought it soon after it was published in 1988 at an Italian wine store that was around the corner from where I worked at 17th and M NW in DC. The subtitle is "Recipes from Nancy Radke's Definitive Italian Food Newsletter." It's small, with recipes on heavy paper in a three-ring binder. The plastic covers unfolds to make its own stand. Delicious recipes clearly presented, with comments on each one. You can still see the cover on Amazon, but it doesn't seem to be available just now. (I think I have all of your cookbooks, Domenica, except for the most recent one, and I cook from them too!)
The name Nancy Radke rang a faint bell. I had to look her up. It seems she founded the U.S. office for the consorzio del formaggio parmigiano-reggiano way back in 1990 and was its spokesperson for many years. I'm not familiar with her work but it sounds like she knows her way around Italian cooking. Thanks for bringing her newsletter to my attention. I'll keep an eye out for availability.
Ciao Domenica! I made the Via Carota Tuscan Onion Soup yesterday. I let it rest in the fridge and just had a bowl for lunch. I did fiddle a bit with the recipe. Chicken stock in place of veg stock just because I had just made some. A delicious soup. Sweet from all those onion. A nice contrast with the sour dough croutons I fried in olive oil. Heavy grating of parm regg. Heaven!!
Micki, I'm glad you chimed in, as you are the IG pal I referenced in the intro to the recipe. All your changes sound delicious. That's the beauty of home cooking; you can always tweak to your liking. Thanks for your input!
Happy New Year, Domenica! Beautiful, simple food is so appealing now, especially after these many months of serially cooking at home.
A recent magazine suggestion of cannelloni dishes has sent me to the bookshelf for a deep dive and recommendations. I found cannelloni al radicchio in your Glorious Pasta of Italy along with lots of details and choices in Bugialli’s The Fine Art of Italian Cooking. These may be more project than simple cooking but certainly are cozy winter dishes. The Via Carlotta cookbook is calling me as well - thank for the recommendation!
I love Bugialli's recipes. And there is always room for kitchen projects and more elaborate dishes. Simple is good, but so is diving into a labor of love. I haven't made those radicchio cannelloni in quite a while. It might be time to revive that recipe. Thanks for the reminder.
Buon Anno, Domenica. Thank you for another inspiring (and stunningly illustrated) post. I'm excited to see that you, too, have been enjoying the Via Carotta cookbook. I asked for it for Christmas and was delighted to find it under the tree. I spent the next two days reading every word in it, not even bothering to earmark pages with recipes I'd want to make because I knew from the start that I wanted to make every single recipe in the book. Perhaps I'll start with this onion soup. Thanks for the encouragement and for your always lovely writing. And NOW I'm going to order your new book. All the best to you and Scott.
HI Linda, glad to know that Babbo Natale came through for you. So many enticing choices in the book. Thank YOU for reading and for your kind words. Looking forward to seeing you in class soon. P.S. I realize I owe you an email...will get to it this week. xo
I came late to this post, but THANK YOU for the shout out! How I love carabaccia. Every time I'm surprised by how simple ingredients and simple cooking techniques can lend such a deep, delicious flavor. I should not be surprised, these are the principles of Cucina Povera, but we tend to forget how modern our traditional cuisine is! Next on my list from Via Carota is the panna cotta you made!
That's the beauty of Italian cooking. Always surprising and delighting us, no matter how well we think we know it, even those of us who grew up with it. La panna cotta è buonissima, molto leggera!
I love this newsletter (and I just splashed out for your first book), so I'm not being snide here, I'm being splendidly helpful - but 2lbs is not 2Kgs (the onion soup recipe, obvs).
Yes, most helpful, thank you. A reader emailed me earlier today and pointed out the error as well. I corrected it in the body of the newsletter and also in the printable PDF. But now I wonder if folks who only see the email version sent out this morning will not know that. I'll email a correction. 2 Kg of onions is a lot of onions to slice.
Heh. It really is. (I have done that a time or two. With knives not as sharp as the ones I keep these days. Oof.)
I was resisting the Via Carota cookbook (did I really need another Italian cookbook?) but was pushed over the edge by a few posts on IG (Giulia’s among them). And of course I DID need another Italian cookbook. It’s a gem and a pleasure to read.
Favorite cookbooks are hard to pick, and ever changing--but your Glorious Vegetables, Rachel Roddy’s A-Z of Pasta, Emiko’s books, and Giulia’s Markets of Tuscany are all nearly always out and in use.
The older I get the more I appreciate simplicity and stripping back in recipes (elemental! 😀), for sure.
I have both those books you mentioned; both keepers. I really love Giulia's Markets of Tuscany. It makes me happy to know GV is among your favorites. I think I was ahead of the curve with that book! xo
I think you were!
I cook from all of your cookbooks, Domenica, thank you very much! Another favorite is The Italian Country Table by Lynne Rosetto Kasper.
I haven't opened that one in a long while. Thanks for the reminder, Fran. So glad to know my books are being put to good use in your kitchen.
I do love a good, "elemental" Tuscan soup and carabaccia is such a forgotten dish, very hard to find now in Florence. I included a recipe in Florentine to retain that history before these forgotten dishes disappear completely! The story goes that it was one of Leonardo da Vinci's favourites.
I'll look up your recipe, Emiko. I remember reading something about Leonardo and this soup. A soup with such a history deserves to be rescued from obscurity!
Thank you so much for the shout out! I really must try your Italian version of onion soup and compare! I’m fascinated that it’s made with red onions.
My pleasure! Apparently there is a red onion from Tuscany that is the proper onion for this soup. Judy Witts Francini mentioned something about it. I used good red onions from the farmers' market. In my own onion soup recipe (in Glorious Soups...) I use a mix of red and yellow. The key (as you know) is the long, slow simmering to bring out their sweetness.
I remembered the parm rind only because you referenced it!
A cookbook I often use may not be known to many others: "The Best of Ciao," by Nancy Radke. I bought it soon after it was published in 1988 at an Italian wine store that was around the corner from where I worked at 17th and M NW in DC. The subtitle is "Recipes from Nancy Radke's Definitive Italian Food Newsletter." It's small, with recipes on heavy paper in a three-ring binder. The plastic covers unfolds to make its own stand. Delicious recipes clearly presented, with comments on each one. You can still see the cover on Amazon, but it doesn't seem to be available just now. (I think I have all of your cookbooks, Domenica, except for the most recent one, and I cook from them too!)
The name Nancy Radke rang a faint bell. I had to look her up. It seems she founded the U.S. office for the consorzio del formaggio parmigiano-reggiano way back in 1990 and was its spokesperson for many years. I'm not familiar with her work but it sounds like she knows her way around Italian cooking. Thanks for bringing her newsletter to my attention. I'll keep an eye out for availability.
Ooops, I forgot about the parm rind I threw in. Umami city!!
can't go wrong with a parm rind!
Ciao Domenica! I made the Via Carota Tuscan Onion Soup yesterday. I let it rest in the fridge and just had a bowl for lunch. I did fiddle a bit with the recipe. Chicken stock in place of veg stock just because I had just made some. A delicious soup. Sweet from all those onion. A nice contrast with the sour dough croutons I fried in olive oil. Heavy grating of parm regg. Heaven!!
Micki, I'm glad you chimed in, as you are the IG pal I referenced in the intro to the recipe. All your changes sound delicious. That's the beauty of home cooking; you can always tweak to your liking. Thanks for your input!
Happy New Year, Domenica! Beautiful, simple food is so appealing now, especially after these many months of serially cooking at home.
A recent magazine suggestion of cannelloni dishes has sent me to the bookshelf for a deep dive and recommendations. I found cannelloni al radicchio in your Glorious Pasta of Italy along with lots of details and choices in Bugialli’s The Fine Art of Italian Cooking. These may be more project than simple cooking but certainly are cozy winter dishes. The Via Carlotta cookbook is calling me as well - thank for the recommendation!
I love Bugialli's recipes. And there is always room for kitchen projects and more elaborate dishes. Simple is good, but so is diving into a labor of love. I haven't made those radicchio cannelloni in quite a while. It might be time to revive that recipe. Thanks for the reminder.
Buon Anno, Domenica. Thank you for another inspiring (and stunningly illustrated) post. I'm excited to see that you, too, have been enjoying the Via Carotta cookbook. I asked for it for Christmas and was delighted to find it under the tree. I spent the next two days reading every word in it, not even bothering to earmark pages with recipes I'd want to make because I knew from the start that I wanted to make every single recipe in the book. Perhaps I'll start with this onion soup. Thanks for the encouragement and for your always lovely writing. And NOW I'm going to order your new book. All the best to you and Scott.
HI Linda, glad to know that Babbo Natale came through for you. So many enticing choices in the book. Thank YOU for reading and for your kind words. Looking forward to seeing you in class soon. P.S. I realize I owe you an email...will get to it this week. xo
I came late to this post, but THANK YOU for the shout out! How I love carabaccia. Every time I'm surprised by how simple ingredients and simple cooking techniques can lend such a deep, delicious flavor. I should not be surprised, these are the principles of Cucina Povera, but we tend to forget how modern our traditional cuisine is! Next on my list from Via Carota is the panna cotta you made!
That's the beauty of Italian cooking. Always surprising and delighting us, no matter how well we think we know it, even those of us who grew up with it. La panna cotta è buonissima, molto leggera!
Exactly!
Beautiful post, Domenica, with mouthwatering dishes!
Thank you, Jolene!