Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo

A flurry of tasty links and announcements to wrap up the year

Heading off into the wild blue yonder of the holidays. Illustration by Daniela Bracco

Benvenuti! Welcome to Buona Domenica, a weekly newsletter of inspired Italian home cooking and baking. I’m a journalist, cooking instructor, occasional tour guide, and author of eight cookbooks on Italian cuisine.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR FOOD WRITERS IN PIEMONTE, FALL 2025: Join Kathy Gunst and me next October for our second Food Writers in Piemonte workshop. Please send me an email at domenica@domenicacooks.com for more information.

Click here to browse through the newsletter archive. If you’re looking for a particular recipe, you’ll find all Buona Domenica recipes—178 and counting—indexed here, ready to download and print—a function for paid subscribers. If you are able to do so, please consider supporting my work by becoming one. Grazie!

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Dear Friends,
Before we head off into the blue yonder a.k.a. holiday break, I have a few final treats to share.

First, here is my annual reminder that you are still in time to make a batch of homemade VOV ~ the rich zabaglione liqueur that is Italy’s answer to eggnog.

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NEW: COOKING CLASSES WITH 177 MILK STREET

Spaghetti alla Chitarra is the star of my upcoming pasta workshop with 177 Milk Street

I will be teaching a series of online cooking classes in collaboration with 177 Milk Street.

The first class, on Thursday, Feb. 27, is a small-group workshop in which we will make the signature pasta of Abruzzo, Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Abruzzese-Style Ragù.

DETAILS

ULTRA-REGIONAL HANDMADE PASTA: Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Abruzzese-Style Ragù

Date & time: Thursday, Feb. 27, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. EST (3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. PST)

Price: $69.95

Discount: Use the code PASTAPARTY at checkout for a 15% discount

Ravioli, cappelletti, and agnolotti del plin ~ the stuffed pastas we will make in my 177 Milk Street intensive series

The second is an intensive course—a series of three online classes, spaced out over several weeks, in which we will make three iconic stuffed pastas: Classic Cheese-Filled Ravioli from Abruzzo; Agnolotti del Plin, a delicate meat-stuffed pasta from Piemonte; and Cappelletti in Brodo, tiny pasta “hats” simmered in homemade broth, from Emilia-Romagna.

DETAILS

INTENSIVE: ITALY’S REGIONAL STUFFED PASTAS with Domenica Marchetti

Dates & times: Thursday, March 13; Thursday, March 27; Thursday, April 10. All classes in the series run from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. EST (3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. PST).

Price: $249.95 for all three classes in the series

Discount: Use the code PASTAPARTY at checkout for a 15% discount

What’s on the menu:

• March 13: Ricotta Cheese Ravioli in Tomato Sauce

• March 27: Agnolotti del Plin with Butter and Sage

• April 10: Cappelletti in Brodo

• Plus, all the skills & tool recommendations you need to confidently make countless other stuffed pastas at home

If you can't attend all of the sessions in real time, don't worry: You'll get the recordings, at-home challenges and recipes to watch and work on on your own time. Between sessions, students will have access to a chat platform where you can ask me questions and share photos of your stuffed pastas.

COINCIDENTALLY, these classes would make a great last-minute gift for the Italian food lovers in your life!

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Speaking of discounts…

I’m offering 20% off a paid annual subscription to Buona Domenica through January 6, 2025. It’s not too late to give an annual subscription as a gift (or to yourself). A paid subscription gains you access to all archived newsletters, plus the full archive of Buona Domenica recipes—nearly 200 (and growing) original, well-tested Italian recipes. Click on the green box below to take advantage of the offer and join our community of Italian food lovers.

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BUONA DOMENICA PRINTS!

Prints of Daniela’s beautiful Buona Domenica artwork are available!

DETAILS

QUANTITY: We are offering limited quantities (25) of each print
SIZE: Each print is 12 x 15.75 inches (30 x 40 cm), including the white border. They are printed in Italy on high-quality paper.
PRICE: $50 (USD) per print, plus $10 shipping, but paid subscribers receive a $10 discount ($40 plus shipping).

HOW TO ORDER

For now, prints are available to those residing in the U.S. or Canada, though we hope to expand availability. The prints will eventually be available to buy online through my Domenica Cooks website, which is hosted on Squarespace. This will simplify the transaction process.

For the time being, simply send me an email (domenica [at] domenicacooks.com) if you are interested in ordering prints, and I will reply directly to arrange the purchase. We accept payment through PayPal, Venmo, or check.

The colors of these prints are as vibrant as they appear in the photos above. They are truly beautiful and will make wonderful and unique holiday gifts!

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A GOOD READ and A GOOD LISTEN

Rolando Beramendi’s Risotto con Radicchio

This has nothing to do with the holidays but I truly enjoyed this ode to risotto in the New Yorker by staff writer Anthony Lane. This got me to thinking about the recipe for my friend Rolando’s Risotto con Radicchio, which I posted in the early days of this newsletter. I’ve temporarily removed the paywall from this archived recipe so that you can give it a go. It stars bitter-licious radicchio and red wine and makes a wonderfully festive primo piatto for the holidays.

Finally, last week I mentioned British food writer Jenny Linford’s podcast, A Slice of Cheese, in which she delves deep into the sweet, creamy, melty, gooey, pungent, and generally delicious world of cheese. This week’s episode is titled “Comfort Cheese Cooking,” and I’m pleased to tell you that I am a guest, along with Verena Lochmuller, a co-author of the new Ottolenghi cookbook Comfort; and British food writer

Mark Diacono

, whose latest book is Vegetables, and who writes the lovely newsletter Mark Diacono’s Garden to Table here on Substack. Jenny let me bend her ear about cheesy Italian and Italian-American comfort food. Think polenta concia, fettuccine with Gorgonzola sauce, stuffed shells, and so on. Click on the green button below to listen to the episode.

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Daniela and I wish you a happy and peaceful holiday and all good things in the New Year.

Alla prossima,
Domenica

P.S. The next newsletter publishes on January 12, 2025. See you then!