Simmer

Serve the soup in shallow bowls and pass crusty bread for mopping.

Serve with an arugula or spinach salad.

Serve with a green salad.

This recipe is an ode to my friend Leslie Orlandini’s Cider Vinegar Chicken, which I have only heard tell about. Hey, Les! You get an ode and I’m still sittin’ over here, hunched over my computer, open-mouthed, waiting for a taste of the real deal! HINT!

I love this dish, Pasta alla Norma. Traditionally, it is made with 1 whole cup of EVOO and lots of chopped baby eggplant. It’s good, but if you don’t find just the right eggplant to use, the dish can be greasy and bitter. The recipe below is a take-off on Norma that includes all the same elements, but it is never bitter and uses much less oil (making Norma’s figure a little better!).

Serve as is or with a simple green salad.

This bread soup has some vegetables in it, but it is made with beef stock. For a vegetarian version, use all vegetable or wild mushroom stock and skip the pancetta or bacon.

This thick soup is a ribollita (stale bread soup) made with tons of tomatoes. Torello (literally, “The Bull”) from Florence makes his with tomatoes grown on his own land in Tuscany. At his restaurant, Il Latini, he taught me the manner—the only manner—in which one eats any type of ribollita: with chopped raw onions and a drizzle of EVOO on top. If you are not committed to this process or if you don’t do raw onions, skip this recipe. You’re not to eat it any other way. Torello will find out, and I’ll be in for it!

Serve with a green salad.

Serve with crusty bread.

This spicy meal fills you up without filling you out!

I know it sounds odd, but my girl LOVED butternut squash! This dog might even go for it before a steak, especially if there were also pasta and cheese involved in the deal.