PATRICIA WELLS’ TRATTORIA:
Healthy, Simple, Robust Fare
Inspired by the Small Family Restaurants of Italy
Patricia Wells
Photos: no
Ease: 3
The subtitle says it all, really. Simple, healthy, hearty dishes from a country where people care about these qualities in their food. Ms. Wells alllows the reader to create these wonderful vibrant flavors at home, with straightforward recipes, wine pairing suggestions, cooks’ tips about ingredients and method, and lovely vignettes that bring home the history and ambience each recipe evokes.
With the prevalence of fresh pastas, herbs, and authentic Italian cheeses and cured meats, it is quite easy to feast at home on Tagliatelle alla Boscaiola (with porcini sauce, 148), Spaghetti all Puttanesca (with capers, olives and peppers, 94), Scampi all Veneziana (with garlic, oil and peppers, 204), Costolette d’Agnello a Scottadito (marinated lamb chops, 240), Risotto al Limone (158), and Petti di Pollo all Salvia (chicken with fresh sage, 216). These elemental old-world flavors can turn your kitchen into a cucina domestica on the sun-drenched Tuscan hills or salty Mediterranean coasts. Mangia, mangia!
