by Faith Willinger
Harper Collins, $25, Hardcover
Italian restaurants in America have long under emphasized vegetal offerings.
Thus, save for those folks lucky enough to have grown up in an Italian-American
home, people on this side of the Atlantic remain largely unaware of the
extensive variety of Italy’s produce as well as the simple, delicious ways in
which Italians transform even the most humble of vegetables into something
special. Fortunately for anyone interested in Italian cuisine beyond pizza,
pasta, and pesto, cookbook writer and Gourmet magazine contributor Faith
Willinger has compiled over 150 rustic, vegie-centric recipes in her new book,
Red, White & Greens: The Italian Way With Vegetables.
In true homestyle Italian fashion, Willinger, an American who has lived in
Florence for twenty years, presents recipes that maximize flavor and mimimize
ingredients. Starting with the essentiality of virgin olive oil, the author
describes the few basic items needed to create a host of intriguing, flavorful
dishes from eggplant baked with currants and pine nuts to squash dressed with
onion mint sauce, vegetable rissottos that span the Italian garden from
artichoke to zucchini, and the unfried new-wave eggplant parmigiani, a welcome
twist on a caloric standard. In addition, the recipes are not strictly
vegetarian, featuring such gems as polenta soup with leeks and sausage, and the
humble boiled beef and onion simmered in tomato pulp and wine. And, yes, there
are plenty of pasta dishes. And although most of them probably will not ring a
bell, what they lack in familiarity they compensate with creativity, e.g.,
spaghetti with broccoli and skate broth, penne with kale and potatoes, and
squash gnocchi.
Lastly, a nod to designers of Red, White & Greens. The recipes,
arranged in chapters alphabetically by vegetable, combine a practical layout
with a pleasing presentation, complimenting Willinger’s refreshing recipes to
produce the perfect holiday gift for anyone who loves vegetables and perhaps
even more so for those who don’t think they do. — Patrick
Earvolino
This article appears in November 8 • 1996 and November 8 • 1996 (Cover).