Saute

Sweet corn and fresh lima beans are natural garden partners and one of my favorite vegetable combinations. I like traditional American succotash (originally a Native American dish, in fact), in which the vegetables are cooked together in water, milk, or cream. But limas and corn are especially delicious when prepared by my covered-skillet method, with olive oil and garlic (and a bit of peperoncino). You must use fresh-cut corn kernels and lima beans right out of the shell for this dish—frozen corn and limas will get mushy and just don’t have the flavor. Cutting corn kernels off the cob is easy. For a fast method, see below. And shucking lima beans is a pleasant task that I enjoy. Though I admit that Gianni, my mother’s boyfriend, is always happy to help me when I’ve got pounds of beans to shell.

Brussels sprouts are a love/hate vegetable. Let this recipe surprise you—even the dubious will fall in love with sprouts. But it’s the experience of tasting the vegetable in an unexpected form—all the leaves separated, tossed in the skillet until tender and sweet—that really makes the difference. They are wonderful as is, but the Lemon Sauce that follows provides a tangy counterpoint to the delicately caramelized green-gold leaves.

Green beans are delicious, but they can get boring. But letting a little gorgonzola melt into the beans gives them a marvelous complexity. This is great as an appetizer or a side dish with grilled meats.

Here is another delicious example of the enduring influence in Friuli of the spice trade that flourished during the Serenissima, the centuries-long epoch of the Venetian Republic. As you will find in this chapter, cinnamon dresses potato gnocchi, page 80, and lends depth to roasted lamb shoulder and its sauce, page 87. And in this recipe, ground cloves and cinnamon are the crowning seasonings for thin cutlets of beef, rolled and sautéed, so the spicy fragrance perfumes your whole kitchen. As a spring or summer dinner, I love these quick and delightful braciole with a tossed cotta e cruda salad, page 297. And they are good anytime with the Crispy Swiss Chard Cakes, page 78. On a cold day, though, serve them with a warming bowl of polenta for a delicious and typically Friulian meal.

This dish is the king of all veggies. Turnip greens, kale, Swiss chard, and mustard greens all join forces in a hearty, healthy side dish. Putting them all together may go against your style, but, trust us, the combo is surprisingly delicious. (Just ask the girls; they were skeptical at first, too.) As you know, we can all use more veggies!

Our girls are huge lovers of green beans, so they are a must-have on the menu. (We try to accommodate everyone in some way or another.) Of course, the smokiness of the pig doesn’t hurt, either

GINA Kale is my newest and most charming friend. It’s in the green-veggie family, but is often overlooked. Boy, are you guys missing out on this one. Preparing it is very easy: all you do is chop some garlic, sauté it in some olive oil with red-pepper flakes for a kick, add in some salt, pepper, and broth, and steam. Now, we all can use an easy dish to prepare on such a busy day . . . so I gift you with this one.

It’s springtime, y’all! So—sauté these peas in butter with onions, and a hit of red-pepper flakes, and your kitchen will fill with the smells of this wonderful season. It’ll put you and your guests in a happy mood and put a spring in everybody’s step.

Though this recipe sounds straight out of a Coen brothers’ movie, the name refers to the fact that you chop off the squids’ arms and stuff them inside their own bodies. Trust me—this is my kind of punishment. I use cooked Controne beans as a binder instead of breadcrumbs, ensuring the filling is creamy and light, and I add slab bacon for a hit of smoke and texture. When you grill the tentacles, remember that you’re just precooking them and don’t leave them on the heat too long. Another key to this dish is ensuring that your filling is at room temperature before you stuff the squid. If it’s too cold, you’ll overcook the bodies while you heat the stuffing through. If you want to stuff the squid earlier in the day, just take them out of the fridge about a half hour before grilling.

Save this recipe for late February, when spring garlic first appears in markets. For this dish, it’s best to use larger heads, planning on one large or two small heads per serving. Piecing out the squab makes for much easier eating and allows you to cook the different parts perfectly, with the added bonus that the wings and body add incredible depth and flavor to the sauce. If you think your knife skills aren’t up to par, you can ask your butcher to do it for you, but be sure to reserve all the pieces. If your guests are big eaters, you might want to double the recipe to allow for one squab per person and serve as an entrée. Lentils would make a nice side.

When you buy your quail, try to get the biggest ones you can find, and make sure they’re semi-boneless, meaning only the drumsticks and wings are left intact for the shape of the finished bird. When you’re working with a bird this tiny, having someone else bone it is helpful. If you have mad knife skills, go for it. Using foil strips like huge twist ties helps set the shape of the quail as they cook, resulting in a pleasingly plump little package. Soft Polenta (page 66) and braised greens are the perfect accompaniments.

This is your grown-up chance to play with your food! Frenched lamb chops, also known as lamb lollipops, just beg to be picked up and gnawed on because the clean bones make lovely handles. Even the veg gets in on the interactive eating, with tender spring favas sautéed in their skins. Besides being fun finger food, there’s an added perk to cooking them this way: because they’re not blanched, the favas stay extra-sweet and firm. Just pick them up one by one and pop them into your mouth, like edamame served in Japanese restaurants. Don’t bother setting forks or knives at the table, but I recommend providing plenty of napkins.