Simple yet amazing. This healthy soup, a kind of minestrone with farro, is ubiquitous in Lucca, a city in Tuscany. The farro is traditional, but you could use spelt or barley with good results.
Until lately, I hadn't been a fan of okra. But then I learned how cooks in the eastern and southern Mediterranean treat this popular vegetable: they cook it whole, after tossing it with salt and vinegar...
This is one of those dishes that illustrates how recipes can be tweaked without any noticeable effect. It called for milk; I had skim milk. It wanted butter for sautéing; I used olive oil.
White bean pâté has been a signature dish of mine for decades. I've fiddled with the recipe over the years, varying the seasonings and adding more oil for better texture.
This is by far my most popular tostada, appealing to both vegetarians and meat-eaters. If you don't have time to cook the black beans, you could use canned beans and refry them with the spices called for...