There are times for being leisurely, and then one can enjoy a menu like the Easter meal we had Sunday. However, now that the holidays are over the pace has picked up brutally, and it's time to think quick. As a general rule, if you're having a full Italian meal (first and second course) you'll want to plan things that will all be ready by the time the pasta is cooked. Otherwise, simply enjoy a first or second course with a tossed salad and a glass of good wine. Some ideas:

• Pasta with 4 cheeses: This is quick to do, and you can make it lighter or richer as you prefer by varying the proportions of the cheeses.
• Tomato and Cream Sauce: Quick, light and tasty -- ideal for unexpected company.
• Saltimbocca alla Romana: Cutlets seasoned with slices of prosciutto and just a little sage. A Roman classic, and easy too!
• Veal Pizzaiola: Scallops quickly cooked with an oregano-laced tomato sauce -- Hats off to the Neapolitans for thinking these up!
• A Spinach Frittata: If you've never tried flipping a frittata it might seem involved, but it's easy to do, and the results are very much worth it. Tasty and healthy too.
• Dessert? Fresh fruit, which is both tasty and, again, healthy. Strawberries with either wine or lemon juice, for example.

More Quick/Easy Recipes

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Easter Monday is a holiday in Italy, and tradition dictates that those living in cities or towns go out into the country to enjoy the first warmth of spring and have a picnic. Some bring charcoal and a portable grill in addition to a basket full of food. What's in the basket? Depends upon the tastes of the packer. Some ideas:

• Matza' Frittata, or Matza' Coperta:
  This is an Italian Jewish answer to the frittatas that Italian Catholics customarily packed for their Pasquetta.
• A Delicate Onion Frittata:
  If you gently cook sweet onions, you'll have a frittata you'll be making all summer long.
• A Lemony Pasta Salad:
  Refreshing, and if you add crumbled grilled tuna (or swordfish) it becomes a tasty entree.
• Bowties With Chicken and Beans in a Spicy Sauce:
  A modern Italian recipe that's perfect for a picnic hamper.

And finally, an alternative Pastiera:
The people of Miranda, not far from Isernia, make their with rice and flavor it with cinnamon. Good!

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It's difficult to imagine Easter without lamb in Italy. It's the tradition, also because lambs are born in the spring and thus symbolize rebirth, and therefore you'll find it on just about every Easter table.

Fried lamb chops (a well done Italian video), lamb with peas and eggs, or lamb with artichokes, or perhaps roast leg of lamb if the kitchen is small, or grilled lamb chops (allo scottadito) or spit-roasted lamb (see also here) if the cook has access to a hearth or can light a fire outside, and if there is a wood fired oven, then people will buy and roast a whole lamb, inviting friends and family to partake in a truly extraordinary experience.

You will find a number of Easter menus on site, including Neapolitan, Roman, and Tuscan Easter menus, and I've just added a very simple recipe for leg of lamb roasted in salt, one of those things that requires no supervision but comes out very well. Buona Pasqua! Happy Easter!

And in general Site news, I've just put up the photos and Artusian recipes from the second night of the Pellegrinaggio Artusiano -- a very pleasant meal in the Vecchio Convento in Portico di Romagna.

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People rarely associate Judaism with Italy, probably because the Rome has hosted the seat of the Catholic Church for close to 2000 years. Jews arrived long before Peter and Paul, however. Indeed, Jewish traders built one of the first (if not the first) synagogues outside of the Middle East in Ostia Antica during the second century BC, and by the reign of Tiberious (14-37 AD) there were more than 50,000 Jews living in Rome and dozens of Jewish communities scattered throughout the Peninsula.

The Italkim Seder differs from the Ashkenazim Seder in some respects -- Italkim, for example, allow rice but not cheese or chocolate -- but many of the traditional Italkim Seder dishes will work very well in all traditions.

In addition to my article on Italian Passover recipes, you may find Stuart Borken's recipes, and in particular his Chocolate Turtle Tart ("Extraordinarily tasty... and flourless") to your liking.

Don't forget to check Giora's Kosher Cooking site, and in particular his Passover Seder Guide, Passover Seder Menus, and Passover favorites.

Felice Pesah!

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