Lorenza’s Italian Seasons: 200 Recipes for Family and Friends
by Lorenza De’ Medici Stucchi
Contemporary studies of Italian cooking cite regionality and seasonality as driving forces that make the peninsula’s foods so refreshing, satisfying, and popular. The inimitable Lorenza de’Medici follows a year’s seasons and shows how her Tuscan cooking changes from month to month as available produce matures. Lorenza’s Italian Seasons begins in spring with the tenderest, most delicate vegetables mixed into ethereal minestrone. Summer brings on heartier dishes, such as a salad of duck breast and fresh horseradish. Fall’s abundance yields fettuccine with hazelnuts and many game dishes. Winter calls for hearty fare: lasagna noodles formed into cups and baked with a ricotta and cream filling.