LET’S DO MORE ITALIAN DINING VOCABULARY.

ALLA PUTTANESCA: A tomato sauce flavored with capers and anchovies, and often with olives, garlic and chile flakes.

You can add these extras to my sauces for a variety of main dishes.

RIBOLITTA: A soup made with white beans, vegetables, stale bread and cheese. Ribolitta means re-boiled because the soup is to be cooked then left to stand before it is reheated.

RICOTTA: A fresh cheese made with whey that is drained off in the process of making another cheese (often Pecorino), and then cooked: Ricotta salata is dried, salted ricotta cheese used for grating and shaving; it has a much longer shelf life than fresh ricotta.

RISOTTO: A savory dish of rice cooked slowly in broth, served as a first course. Risotto is made with a special Italian rice that remains firm during cooking while it imparts its starch to the dish, thickening the broth to a creamy texture. Try it with my mushroom and wine or chunky variety on top!

SALSA: Sauce. (Like CASERICCO Marinara Sauce, of course)

SALTIMBOCCA: A dish of pounded veal scallops rolled with prosciutto and fresh sage. The name means “leap into the mouth.”

SALUMI: A general word for cured meats including those made with ground meats, such as salami and mortadella, and whole bone-in meats, such as prosciutto.

SCALOPPINA: A thin, pounded piece of meat, such as veal scallop.

SECONDO: Main course of a traditional Italian meal.

SEMIFREDDO: The word means “partly frozen” and refers to an Italian dessert of molded custard or ice cream.

SFORMATO: A molded dish, sweet or savory.

SOFFRITO: A mixture of chopped vegetables, usually onion, carrot, celerey and garlic, which forms the base of many Italian soups, sauces and stews.

SPECK: A ham, traditionally from the Alto Adige region of northern Italy , that is boned, cured and smoked. This is a rare example of a salami that is both cured and smoked, and reflects the influence of Eastern European tradition on Italian cuisine.

SPIEDINO: A skewer, as in skewered, grilled meats.

THAT’S IT FOR TODAY. COME BACK SOON FOR MORE. TO CELEBRATE YOUR NEW DINING SKILLS, ENJOY A NICE CHILLED GLASS OF WINE, AND THINK OF ME.