Erica De Mane

Dino and the Duke. The pasta is probably not whole wheat.


The recipe below is whole wheat.

Recipe:

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Cockles, Roasted Tomatoes, and Dandelion

I now eat pasta only about once a week, and I want each pasta dish I cook to be perfect. But I’m also conscious of the amount I eat (what a nuisance), and I add lots of protein and go for whole wheat as often as I can tolerate it.

Whole wheat pasta? Is that really Italian? Yes it is. And it’s currently even having a little vogue in Italy, since the backlash against refined carbohydrates has made its way out of New York and Los Angeles and into the world (or at least into some of the parts of the world, where they have the luxury to be picky about what they eat). I actually really like whole wheat pasta, but I’ve found that it makes me rethink my sauces. Not only is the taste different from that of the standard dried durum wheat types, but the texture is a bit more brittle, not quite as luxe and elastic. Cream sauces are definitely out; their taste hardly registers as a coating for the nutty flavor of whole wheat. Butter and parmigiano alone? Not quite forceful enough. But if you add a few chopped anchovies to a butter sauce, then you’re getting somewhere. That seems to be the traditional approach in Italy to creating beautifully balanced whole wheat pasta dishes. (more…)

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Cannolis minus all the calories.

When you need a little something sweet and somehow don’t see a whole tray of cannolis fitting into your diet plan, Italy still has a lot to offer you. A neurotic little trick of mine is to eat something extremely small but tooth-achingly sweet to curb my craving. It almost always works, since the thing I eat winds up being delicious yet ultimately sickening at the same time. Victory. (more…)

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Italian beauty on a stick.

Recipes:

Gremolata Chickpea Salad
Shrimp and Mushroom Spiedini with Rosemary and Lemon

My feeling about spiedini, Italian-style kebabs, is that since they’re long and lean, eating them will make me long and lean. Well, lean maybe, but long might be more problematic, since I’m only five-foot-one, and I’m likely to stay that way until I get old enough to start shrinking. But leaner would be welcome (I still have a bit of excess thigh blubber I’d like to whittle down before beach weather arrives). (more…)

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Anna Magnani in The Golden Coach, the film by Jean Renoir.

She’s my ideal. Not too fat, not too skinny. Never overly concerned about her ever-enlarging eye bags. A little tense, but she knows how to have fun. Loves to eat and drink. At home at a raucous party or in a bomb shelter. I love Anna Magnani.

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Anouk Aimée takes a break from the high life.

Recipe:

Chicken Liver Crostini with Fennel and Celery Salad

I’ve often found that an old photo, something a friend is wearing, or even a hangover can inspire a desire for a particular flavor, I suppose by triggering off a freewheeling association from my past where that flavor played a part. Somehow this photo of Anouk Aimée in La Dolce Vita, with her pensive demeanor and oh-so-skinny silhouette, inspired this salad based on the classic Tuscan chicken liver pâté, a stern little dish but one with deep, unusual flavors such as capers, anchovies, and sage. (more…)

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Easter-egg bread at Rocco’s Pastry Shop on Bleecker Street.

Recipe:

Asparagus with Warm Orange Oil

Easter for the lapsed Catholic is a hollow affair. If it weren’t for the huge amounts of food and chocolate bunnies, tons of relatives and friends, prosecco, and Chianti, it would be meaningless. Even when I was a child, it was all about the pizza rustica and the Rodda Peeps (I lapsed at a young age). I’m pretty confident in my lack of faith, but somehow Easter has a way of making me feel ever so slightly guilty, and gluttonous. And why is it that the weather is almost always cold, damp, and irritating, not the wacky bonnet, daffodils, white-patten-pumps sunshine it’s supposed to be? But on the other hand if I focus on the original, pagan meaning of the occasion, the rebirth of the earth, I can give early thanks for the upcoming local harvest and the beautiful ramps, asparagus, watercress, and strawberries that will soon be filling the stalls at the Union Square Greenmarket. In honor of my expectations, here’s a recipe for asparagus that will go very nicely with an Easter lamb dish or a pork loin (which is what my mother’s making) or a slow roasted side of salmon. (more…)

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Does he have too much on his mind?

According to a report on this week’s 60 Minutes, when you don’t get enough sleep your brain starts sending out messages that you should start eating. Lack of sleep makes us hungry. Evidently sleep deprivation causes a drop in our levels of leptin, the hormone that tells our brains we are full. No wonder Americans have weight problems. Everyone is so tense and overworked that by the time we get into bed our minds are racing, our jaws are clenched, and we lie there with every conceivable morbid thought about personal destruction spinning in our brains. So to all you fellow insomniacs out there, I’m passing along my remedy for sleeplessness. It doesn’t always work, but it does sometimes.

I begin by thinking about something my grandfather once said to me when I was a miserable, brooding teenager. He said, “Tell me where it’s written you’re supposed to be happy.” Now, this is a classic Italian immigrant concept, foreign to most Americans’ thinking. But if I ponder it while I’m tossing and turning and thinking of everything I’m jealous of and all the frustration and lack I feel in my little life, I notice an almost immediate release. I get comfort from his words, the pressure lifts, and I do often then relax and fall asleep. And if sleeping will help me stay thin, that advice from my ornery but contented Italian grandfather should serve me very well.

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Infuse your food with big flavor, and you’ll eat less.

Recipe:

Shellfish cacciucco with guanciale and farro.

One thing I love about Italian cooking is its melding of bold and gentle flavors-ricotta crostini with a strip of salty anchovy; braised chicken sharpened with strong lemon; pork chops with vinegar peppers. I keep such alluring juxtapositions in mind as I go about creating healthy, low-calorie Italian cooking. Capers, anchovies, pancetta and guanciale, prosciutto, orange zest, hot peppers, vinegar, sharp cheeses are all amazing flavors, and I’ve discovered that they’re crucial in controlling my appetite. It seems that satisfying my body with something intense and perfectly prepared is the best way to feel full fast. And faster than I’d have imagined it’s gotten my mind off of big bowls of fettuccine Alfredo or creamy rich baked ziti, the kind of mild, bloating foods that I always used to put mindlessly down my throat. (more…)

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