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Everyone knows about tomatoes and mozzarella. Caprese salad has reached that point of popularity where everyone knows what it is without too much explanation. Caprese salad is definitely what I'd call a seasonal dish, as it's only truly wonderful when the tomatoes are just right. They aren't quite there for a proper caprese, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy some great seasonal vegetables with great cheese. This week's ROMANO BEANS & SOFT MOZZARELLA will be using what is just right at this point in the year, the flat wide green beans called romano beans (which, surprise surprise, are a big deal in Rome in the late spring.) The romano beans aren't hard to figure out, so let's talk about what stracciatella is (the "soft mozzarella" in the dish name)... You love burrata cheese, right? Of course you do. But the reason you love it is because of the awesome creamy inside part. That gooey inside is stracciatella. Since I can't buy the good stuff here, I'll be making the stracciatella myself. Blanched romano beans dressed with a touch of garlic, basil, and fancy olive oil and served with the soft cheese. Simple and delicious, and a great intro for the rest of the menu.

there's a non-zero chance that when I get to the market, they won't have any romano beans. They've been looking great for the past 2 weeks, but you never know. If romano beans aren't in our destiny, I'll be doing this dish with broccolini. It'll be just as good, I promise.

I'm proud of my focaccia, and I won't pretend that I'm not. It's a great bread, and is simply delicious all on its own (which is how I often serve it.) But this week, I wanted to incorporate an artichoke-focused dish, and FOCACCIA WITH ARTICHOKE PESTO is a great way to do that. We'll start with my prideful focaccia of course, but that's just the first part of the story. Pesto, just so we're all clear, just means "paste" but is more accurately translated as "spread" the way we are using it here. The pesto you're thinking about would be basil pesto (technically Pesto Alla Genovese,) but there are so many others. There's tomato and almond Pesto alla Trapanese, pepper and sundried-tomato Pesto Rosso, and even Pesto Modenese which is based on cured pork fat and parmesan. I'll actually be modeling my artichoke pesto after the Modena version (but without the pork fat,) aiming towards rich and creamy rather than bright and herby. Crushed and smashed artichoke hearts whipped together with parmesan cheese, a little lemon for balance, and a touch of pistachio since that's a very Italian ingredient that we don't usually think of as Italian. You'll warm up the focaccia in your oven, spread this awesome artichoke pesto onto slices of the warm focaccia, and you'll be in a very good place.

I'm going to go on here about REAL DEAL LASAGNE BOLOGNESE, and what makes it the real deal. If you don't want to be bored with food details or you already know what this lasagna is all about, just read this and skip ahead: this is excellent lasagna but it's different than "normal" lasagna... very little tomato and garlic, no extra sauce, no ricotta, no mozzarella on top, really great ragu and creamy sauce... you're gonna love it. So what makes "real deal" lasagne bolognese different than the "normal" version? It's mostly in how you prepare the ragu bolognese. See, we Americans think that "bolognese sauce" is just tomato sauce with beef, but the authentic version is quite different. It differs in a lot of ways, so let's just list them: almost no tomato, veggies like carrot and onion and celery, just a little garlic, and milk and nutmeg as prominent ingredients. So we take ground beef, saute that with the veggies and a smidge of garlic and tomato, add milk and wine, then cook that for hours and hours. The result is immediately different than a pasta sauce... it's actually closer to an American chili in texture. For the lasagna, we're going to take this wonderful ragu and add one more major ingredient, which is besciamella... basically, a thick creamy sauce that stands up to the ragu. The result is many layers of thin pasta, ragu, creamy sauce, and parmesan, sliced up and ready to heat in the oven. This preparation will show you why this dish has been copied and reinterpreted all over the world, because it's just that magical.

When you order food at a restaurant in Italy, there are a few different ways you can go. The best (in my opinion) is to do courses, and when you order a "main course" item, it's just the item. No sides. This means you've got to order sides too, or contorni. Our main dish this week needs a memorable sidekick, something that matches the gravity somewhat but brightens things up. ZUCCHINI "IN CARPIONE" is the perfect thing. Simple enough to let the star of the show shine, but interesting enough to not be forgettable. This is a Piedmont-style dish that's often served as an antipasto, but it works perfectly as a contorno for this week's menu. Lightly roasted fresh zucchini pieces, tossed with a snappy vinegar marinade and sweet onions while they're still warm, then marinated for a day or two and served chilled, finished with some fried sage and a glug of fancy olive oil. This simple preparation really lets the zucchini shine and the marinade gives just enough balance. You've got to eat your veggies, and this is a fantastic way.

We need to finish with something sweet and rich, but not TOO sweet and not TOO rich. There are lots of classic options that fit the bill, but I think "AMOR POLENTA" CAKE WITH MARINATED STRAWBERRIES is what I would want after this week's standard menu. This is a Lombardy classic, and I'm going to MOSTLY stick to tradition here... I'll be making a few small tweaks, and I'll be making this cake in a loaf pan rather than buying a bunch of the authentic ridged half-circle pans (looks are overrated for this anyway, it's what's on the inside that counts.) Fine cornmeal and ground almonds are the main ingredients here, with a little wheat flour for lightness, lemon zest for brightness, and toasted butter for richness. This cake is simple on purpose, but we can make things a little more complex with some simple balsamic-marinated strawberries, so let's do that too. The simplicity makes the flavor from the cornmeal and almonds shine, and the sweet-tart strawberries make this dessert sing.