Italy, So Close You Can Taste It
By DAVID TANIS
WHEN I’m in a hurry to get dinner together, the last thing I want is to stand in line at the supermarket. More often than not, I will pop into my local Italian deli, really a little hole in the wall but a treasure trove of ingredients.

Though I could make a meal of what I buy there without much cooking at all (and will, and do, and have), a good deli can also be a starting point for a fine simple meal, whether it is a dead-easy satisfying pasta or something more elaborate.

Here is what can be found at mine: a decent ciabatta, a choice of several types of prosciutto and an assortment of salumi, and mozzarella made daily. That’s just for starters. Then there are good anchovies, salt-packed or in oil; salted capers and capers in vinegar; and a well-curated selection of olives.

Plus, parmigiano and Romano cheeses for grating, dried pasta in every shape and tortellini in assorted colors (simply boiled and served in a bowl of chicken broth — you could do a lot worse). Taralli with fennel seeds and pepper, long breadsticks and peperoncini. Olive oil, good canned tomatoes, imported lentils and spicy Calabrese fennel sausage (there’s another meal there).

But today, I might just grab a few items (sliced prosciutto, a ball of mozzarella, some anchovies, capers and olives) before ducking into a nearby organic greengrocer for a little produce. Arugula, romaine, tomatoes, peppers, fennel, cucumber, radishes — and a dozen eggs.

On the way home I compose the menu. There’s a frittata I want to make, which I learned from one of the best cooks I know. She uses raw shredded chard or spinach, but I’m going to use the arugula, along with prosciutto and mozzarella. You add ribbons of raw greens to beaten eggs, then proceed to make the frittata, flipping it like a big pancake. The greens are cooked in the process, and the flavor is phenomenal.

To go with this, I’m longing for a juicy Italianate chopped salad with great sweet seasonal tomatoes and peppers, good and garlicky, with just enough vinegar and anchovy.

Here’s how: for a half-cup of salad dressing, whisk together four tablespoons olive oil, two tablespoons red-wine vinegar, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, two minced garlic cloves, a finely chopped anchovy fillet, a big grind of black pepper and a pinch of salt.

Cut a couple of tomatoes into chunks or wedges, slice a ripe bell pepper, a cucumber, some fennel bulb and a few radishes. Add some thinly sliced onion if you like. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper and dress them with half the vinaigrette, and marinate for up to a half-hour. Toss with chopped romaine leaves and a little more dressing.

With drinks we will have slices of spicy soppressata and Genoa salami, and crostini with a quickly made black olive schmear. Any good black olive will do, but dark, meaty, oil-cured olives are ideal. You will need a half-cup of pitted olives, two teaspoons of capers, a garlic clove, a pinch of red pepper flakes and enough olive oil to make a spreadable mixture. Whiz the ingredients in a blender or hand-chop for a coarser version. For the crostini, simply toast thin slices of bread, then spread with olive paste.

Oh, and for dessert? My Italian deli also sells the best hazelnut biscotti...
Full Article and Greens Frittata recipe