That they should have set themselves such a task excited wonder. That they accomplished it exactly in the terms that they imposed on themselves – absolute fidelity to the recipes as they appear in my book – arouses amazement. They held me spellbound for fourteen and a half months. Their posts were often so felicitously anecdotal, that Victor and I pulled them up, gripped by the kind of anticipation with which one might follow suspenseful episodes of cliff-hanging adventures.

Will Irene overcome her loathing of eggs and taste the frittata? How can Palma get past cooking a whole fish that is looking at her in the eye? Is Jerry about to touch those lamb kidneys with his ungloved hands? How is Doug going to fulfill his assignments if there is nowhere in Ontario that he can get caul fat, cranberry beans, or maraschino liqueur? Can Deborah make smothered lettuce with that hateful Boston variety?

During its life, and even before its existence in its present form, my book was itself pushed to the edge of a few cliffs. A substantial part of it was first published in 1973 as The Classic Italian Cook Book. It nearly perished in the indifferent hands of its original publisher until it was rescued and reissued by Judith Jones, Julia’s editor at Knopf.

In 1992 I updated the recipes of that first cookbook, combined them with those of my second, More Classic Italian Cooking, added a long chapter on the fundamentals of Italian cooking and fifty new recipes, and titled this compilation Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, the book through which the Pomodori team have cooked their way. Curiously, it did not win the heart of the editor who had once been so supportive, and Essentials might have been stillborn had it not found immediate favor with cooks everywhere. The last time I looked, it was in its 28th printing and going strong. It has been equally successful in its British edition and in several translations.

The history of Essentials reaches its zenith in the odyssey of the Pomodori, who lifted it out of its pages and brought it to their kitchens and onto their tables. It felt as though two decades and more had fallen away and I was living again, day after day, a significant part of my productive life. No author could ever expect such a gift.

Thank you Beth, thank you Irene, thank you Doug, thank you Cindy, thank you Sandi & Jan, thank you Jerry & Palma! Thank you Deborah, peerless photographer, irresistible persuader, supreme organizer. Friend.

As Deborah laid out in her final blog, one of our commandments that we all swore to live by, was to follow the recipes exactly. We were not allowed to change anything. I really hadn’t realized before how much I tinker with every recipe that I make. When I started to make my first recipe, I had to stop myself multiple times from adding or subtracting ingredients. I even had the sneaky thought that as long as it wouldn’t show up in the picture who would know! I then stepped back and realized that the challenge is about working outside of our comfort zone. I needed to conform to the rules.

This was so much harder than it sounded. You have to understand that one of my jobs for our business is to come up with the recipes for the café. The way I normally do that is to find a few recipes that have aspects that I like and then combine them until I come up with a recipe that works. This was quite a hard habit to break. I did it though, even when it just seemed wrong to me. I found out that when I did exactly as Marcella said, the results were amazing.

The recipes that I loved the most were ones that stretched my cooking skills to the limit. I had never made my own pasta so I was especially proud of how my Tortelloni with Swiss Chard and the Gratineed Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi turned out. My mouth waters just thinking about them. My favorite meat recipe was the Veal Roll with Spinach and Proscuitto Stuffing.

I have made this a couple of times now and it is always a hit. I found a lot of recipes to love in this book, so it is hard to narrow down my favorites, but I think these would be my top three.

I want to thank all of the other Pomodori for their wonderful stories that they have posted during this process. It is my habit to read the blog every morning after checking my email. I will dearly miss this. Even on those days when I didn’t feel great something in the post would make me laugh. I also felt connected to these other people that were going through this process with me. That was a very special feeling. I did not comment on many of the posts, but there were so many that touched me greatly. I will also miss Marcella’s comments to all of us. They made me realize, even more, how much thought and care that she had put into every recipe in the book. I really want to thank Deborah for including me in this process. It has been a great learning and growing experience. I will miss it.

Looking back over the past 15 months, I am very pleased and honored that I participated in this project. I have learned much, and eaten well. I am touched by the knowledge, the experience, the love and support Marcella and Victor have given to this blog. I am humbled to be in the company of my fellow pomodori, and admire everyone’s dedication, persistence and honesty. I raise my wine glass to toast this group of brave home cooks!

There have been many special moments. I learned to clean an artichoke correctly. I cooked lamb kidneys and a whole fish. I made Marcella weep at my aversion to tomatoes. I also made her laugh with a “Pasta, Pasta, Pasta” DVD. I wandered the markets in Venice and Bologna with an improved understanding of ingredients. I have a new repertoire of dishes to serve guests. I have a slightly stained and well-used copy of a wonderful cookbook.

My favorite dishes could be served in this dinner party menu:

Antipasti:
Chunks of 36 month parmigiano with 25 year-old balsamico and Cresentina (mine WAS better than Diana’s)

Primi:
Handmade tagliatelle with butter and rosemary sauce (my absolute favorite recipe!)
I think of this as "making dinner from nothing". There is always pasta and bullion cubes in my pantry. There is always rosemary in my garden. If there is butter and garlic in the fridge, we have the makings of a remarkable and simple dish!

Secondi:
Rolled-up breast of veal with pancetta OR Veal Rolls with anchovies and mozzarella

Braised and Gratineed Celery

Pan Roasted Diced Potatoes

Dolci:

I’m not a big dessert person, but some macerated fruit and a hazelnut cookie sound perfect!

Mille grazie to Marcella, Victor, all the Pomodori, and to Deborah for keeping us organized on this memorable project!

So today, I will share with you the menu that I have choosen based on the recipes I have cooked from "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking". This menu is the one that I would cook when planning a feast for friends. The one that I can imagine really enjoying cooking, as my friends sit around sipping great wine and lending a helping hand as needed. This is the meal I can picture sitting around my large dining room table, in front of a roaring fire, with the lights dimmed, as we anticipate the awaiting flavors that our noses have already experienced, and now our mouths are now eagerly waiting to taste.

We would begin the meal with the simple appetizer of Marinated Carrot Sticks. Tender carrots, gentle spices, and the tang of red wine vinegar.

We would next move on to our first course. An amazing Lasagne with Mushrooms and Ham. Creamy, earthy, and very flavorful.

The main course would be Oven Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Rosemary. A delicious simple roasted chicken, flavored with the perfect duo of garlic and rosemary. And of course, roasted potatoes would be served alongside.

The chicken would be accompanied by the side dish of Asparagus and Proscuitto bundles. Who cares if there was already ham in the lasagne - this dish is too good not to include.

And Fresh Mushrooms with Porcini, Rosemary, and Tomatoes, because we haven't yet had our fill of mushrooms or rosemary.

Dessert would be a fruit dessert of Baked Apples with Amaretti Cookies. Few ingredients, but those that mesh perfectly together.

Did I mention there would be lots of wine flowing, lots of great conversation, and lots of toasts to Marcella and Victor, with whom this wonderful experience would never have been without their support and encouragement? Cheers, Marcella and Victor. I thank you both.

But I must confess that I was a bit intimidated. I had only prepared one of my assigned recipes previously and several of them called for unfamiliar ingredients or implements. I would never consider myself more than an enthusiastic cook and I knew that at least some of my cohorts are very accomplished and expert in the kitchen. Plus, I wasn't really a great fan of Italian cooking. Most of my travels in Europe have been based in France, that most civilized country - and my culinary interests, such as they were, centred around French cooking.

Early on, I decided to conclude my account of preparing each recipe by addressing three issues:

1. What I liked about the recipe.
2. What I didn't like about the recipe.
3. Would I make it again?

I thought such an approach would keep me honest about the recipe and might be of some assistance to followers of the blog. It was the best decision I could have made.

How is my life different from having participated in this project?

• I don't skip over a recipe because it might seem a bit complicated or call for a novel ingredient.
• I am a familiar face in some specialty food stores in the Ottawa area.
• I do more shopping at butcher shops.
• I assemble all the ingredients for a recipe in front of me before starting.
• I plan my garden with specific recipes in mind.
• I prepare many more meals than before.
• I use the "Defrost" setting on the microwave much less often.
• I am much more confident in the kitchen.

Those are a few of the more obvious changes, but I know it goes deeper than that.

Recipe prepared most often:

Stuffed Spaghetti Frittata with Tomato, Mozzarella and Ham. This is a great recipe, a favourite with friends and family - quick and easy and delicious. Everybody asks for the recipe.

Biggest surprise:

Sunchoke and Spinach Salad. I had difficulty obtaining the sunchokes - Jerry came to my rescue. I have planted sunchokes on my property. This simple recipe was my favourite salad.

Forever favourites:

Shrimp with Tomatoes and Chili Pepper. Easy to prepare with my favourite shellfish as the main ingredient.

Fricasseed Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon Juice. Now I much prefer starting with a whole chicken, fresh from a butcher shop, rather than parts wrapped in plastic and laying on a styrofoam tray.

Veal Scaloppine in Parchment with Fontina Cheese. Sure to impress, this is the first recipe I prepared that I thought approached a professional standard.

Tuscan Meat Roll with White Wine and Porcini Muchrooms. A big leap up from the humble meat loaf - economical, easy to prepare and a great result.

Crisp Fried Zucchini Blossoms. A seasonal treat not to be missed. The main reason to plant zucchinis in my garden.

Eggplant Patties with Parsley, Garlic and Parmesan. Another summer treat using fresh produce from my garden.

Diplomatico - A Chocolate Dessert with Rum and Coffee. A great dessert, as good or better than the best you can recall. Guaranteed.

Frozen Tangerine Shells Filled with Tangerine Sorbet. This takes a while and requires an ice cream maker, but the final result is well worth the time and effort.

When I joined this group I owned Marcella's book, but I had never really heard of her. I had no idea of the place that Marcella Hazan occupies in the pantheon of cooking icons. A couple of weeks ago I read her memoir, Amarcord and got a better understanding of the person behind the inspiration for this project and her generally positive comments on this blog.

Thank you, Marcella, for your faithful attention to our efforts.

And thank you to all those who have contributed comments.

And thank you to Beth, Irene, Cindy, Sandi, Jan, Jerry, Palma, Kim - my fellow travelers on this journey.

And thank you, especially, to Deborah who invited me along for the ride.

Marcella Hazan is one of my few culinary heros. I have two copies of Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. A stained and dog-eared one I've been using for years, and one I bought new when we began the project so I could send it to her for an autograph.

When the suggestion was made that we cook our way through Essentials, my immediate reaction was horror. Horror at the idea that we would be compared to a certain self-absorbed basket case who made a name for herself by stumbling through another well known cookbook.

I'm so grateful to my partners in this project. They all agreed that If we were going to do this thing, we wanted it to be about the process, not about our own personal dramas. We wanted this challenge to be an educational experience.

Most of all, we just wanted to remind as many people as we could that before there was a Food Network creating instant celebrities; before there were classically trained chefs building signature restaurants in Las Vegas; before cooking became a sport -- there was a woman who married a man who loved food. A woman who did the best she could to bring the cooking of her home country to a strange city in order to feed her husband well. And as it turned out, a woman who ended up teaching America what real and authentic Italian cooking was supposed to be. Marcella may have been knighted in Italy, but she is America's national treasure.

We set only two rules because we knew we weren't good at following them. Those two simple rules proved to be what pulled us out of our comfort zones and by doing so shaped the character of our blog.

Rule Number One: We were to follow the recipes exactly. No changes of any kind. That deceptively simple rule caused mighty consternation for a bunch of self-described "acomplished home cooks". We each trusted our own tastes and were all quite comfortable tinkering with recipes. But by following that rule, we learned a lesson about the art in cooking. It is just as much about what you don't put in a dish as what you do.

Michelanglo's David is a masterpiece - not because of the stone you see, but because of the stone you don't see. His talent was in knowing what to remove.

If Marcella tells me to peel a bell pepper before cooking, its because her talent is knowing the skin couldn't be part of the masterpiece.

Rule Number Two: - we would take the recipes in order - forced every one of us out of our comfort zones. Of the 62 recipes I was responsible for, only a handful were regular favorites I had cooked before. Some of them intimidated me. Some of them just didn't appeal. But not having a choice was very liberating.

I passed up the Risotto with Celery page in the book for years. When it ended up on my list I turned up my nose. The idea of making plain old celery the star of a risotto dish just sounded ridiculous to me. It appears my attitude was what was ridiculous. I've made it repeatedly since I was forced to on July 27th.

Another dish that I would have never cooked had it not been assigned was Frittata with Pasta. I seriously wondered if Marcella had thrown that recipe into the book to see if anyone was paying attention. But now? Well, if there was a picture in the dictionary next to the term "comfort food", it would be this!

When I discovered I had not one but three squid recipes, I considered trying to renegotiate the rule. I hated squid. In my experience, squid was deep fried, greasy rubber bands that tasted of stale oil. I made my first squid recipe, a soup with artichokes. It was tender and delicious. Next came Halibut over Squid Sauce. Quite nice. And then, one of my favorite recipes of the entire 62 weeks. Squid with Porcini Mushrooms Stuffing. This dish is now one of my food daydreams.

As it turns out, we did have to break the no switching rule. But we did it because Doug found he absolutely could not locate a key ingredient where he lived. So he and I traded back-to-back recipes and I ended up on a wonderful quest to find fresh caul for Grilled Pork Liver Wrapped in Caul.

But what was my favorite dish out of the entire 62? How could I even choose? As I sat here writing it turned out to be an easy choice. It was Red and Yellow Bell Pepper Sauce with Sausages , the dish that combined the adventure of making something that seemed impossible happen with the chance to give back to Marcella and Victor. It was the dish that sent me all over The Hill neighborhood looking for something that didn't exist until I insisted - sweet Italian pork sausage with only salt and pepper.

What do I consider to be the highlight of the last 62 weeks? That's an easy one. Dan and I had the great pleasure of meeting Marcella and Victor last January when we were graciously invited to there home for dinner. What an honor sharing a table with Victor & Marcella; enjoying a meal prepared by her hands. It was something I could never have dreamed when we began this delightful journey.

Another unexpected, yet cherished result of this project is Marcella's wonderful husband and writing partner, Victor Hazan. His old world gallantry and witty writing make it a delight to open my email and find a new note, sharing a link to yet another wonderful online source for some delicacy. They are a perfect team.

Thank you, Marcella and Victor. Thank you for allowing us to intrude on your lives for 62 weeks. Thank you for generously embracing our project. We will be forever in your debt.

When discussions about this project began, I was not very interested. I do not consider myself a foodie. Second, my experience with Italian food left much to be desired. Third, I enjoy cooking occasionally. I would not say it is one of my favorite activities. Honestly, I was thinking what is the big deal? My friend, Deborah, has a very persuasive nature. She immediately highlighted why this should and would be a big deal. The group experience changed my mind. I also realized it might be a fun way to move past the Italian food stereotypes. I signed up for Mondays which at the time was my least busy day of the week.

So, what have I learned?
• A cookbook with tested recipes and well written instructions does not need color photos.
• Italian dairy products are superior.
• Simple does not mean tasteless.
• Italian grown imported San Marzano tomatoes are fruits of the Gods.
• Tuna packed in Olive Oil is not oily and gross.
• Quality food ingredients are hard to find in my country and especially in the Midwest region. What should be the agricultural standard is offered to us at a premium. Thank goodness for food and wine imports.
• I’m a better cook than I thought.

I have enjoyed many of the recipes I have made. Several have made it into special categories. I look forward to exploring the rest of this cookbook.

Recipes I’m most proud of completing
Peas, Peppers and Prosciutto Sauce with Cream tossed with handmade Garganelli
Pan-Roasted Whole Boned Chicken with Beef and Parmesan Stuffing
Fried Calf’s Brains

Recipe I want to eat most often
Mushroom, Ham, and Cream Sauce with yellow and green fettuccine

Recipe I’m most proud of eating
Frittata with Pan-Fried Onions and Potatoes

Favorite photo
Bolognese Meat Sauce

Recipe I was surprised to enjoy
Stuffed Whole Stuffed Squid Braised with Tomatoes and White Wine

Recipes so good I dream about them
Panzanella – Bread Salad
The Chimney Sweep’s Gelato
Pizza with Margherita Topping

Recipes my husband enjoyed the most
Tomatoes Stuffed with Tuna
Poached Tuna and Spinach Roll
Vitello Tonnato- Cold Sliced Veal with Tuna Sauce
Chicken Fricassee with Porcini Mushrooms, White Wine and Tomatoes
Potatoes Baked with Porcini and Fresh Cultivated Mushrooms, Riviera Style
Sweet Pastry Fritters
This is very interesting because he says he does not like tuna or mushrooms. This food challenge has expanded his palate even if he will not admit it.

Special thanks to:

Thank you to all of the Pomodori e Vino followers.

Mindy - For being the first person I did not know to post a comment. I was nervous thinking no one would show interest. That post helped me breathe a sigh of relief. Your bravo’s, rah rah’s and continued support have been greatly appreciated.

Susie L. – For being my most frequent commenter. I’m glad you took the time to show your support. Thank you.

Kim – Thank you for all the technical support. This blog would not exist without you.

Viviano’s Market – Thanks for procuring some of the ingredients I have used. My veal posts would not have been possible without you.

Beth, Deborah, Doug, Cindy, Sandi, Jan, Jerry and Palma – I really appreciate the encouragement you have provided, the safe place to vent, and laughs. Your combined culinary knowledge and travel experience is very impressive. I am very fortunate to have met each of you. I wish you many successes in the future.

Marcella,

Thank you for the privilege to interpret your art using my humble skills. You have forever changed how I view Italian cuisine. I noticed The Classic Italian Cook Book was originally published in 1973. I was born December of the same year. How serendipitous to make your recipes many years later with you and Victor as chaperones.

Many times through out this cooking challenge I have felt this cookbook was written just for me. The level of detail you have given on regions of Italy, food ingredients and the precision of your instructions have made cooking a very enjoyable experience. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on a culinary institute or trip abroad, I have upgraded my culinary skills from the comfort of my own kitchen. Often times with fine restaurant quality results.

Seeing our endeavor as an event worthy of your time has been a tremendous honor. Your personal stories, assistance, constructive criticism and kind words have enriched this project tremendously. The last 63 weeks have been a once in a lifetime experience I will never forget. I send a big hug to both of you.

Warmest Regards and Deepest Gratitude,
Irene

This is my last recipe post for this adventure. Also it is the last recipe in the book. Isn’t that the saddest thing that you have ever heard? I won’t wax poetic at this point, but I will surely miss this.

This recipe is simple to make, but very hearty. A simple dough of flour, water, salt, baking powder and olive oil is kneaded together and then rolled out. 3 inch squares are cut out and then filled with a variety of items. The recipe in the book gives two types. One is tomato, caper and anchovy and the other is a combination of savory and mild cheeses. I chose to use the combination of ricotta and gorgonzola. These are then sealed and deep fried until they turn brown.

Michael helped me with rolling the dough out. I found it funny that for the last post he would actually be around to help. Of course, this doesn’t include helping to eat all of the recipes, because you know that he has always been there for that part. This time he also saved my dumplings from burning, because I foolishly thought I could fry and finish stuffing them at the same time. Bad Idea! Anyway, when we finished frying them he couldn’t wait to try them and had wonderful things to say about them. I really liked them too. The combination of flavors was tasty. I think this would be great to use for appetizers maybe with both types of fillings for variety.

It starts out with preparing the greens, a ratio of 2 pounds swiss chard and 1 pound rapini—washing, boiling and sautéing in olive oil and garlic.

(These turned out to be the best greens I’ve ever cooked! Eating the leftovers the next day was a real prize.)

Step two is making the piadina dough. (You can read Cindy’s post from the day before for more details on piadina.) Using the well method, it gets kneaded on the counter top.

Mine was very stiff and it took a good amount of energy to get it to be nice and elastic. We used the pasta maker to make thin sheets of the dough and cut it into squares.

Each square is stuffed with a layer of the greens; then it’s folded over to make a triangle shape.

The stuffed dumplings are browned on the griddle for about 5 minutes.

I thought we had made a lot but they were gone quickly. Perfect with a nice bottle of wine!

Wow, I can't believe it. My last recipe to cook for the Pomodori E Vino blog. Definitely not my last recipe to cook from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking though. I'll write more of my thoughts in my last blog entry for this project, but already, as I'm typing this right now, I have tears forming in my eyes. This has been an adventure for sure.

Enough of the reminiscing for now. Back to the recipe. Today's recipe is Piadina, a thin flat bread from the Romagna area. Marcella explains that traditionally, this bread is cooked on a terra-cotta slab called a testo. Since most of us have no access to a testo, we can substitute with a heavy cast iron skillet. This bread is very easy and quick to make. Mix together flour, olive oil (or shortening), milk water, salt, and bicarbonate of soda, then knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Roll out pieces of the dough in a circular shape, very thin, then place in the hot skillet. This doesn't take much time to cook - 3 or 4 minutes for each piece. At this point, the bread is speckled with dark brown spots, but still chewy and tender. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

Marcella suggests serving this with one of the recipes in the vegetable section of Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Sauteed Mixed Greens with Olive Oil and Garlic. That's what I served mine with, except I had to adapt. I forgot to buy rapini at the store, so I was lacking the bitter aspect of the greens. It's a mixture of spinach or Swiss chard, rapini, Savoy cabbage. Besides forgetting the rapini, I still didn't have the correct mix due to not being able to find all of the ingredients. I used spinach, kale (small, tender leaves), and Napa cabbage. And the outcome was delicious.

Try making this when you want a very quick bread to serve as an accompaniment or even as your main dish. I served the Piadina with the Mixed Greens, along with a nice glass of red wine, and I'm still stuffed, a couple of hours later.

There is nothing wrong with their five-minute-no-knead bread. It is quite delicious. And because of it, I make homemade bread much more frequently that I would otherwise.

But, once in a while, it just feels like a special accomplishment to do something the hard way - without shortcuts.

This bread is all about the choice of flour. You want the high gluten, hard durum wheat flour.
As Marcella explaines - "It makes a very fine-textured and fragrant bread, with a biscuity quality, that tastes even better when reheated and used a day after it is made."

I pretty much wore myself out kneading, and kneading, and kneading. The dough is shaped into a ring, brushed with water, scored and baked. The result did not disappoint. We enjoyed every bite. And since there was just Dan and I, we made it last for four days. By that fourth day, it was perfect in the bottom of a bowl of soup.

And now I'll go back to making my lazy, slacker's bread.

I was planning to make this after work yesterday but with temperatures over 90 degrees the last thing I wanted to think about was baking bread. Yes, I do have air conditioning but I refuse to turn it on this early in the year. So I decided to pretend I was a baker and make it overnight after the temperature dropped a bit.

All the instructions and ingredients are the same as Beth’s Olive Oil Bread from yesterday except the flour proportions are different. In this recipe you use a combination of stone-ground whole wheat flour and unbleached flour. The steps are not difficult but the process takes a while because of all the rising time.

This is the first time I have made a loaf of bread. I think it turned out very well. The loaf has a sturdy crust with a nice crumb. I enjoyed it with butter and orange marmalade. Fresh bread for breakfast could turn into an addiction.