Amy Riolo - Italian Recipes For Dummies

Sundays and holidays provide an opportunity for families to rest, relax, congregate and eat well. Historically speaking, the day of rest was one in which people would save the best cuts of meat, prepare more time-consuming recipes, and share the bounty of their garden with their loved ones. Sundays are like a little holiday during each week where the old adage “a Sunday well spent brings a week of content” gets represented well in the kitchen.

Larger holidays offer a much larger culinary stage where we can showcase traditional recipes that are often prepared only once or twice a year, and awaited with much anticipation. Sundays and holidays are indeed a time when our schedule, budgets, and calorie counting are set aside to enjoy la dolce vita (the sweet life), and that, of course, starts in the kitchen!

According to a recent Italian news report, 70 percent of modern Italians still observe the traditional pranzo domenicale or Sunday lunch tradition. Customarily, Italians both in the United States and abroad congregate with their families on Sundays. Traditionally, this included not only the nuclear family, but also grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Being invited to a pranzo domenicale of a family other than your own denotes a deep level of friendship and a familial closeness.

Sunday lunches are usually held a bit later than the typical 1 p.m. and last for hours. Common times for the pranzo della domenica are 2-6 p.m. or 3-7 p.m. For that reason, the foods served on this occasion overlap lunch and dinner. Many of the customs surrounding this meal were based on Roman Catholicism. Families did not eat meat from Friday until after having taken communion on Sunday at mass. Slowly simmered ragú was the perfect after-church treat and has become ubiquitous on Sundays in Italy, as have meatballs (served as a second course), roasts, and stews.

Homemade pasta dishes, elaborate sauces, and homey, regional cuisine is often commonplace on Sundays in Italy. Even though the religious significance is no longer the main reason that many people eat this way on Sunday, it is still the culturally preferred way of eating, and many families continue to cook these types of meals on a weekly basis. Modern families also enjoy the pranzo domenicale in restaurants on occasion. Even though they are eaten outside the home, the spirit, conviviality, and family nature of the meals, as well as their length, are still the same.

People who cook Sunday and holiday meals, mind you, don’t do it all in one day. They plan ahead. Preparing sauces and doughs in advance and having a game plan along with a menu can make the task much more fun and less complicated. Plus, thinking about the Sunday meal can be a fun diversion in the early parts of the week. To make your own Sunday meal, look at the suggested seasonal menus above and do some of these:

Add another appetizer or two.

Add a proper (sweet) dessert after the fruit course or purchase pastries from a local pastry shop.

Serve homemade or artisan bread with the meal.

In place of all first and second courses (with the exception of the heat of summer), serve Tagliatelle Bolognese/ Tagliatelle with Meat Ragú with a seasonal appetizer, salad, and dessert.

Tables 4-5through 4-8provide example menus by season.

TABLE 4-5:Spring Sunday Menu

TABLE 4-6: Summer Sunday Menu

TABLE 4-7: Fall Sunday Menu

TABLE 4-8:Winter Sunday Menu