A March Menu

Returning light and a Roman lunch

Mar 09, 2025

Happy Daylight Saving Time, darlings! Tonight in New York, the sun will set at a miraculous seven o’clock (6:56, if we’re being particular), and I’m so looking forward to the days feeling more spacious. This is important for our collective wellbeing, of course, but also because today’s menu should only really be executed on a spacious-enough day to enjoy it.

This meal is not boxed mac and cheese with frozen peas, shoveled down your throat after work before getting horizontal on your bed for the rest of the night — although I admit that Teo and I had and did exactly that just a few days ago. This is, rather, a leisurely weekend lunch at home: very Euro, very much not New York.

When dreaming up the menu for such a lunch, my mind went to Rome — more specifically to my favorite restaurant there, Al Pompiere. (I’m sure this comes as no surprise to longtime readers.) This elegant, old-school restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto is where I discovered the profound pleasures of a long weekend lunch as the day’s main event. Although I would’ve preferred dining with company, I was alone more often than not, and the waiters were always nice to me, smiling in a way that I perceived as pity but also appreciated. My order almost always included a glass of cold white wine, a starter (usually something fried), a plate of pasta, a side of greens, long-cooked and glossy with olive oil, and an affogato. If that sounds like a lot, I’ll say that it never felt like a lot; the portions were right, and nobody ever rushed me, so I took as much time as I needed.

This menu isn’t exactly my Al Pompiere order, but its spirit is the same: a leisurely lunch with a glass of white wine, a starter, a pasta, a green thing, and an affogato.

A March Menu

Taralli & Marinated Artichoke Hearts

Taralli are crunchy, ring-shaped Italian crackers, commonly served at aperitivo. I accidentally bought these sesame taralli instead of plain ones recently, and now they’re my preferred variety — fragrant and nutty, with the signature taralli crunch.

For something fresh, I like marinated artichoke hearts. Despite the fact that artichokes are a spring vegetable and rarely grown in the Northeast due to harsh winters, I crave them year-round. Thankfully, canned artichoke hearts exist. I buy them unmarinated (packed in water) and marinate them myself, using Alison Roman’s approach as my guide. All you do is infuse olive oil with aromatics, then pour the hot, flavorful oil over the drained and quartered artichoke hearts. It’s so easy, and tastes 10x better than any pre-marinated artichoke hearts I’ve ever tried. A good trick to have in your arsenal.

Spaghetti with Prosciutto & Fava Beans

Fava beans and pecorino are a classic combination in Rome, traditionally eaten at the beginning of May. The fava beans are served whole, in their husks, with a hunk of pecorino, and you’re meant to open the beans yourself and eat them raw with bits of pecorino. This pasta, a variation on pasta alla gricia, includes both fava beans and pecorino — a nod to that tradition, which I fell in love with when living there.

Spaghetti with Prosciutto and Fava Beans
Serves 2
Ingredients
Kosher salt
1 cup fava beans (fresh or frozen), thick outer husks removed
Olive oil
2 ounces diced prosciutto (or guanciale, pancetta, or bacon)
Black pepper
6 ounces spaghetti
1 ounce finely grated Pecorino Romano
Directions
Blanch the fava beans and remove the outer layer: Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. When boiling, add the fava beans. Cook until they start to bust out of their jackets, about 1-2 minutes for fresh and 3-5 minutes for frozen. Drain and transfer to a bowl of ice water. Slip off the skins with your fingers and set aside the bright green fava beans for later.
Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low. Add the prosciutto and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat is rendered and the prosciutto is crisp. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate. Crack some black pepper into the prosciutto fat and cook for about a minute, until fragrant.
Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add the spaghetti and cook until a few minutes shy of al dente. Add a cup of pasta water to the prosciutto fat skillet and set the heat to high, stirring to emulsify the two. Reserve a few more cups of pasta water before draining the spaghetti. Transfer the spaghetti to the skillet and keep cooking it in the sauce, swirling constantly with tongs and adding more pasta water in small increments if the sauce reduces too quickly. Just before the spaghetti is done cooking, tilt the prosciutto and fava beans into the skillet and toss to combine and warm through.
Remove from the heat and add half of the grated pecorino, stirring constantly and quickly to emulsify. Once the first half is well-combined, add the remaining cheese, again stirring constantly and quickly to emulsify. Serve with extra black pepper on top.

Frisée with Anchovy-Basil Vinaigrette and/or Twice-Cooked Roman Greens

To lean into spring, I suggest a light, zingy salad. Frisée is perfect for this — a gorgeous, frilly green in the chicory family that pairs well with a punchy vinaigrette to stand up to its bitterness. For the vinaigrette try this:

Mince 1 garlic clove, 2 chopped anchovy fillets, and 6 basil leaves. Use the flat side of a knife to smash the ingredients into a paste. Transfer to a small bowl. Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, and ½ teaspoon dijon mustard. Slowly drizzle in ⅓ cup olive oil, whisking constantly. Taste and season accordingly.

Then there is my ultimate favorite green thing, well-documented on The Dish: twice-cooked, ripassata-style greens. I found Italian dandelion greens at the market from Lani’s Farm, so it was a no-brainer that I should double up on the greenery for this menu. Read here for ripassata wisdom.