In Mother Sauce: Italian American Family Recipes and the Story of the Women Who Created Them, Lucinda Scala Quinn shares more than 100 recipes that channel Sunday dinners of the past.
“Rarely are these women actually credited as the true founders of the Italian American cuisine,” Quinn writes. “Our immigrant Italian mammas fashioned a whole new foodway despite being ostracized from the mainstream society of their newly adopted country.”
Telling their stories while sharing their recipes, Quinn blends practical (and frugal!) Italian wisdom with essays, autobiographical details and archival photos that echo the comfort of a family gathering around a big Italian kitchen table. We share here Quinn’s recipe for a simple side of your own.
Fennel and Orange Salad
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Fennel, which has a long history in Italian cooking, was historically prized for its natural digestive properties thanks to the essential oil called anethole, which is also found in licorice. Both fennel seeds and bulbs were used in ancient potions to freshen breath, calm upset stomachs, and whet the appetite. Fresh fennel is versatile, equally welcome nibbled with your aperitivo, dipped in olive oil and salt, as it is layered into a dinner salad or on a dessert plate with fresh fruit.
This bracing, refreshing salad of fennel and oranges often includes small pitted olives or sliced red onions. Serve after the main dish as a palate cleanser and prelude to dessert. To prepare it in advance, arrange the salad on a platter, cover and refrigerate. Just before serving, drizzle over the dressing and garnish with the fennel fronds.
Ingredients
- 2 large oranges
- 1 small fennel bulb (7 ounces), stalks and fronds removed, fronds reserved for garnish, bulb halved, core removed, and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- Pinch of kosher salt
- Pinch of sugar
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Using a sharp paring knife, peel the skin and white pith from the oranges. Working over a bowl to catch the juices, remove the orange sections by slicing down the membranes on both sides to release the sections, letting them drop into the bowl. Then squeeze the membranes over the bowl to release all the juice.
- Arrange the fennel on a platter and top with the orange sections. Separate the reserved fennel fronds into small feathers.
- Whisk together the orange juice, vinegar, salt, sugar and pepper flakes in a small bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil, whisking, and continue to whisk until the dressing is emulsified.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad, top with the reserved fennel fronds, and serve.
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