Juicy, Saucy Summer Vegetables "all'Italiana" (PLUS NEWS)
A summer series + something new for Dash of Prosecco
Welcome to Dash of Prosecco — I’m Sinù Fogarizzu, a food writer from Venice, and this is where I celebrate the simple and delicious home cooking of La Serenissima.
I took a little break from publishing here after Venice’s elections, back in May. My partner, Pier, has been elected as a councillor and I’ve been hard at work to submit my first commissioned article. It’s about Mestre and what it feels like to live in the mainland of Venice as a local. I’ll give you a heads up once it’s out — soon!
Today I’m serving you a delicious mini-series dedicated to Italian summer cooking. I’m also inviting you to join the Dash of Prosecco community — an intimate space for those who care about Venice, its food and its people. Make sure to read till the end.
Juicy, saucy and irrational
Every summer, when temperatures climb high enough that sensible people start avoiding the stove, Italians do something rather irrational. We turn it on.
Heatwaves are no joke and a real health hazard for many of us. Only, I’m one of those Italians who can’t keep away from live fire. We sweat in the kitchen now more than ever, with a resoluteness and sense of purpose that’s hard to explain.
Why, then, when the weather turns aggressive, can’t we stop ourselves from manning the stove and the oven, too? Why are we only satisfied once the kitchen feels hotter than the street outside?
It’s not masochism, I’m telling you. The culprit is… memory.
Summer simply wouldn’t be summer without warm peperonata on a thick slice of Tuscan bread. Or parmigiana. Or charred peppers waiting to cool on the counter.
Green beans, peppers, eggplant, zucchini — we cook them down in rustic tomato sauce until soft; blister them on wonky roasting tins until shiny and collapsing; or caramelise them deeply into sticky sweet-and-sour delights…
Because, for many Italians, the real flavour of these long hot nights and their hearbreakingly pink skies lies not in a salad of raw tomatoes, delicious though it is.
We long for the syrupy juices of garden vegetables. How they bring sweetness to our mouths, and trickle down our forearms, staining crisp summer shirts and kitchen towels — irreparably. That’s what transports us back and says: it’s summer, again.
Summer Vegetables all'Italiana
Let me welcome you to “Summer Vegetables all’Italiana”, a mini-series dedicated to hot weather abundance, the Italian way.
Over the next weeks, I’ll share the very recipes I make for my family here on the mainland of Venice, come July. We’ll look at how to turn the freshest seasonal produce into the juiciest, sauciest dishes for the table — with zero effort and as little time spent in a hot kitchen as possible, I promise.
THESE are the dishes that taste like summer to me. Here’s our lineup:
🫑 My tegoline al pomodoro (garlicky green beans stewed in tomato polpa)
🫑 Quick, juicy, roast Roma tomatoes to use in 100 different ways
🫑 Sweet-and-sour peppers and onions inspired by Venice’s iconic “saor” (but quicker)
🫑 Peperonata Veneta, or Veneto-style ratatouille (slightly different from what you’ll find elsewhere in Italy)
They’re wonderful served warm or cold, and even more amazing on day two, with good bread, a fried egg, burrata, or mixed into an impromptu rice salad.
I normally cook them by instinct — they’re so foundational it’s easy to take them for granted — but they’re the recipes I wait all year to make. It’s high time I write them down for you.
We start next week with tegoline al pomodoro — garlicky green beans stewed in tomato polpa — free for everyone.
Paid subscribers will also receive my recipe for quick roast Roma tomatoes (with my favourite Italian supermarket herb mixes) a few days later.
Which leads me to a little announcement…
An invitation to join the next chapter of Dash of Prosecco
The paid edition of Dash of Prosecco is a community of like-minded souls who care about Venice, its food and its people.
This private space has been on pause for almost two years — I paused it right before becoming a new mom — and I’m finally ready to reopen it.
Ever since joining Substack, I’ve wanted to cultivate a more intimate space where we come together to celebrate the beauty of simple Venetian home cooking. A space where we can also have honest conversations around life in modern Venice and Italy.
If you appreciate good food, simplicity and seasonality and are just as curious to see what all that looks like in my Venetian kitchen, I’m sure you’ll love joining me behind the paywall.
Here’s what a paid subscription will get you:
Simple, repeatable Venetian and Italian recipes for your home-cooking repertoire + my upcoming Venetian cookbook series
Private recommendations for local ingredients, edible souvenirs, makers, shops, markets and beautiful objects for your kitchen and home
Personal stories and opinion pieces on food, family and life in modern Venice
Access to the paid archive
I’ve been longing for a place to share more about how we live and think — and of course cook! I think this might be it.
If you’re reading from the Substack app, click here to go to the web version and avoid extra processing fees (up to 40%).
I’m running a special offer that makes the annual subscription extremely affordable. It’s my way of saying thank you and inviting you into the next chapter of Dash of Prosecco.
The offer runs until the end of September and gives you access to all new paid pieces and features for the next 12 months at half the regular price (50% off).
If you’re reading from the Substack app, click here to go to the web version and avoid extra processing fees (up to 40%).
Coming up for paid subscribers:
Juicy roast Roma tomatoes and my favourite Italian supermarket herb mixes.
Let’s talk about overtourism: why I don’t find the “locals vs tourists” debate helpful.
Inside my Venetian cookbook collection (a new series).
From the paid archive (accessible now):
Dinner in Venice — an intimate restaurant + insider intel on the state of the lagoon and imported seafood.
4 Venice Instagram accounts you should follow — hyperlocal ingredients, vintage boats, lagoon activism...
The BEST movies on contemporary life in Venice — as part of my 2024 Easter Special.
I hope you’ll join me behind the paywall!
See you next week with a glorious pan of stewed green beans all’Italiana.
Happy Summer,
Sinù xx
About me
My name is Sinù Fogarizzu and I’m a food writer from the mainland of Venice, Italy. I’ve been writing Dash of Prosecco since 2021! When you subscribe, you’ll receive recipes from my family’s table, notes on our local cuisine, and thoughts on what it means to call Venice — a unique place — home. You’re welcome to browse past posts and visit my website. Come find me on Instagram.
These dishes all look fantastic 😋
Congratulations to Pier on his electoral success!
Speaking of elected officials, perhaps you have heard those in USA have essentially decided food safety is no longer their concern? For that reason, we're all a little wary of uncooked vegetables at the moment. So I'm especially excited to attempt you tegoline al pomodoro recipe...any ideas about wine pairing you (or anybody else) would care to share will definitely be appreciated!
Everything looks terrific, Sinù! Congrats to Pier on his election victory and to you on your first commissioned article! Bravissimo!