Elisabetta came home with a sack of pea pods, and while something else was on the stove we shelled them. And then enjoyed them, simmered with a clove of garlic, salt, and pepper. Very simple, but quite good. One can do more with peas, however:

• Risi e Bisi, or Rice and Peas:
  The feast dish of the Venetian Doges, and nobody (in Venice) could make it until they said so.
• Spaghetti coi Piselli:
  Green Peas and Yellow Pasta are a pretty combination!
• Conchiglioni Ripieni ai Piselli:
  Conchiglioni are big pasta shells, filled here with peas and ricotta. You could also do this with cannelloni (manicotti in English).
• Sformato di Piselli e Asparagi:
  A flan made with Peas and Asparagus, two of the symbols of spring.

More About Peas and The Simplest Pea Recipe of All

Focaccia is a simple savory flatbread. Warm from the oven it's beautiful with a crisp cool white wine, or a rosé from the regione di Ponente (western Liguria, where the sun sets over the mountains).

In addition to being a nice change of pace from regular bread, it's a wonderful base for a sandwich, and (with the proper topping) is one of the finest nibble-foods there is.

Other Focaccia Recipes, and More About Focaccia

Crema Chantilly, made by combining equal volumes of crema pasticcera and whipped cream, adds an extraordinary touch to layer cakes and pastries. It's also easy to make, and will become one of your standard ingredients.

One of the easiest ways to save in a supermarket is to do the preparation yourself. Take chicken, for example: If you buy it cut up into serving-sized pieces it's going to cost significantly more than a whole chicken because the supermarket will pass on the cost of paying the person to cut up the chicken in the back room. The obvious solution is to do it yourself; if you've never quartered a chicken before, you'll find instructions (with photos) here.
What to do with a quartered chicken? Putting it on the grill is an excellent option (especially at this time of year), but there are others:

• Chicken fricassee in a creamy mushroom sauce.
• Chicken Cacciatore: Two versions, one very simple (with tomato and onion) and the other more elaborate.
• Chicken Marengo: the Dish Napoleon enjoyed after a glorious victory.
• Chicken with herbs: Simple and tasty.
• Chicken Marsala: Simmered in Sicily's glorious white wine.

This tasty, creamy fruit cocktail is a perfect example of the way modern Italian cooks are greeting new ingredients: mangoes are not native to Italy, but are much more common than they once were, and cheaper too. Add milk and something very old -- meringues -- to obtain a cool, refreshing treat and will be very nice when it's hot out.

The best known Italian roast pig is porchetta: A boned whole pig very well seasoned and spit roasted for hours. It's classic festival food, and a standby at markets and fairs. But unless you're feeding a huge gathering, and have quite a bit of experience managing a fire pit, roasting it's not practical. A piglet is, on the other hand, if you're feeding a large group -- say 20-30 people.

It does take planning, and a large oven, ideally wood-fired, though one could make due with gas or electric if one had to. Francesco restored the oven the tenant farmers living on the family estate used to use to make bread (and slept in during winter cold snaps, because it took days to cool completely) and now uses it to bake bread, and to roast meats, especially larger cuts. In this case, a piglet weighing about 10 kilos, or close to 25 pounds.

This potato and artichoke tart is fairly quick, easy, and also rather elegant. Elegant enough that Elisabetta and I took it to a potluck supper at a friend's, where it vanished.

Primo Maggio, May Day (or May first) is Labor Day in Italy, and while it was once the occasion for worker's meetings and marches, it's now more of a celebration, with free concerts and other events, and many choose to enjoy a picnic or barbecue. A couple of ideas, if you choose the picnic route:

Insalata di Riso: Rice salad varies tremendously from cook to cook, and is always satisfying.
Bowties With Chicken and Beans in a Spicy Sauce, or Farfalle Con Pollo e Fagioli in Salsa Piccante: A tasty, modern, and quite refreshing pasta salad.
Lemony Pasta Salad, or Insalata di Pasta Profumata al Limone: A tasty lemony pasta salad with plenty of tuna, which makes it a meal by itself (or with a green salad).
Panzanella: A Tuscan bread salad that's wonderful in the summer months.

More Picnic Foods | Other Pasta Salads

We had pizza last night, made from scratch -- once you've kneaded the dough, it's quite capable of rising on its own, so I helped Clelia with her homework and did other things while feeding the fire in the pizza oven. Which of course got hot, and since cooking pizza is a dynamic process one does without shutting the oven door, I decided to see what would happen to some salted and spiced spare ribs set on a rack in a pan in the oven's mouth.

They roasted beautifully, with almost all of the fat rendering out while the meat was delightfully browned, flavorful, and moist inside. In short, much nicer than what our conventional oven produces, and I attribute this to the hot air flowing over them and up the flue. Next time I'll do a chicken for those who don't like pizza (yes, such people do exist).

Pizza Recipes and More | Using a Wood-Fired Oven | Rosticciana, Tuscan Spare Ribs

Mozzarella is one of Campania's signature cheeses, and though the best is made from water buffalo milk (water buffalo have been in the region at least since the XII century, and some say much longer -- since Hannibal), cow milk mozzarella can be quite good too.

The best-known use for mozzarella is probably atop pizza, but there are many other things one can do as well.

• Insalata Caprese: A heavenly marriage between mozzarella and tomato.
• Mozzarella Fritta: You might not think to fry a cheese that melts, but it is good!
• Open-Faced Sandwich with Mozzarella and Eggplant: This will be a nice antipasto, or could work well at a quick, simple lunch if served with a crisp salad.
• Fusilli Con Verdura e Mozzarella: Mozzarella is one of the most refreshing cheeses there is, and works very well with grilled vegetables in this pasta sauce.
• Melanzane in Carrozza: A dish in carrozza has mozzarella, and is fried; it's also extremely Neapolitan, and if done right is superb. This is perhaps the most classic version, with eggplant.