Italian winter dinner

First course (

Any kind of vegetables may be used for this soup: carrots, celery, cabbage, turnips, onions, potatoes, spinach, the outside leaves of lettuce or greens of any variety.

Select three or four kind of vegetables, shred or chop coarsely cabbage or greens, and slice or cut in cubes the root vegetables. Put them over heat with a small quantity of cooking oil or butter substitute, and let them fry until they have absorbed the fat. Then add broth and cook until the vegetables are very tender. Fry croutons of stale bread in oil and serve them in the soup.

2nd CourseLEG OF LAMB

(Agnello all'Orientale)

This is a way to cook lamb in use in the Orient and adopted by the Italians, especially in Southern Italy. The leg of lamb is to be larded with the larding pin with slices of bacon seasoned with salt and pepper, greased with butter or milk, or milk alone and salted when half cooked.

The Arabs, who are very fond of this dish, do not lard it, as pork is forbidden by their religion, but cook it with an abundance of milk.

Side Plate STRING BEANS AND SQUASHES SAUTÉ

(Fagiolini e zucchini sauté)

Brown in butter some string beans, that have been previously half cooked in water and some raw squashes cut in cubes. Put the squashes in only when the butter is beginning to brown. Season moderately with salt and butter and add some brown stock or good tomato sauce.

Sweet 

Pan-forte di Siena (Sienese Hardbake)

Ingredients: Honey, almonds, filberts, candied lemon peel, pepper, cinnamon, chocolate, corn flour, large wafers.

Boil half a pound of honey in a copper vessel, and then add to it a few blanched almonds and filberts cut in halves or quarters and slightly browned, a little candied lemon peel, a dust of pepper and powdered cinnamon and a quarter pound of grated chocolate. Mix all well together, and gradually add a tablespoonful of corn flour end two of ground almonds to thicken it. Then take the vessel off the fire, spread the mixture on large wafers, and make each cake about an inch thick. Garnish them on the top with almonds cut in half, and dust over a little powdered sugar and cinnamon, then put them in a very slow oven for an hour.