Italy In Small Bites by Carol Field

  • Garbanzo bean pancake (Calda calda)

    from Italy In Small Bites Italy In Small Bites by Carol Field

    • Categories: Pancakes, waffles & crêpes; Appetizers / starters; Italian; Vegan; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: chickpea flour; rosemary
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Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Spinach pie (Erbazzone)

    • Tommelise on September 20, 2011

      A lovely recipe. The parsley and pancettta give a very nice flavour to this tart. We sometimes use bacon instead of pancetta - it comes out just as well. We make more filling than called for. The first time we made the tart it came out very flat - even if the flavours were nice.

  • Country focaccia with red pepper topping (Focaccia rustica)

    • vickster on July 12, 2020

      Good but thinner and a little more crunchy than I wanted. I was looking for a thicker, fluffier focaccia. But it was very tasty. I didn't add toppings.

  • Ham, salame, and cheese-filled rustic pie (Pizza rustica)

    • chawkins on April 18, 2022

      Very rich, I did not have salami, so used all ham and forgot to add the freshly grated Parmesan in at the end, but it turned out okay because with all that cheese and ham, it was salty enough. The dough was flaky and easy to work with. When assembling, you were supposed to drape the 13-inch rolled out dough over the 9-inch spring form pan with the edges extending over the edge, however, my pan was 3.5 inches high, so instead of draping over the rim, mine slumped to the base of the pan, but the dough was so robust that I could just pick up the excess dough and stick it to the side of the pan without any tear or rip. I think that if I make this again, I would add spinach, as in Nick Malgieri’s recipe, just to make it healthier.

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  • ISBN 10 0060722797
  • ISBN 13 9780060722791
  • Published Jun 01 2004
  • Format Hardcover
  • Language English
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Inc
  • Imprint HarperCollins

Publishers Text

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner may mark the beginning, middle, and end of the day, but for centuries Italians have eaten two small, informal meals that come in between. Italy in Small Bites is the first-ever collection Of recipes for these bite-size treats, known as spuntini and merende, the soul food of Italy.


Spuntini, the midmorning snack, can be as simple as a sublime walnut-and-ralsin-studded coffee cake, while merende, which are enjoyed mid-afternoon, might be a wedge of onion frittata or artichoke tart, a crunchy pillow of fried dough served with figs or prosciutto, a purée of fava beans, or sweet peppers mounded on a slice of rustic country bread. More than a snack, but less than a meal, these small bites get Italians through to the next meal.


The best-known merende in America are pizza and focaccia, but there's an entire universe of appealing food revealed in this book. Though the recipes are tied to centuries of tradition that go back to a time when merende reinvigorated laborers in the fields, they're singularly perfect for contemporary eating in America and are as versatile as they are delicious.


Merende make perfect impromptu meals because they are stunningly simple foods meant to make life easy. Some--bruschetta with various toppings, frittate, vegetable tarts, polenta crostini--may be familiar, while others are totally new discoveries. Served individually or in combination, they can become a meal--any meal-- and they are healthy, inexpensive, casual, perfect for the relaxed way we live.

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