FARGO — We have successfully grown eggplants for many summers in Fargo and never cease to marvel at how this medium-sized, leafy plant can produce such a hearty vegetable. Eggplant is a staple ...

In the Valentino family cookbook from 1990, my Uncle Tom included a forward from an unknown author about “the joy of growing up Italian”: Those Sunday dinners when everyone squeezed into one tiny ...

When I worked at an Italian restaurant in Upstate New York, one of the chefs I cooked alongside used to make some version of this dish for family meal whenever it was his turn to cook. The other sous ...

Eggplant, like its fellow nightshades tomatoes and peppers, comes in a psychedelic array of shapes and colors, all in late-summer profusion now at the Greenmarket. Sette Enoteca e Cucina chef Amanda ...

When the thermometer rises when we’re still in school — as it occasionally has recently — my thoughts turn to what I can cook without cooking. Often this means making something late at night so the ...

It’s the end of summer, so why not go out with a bang and make caponata? Caponata is a Sicilian vegetable stew or compote. It slightly resembles Provencal ratatouille, but while both are tomato-rich ...

It’s hard to imagine my late summer kitchen without eggplant. Strolling the farmers’ markets, I can’t hold back and pile my basket with eggplant in all shapes and sizes — black, thin and footlong; ...

Ah, Sicily, Italy. A foodie’s mecca. On a recent culinary journey to the island, we learned that the cuisine of Sicily takes its flavors from the sea, land and mountains. The exceptional quality of ...

FARGO — This week’s Grilled Eggplant with Mint and Garlic-Infused Olive Oil comes straight from the table of Tony’s aunt, Zia Pinuccia, a formidable Sicilian home cook. Eggplant, or "melanzana" in ...