From PATATA to PUNTARELLE

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PATATA Potato. Available all year round, potatoes can be divided into two categories: white starchy ones (suitable for purees and gnocchi ), called in the U.S. Idaho or russet, and yellowish ones with a more compact texture (suitable to fry and stuff), called in the U.S. red or white rose. See: Patata
PECORINO is a hard, wholly-cooked, grayshy white cheese made of whole sheep milk and having a strong taste. The crust is hard, thick and darkened with oil. There are many varieties of pecorino, almost alla of which are produced in small dairies. See: Pecorino Romano, Pecorino Toscano, Pecorino Sardo, Pecorino Siciliano
PEOCI Another name for mussels
PENNE Penne are used all over Italy, though they’re not always called by that name. For instance, in Umbria they’re called “Spole” and in the South, “Maltagliati.” Penne are known for their versatility and can be the solution to thousands of situations from last-minute improvisations with friends to family dinners based on a beautiful, steaming hot plate of Penne all’Arrabbiata or Penne with meat sauce. Penne come in many varieties: veined, smooth, small, candle-shaped. But they are all characterized by an oblique cut which makes them look like a nib (“pennino” in Italian) and more dynamic than the straightforward Macaroni. See: Penne
PEPE Pepper
PEPERONATA Dish made of sweet peppers sautéed with oil, onions and a little bit of tomato. Peperonata is an excellent side dish for meats and is better eaten warm or at room temperature
PEPERONCINO A thin, long and pointed pepper, either ed or green, it varies in intensity from mild to very hot. It may be dried whole or coarsely or fine ground.
PEPERONI  Peppers - Available in summer, there are many kinds of peppers, varying in hotness (sweet or hot), color (most often green, yellow and red) and strade (light to dark). They can also vary in shape (round or long) and in size. Mixed with tomatoes, olives and onions, they are delicious. They can also be peeled, roasted and served in oil. See: Peppers, Peperone di Senise
PEPOSO Pork shankcooked with tomatoes, wine, herbs and freshly ground pepper
PERA Pear. See: Pera dell'Emilia Romagna, Pera Mantovana 
PERCIATELLI  See Bucatini

PERNICE Partridge. There are many varieties of partridge. The most common are the common grey and the red-legged partridge. Baby partridges are hunted in the month of September. You can tell a baby partridge by looking at the first feather of its wing: it will be pointed with a red dot (in an adult partridge, the wing is rounded). The beak will be rather hard and almost black, the legs (which have not grown spurs yet) will be grey, and the eye surrounded by a small red circle. Partridge should not be hung for too long. If it is not a very cold day, it may be hung for one day (without removing the feathers); if the temperature is low, it may be hung for two days at the most. It is plucked like a chicken, always just before cooking. If you intend to roast it, it is preferable to cook the bird when freshly killed. If it is to be cooked in a sauce, it is best to use an adult bird. Partridge can be jugged, cooked 
PERSICATA  Solid peach preserves made in the same way as cotognata
PESCA Peach. See: Pesca Nettarina di Romagna   
PESCE Fish
PESCE SPADA Swordfish. A very large Mediterranean fish found especially near Sicily. Its name is detived from the long, thoin bone which looks like a sword protruding over its mouth. The flesh is delicious, compoact and rosy. It is usually cooked in the same way of tuna
PESCE STOCCO Another name for "stoccafisso" i.e.Stockfish, cod dried on poles, also called pesce stocco; often synonymous with salt-cured baccalà.
PESTO Cold ligurian sauce made of basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmigiano and/or Pecorino. It is used on trenette, gnocchi and in minestrone
PETTINE  A utensil used in Romagna to shape pasta dough into short quills (garganelli)    
PEVERADA Sauce made of bread, beef marrow, Parmigiano, broth salt and pepper for boiled meats
PEVERE An old venetian word for pepper
PIADINA Unleavened pizza dough made of water, flour and strutto. It is baked on a testo and served hor with salami and cheese
PIATTO Plate or course as in "first course"
PICCAGGE A ligurian dialect word for fettuccine
PICCATA Veal scaloppina sauteed very quickly in a pan with butter and lemon juice, Marsala or other ingredients
PICCHIETTARE To insert spices such as cloves, cinammon and bay leaves in pieces of meat for better distribution of flavor while cooking
PICCIONE Squab/Pigeon - These are farm-grown birds with delicate, lean meat. The best ones are those less than 7 months old with tender, almost white meat. Older birds have tough meat, which must be cooked at length. Pigeons may be cooked in various ways: fried stewed, breaded like cutlets, roasted, grilled and baked. If roasted it is best to wrap the bird with slices of pancetta.
PIEDINI Calf's feet, boiled and used for a salad called nervetti
PIGNATTA Another name for large pot

PIGNOLATA or PIGNOCCATA This is another carnival dessert that is now available throughout the year. It is a cake that is partly whitish-yellow, since it is flavored with lemon, and partly black because of it is glazed with chocolate.
PINOCCATE Tiny cackes with a base of sugar and pine nuts; they are commonly wrapped in colored paper

PINOLI Pine nuts
PINSA Also known as "pinsa romana", is a focaccia generally marketed as an oval version of pizza, or as a healthier alternative. The name was born partly as a marketing ploy, coined by a family of Roman bakers in 2001.   
PINZA Cake made of white flour, cornmeal, fennel seeds, raisins, dried figs and other dried and candied fruit
PINZIMONIO Raw Vegetable Salad - The most simple dressing for raw vegetables in undoubtedly Pinzimonio, a dipping sauce of oil, salt and pepper. Pinzimonio is used as a dip for raw celery, artichokes, leek, scallions, fennel, sweet peppers, etc. The vegetables must be cut rather large so that they may be picked up by the stem and dipped in the dressing at the tip. Another popular raw vegetable salad is bagna cauda

PISAREI E FASOI An Emilian soup with tiny dumplings made from breadcrumbs, flour and milk. They are boiled, then tossed briskly with cooked beans with a soffritto of pancetta, onions and peeled tomatoes. Pisarei are the dumplings - fasoi are the beans

PISELLI    Fresh Peas - These are green springtime legumes, which have a green pod containing small round seeds. Depending on their size, fresh peas are sold as "extra fine", "fine", or "medium", peas. The seeds may be green or white. There are two principal varieties of peas: "real" peas, those which must be removed from the pod, which can be eaten fresh or dried, and those consumed whole (see taccole), pod included, which must be eaten fresh. Tender, fresh peas are very sweet and can be cooked in a sauce, boiled, or added to soups. They make a very delicate side dish for white and red meats.Peas should not be shelled until just before cooking or they will become tough.
PISSALADEIRA A kind of pizza covered with onions, anchoives, black olives and tomato

PISTACCHIO Pistachio nuts. Greenish, edible seedsof a small tree of the sumac family. Used in sweets and gelati, as well as in galantines and Mortadella di Bologna
PISTUM Dumplings made of bread, eggs, herbs, sugar and raisins, boiled in pork broth
PITTA Calabrian name for pizza. Pitta chicculiata is covered with tomato sauce, oil and peperoncino while pitta maniata is two disk of dough stuffed with slices of hard boiled egg, cheese, salsiccia and peperoncino   TM

PIZZAIOLA (ALLA) A term used to desctibe stews and sauces made with tomatoes, capers, oregano and anchoives
PIZZOCCHERI A kind of tagliatelle made of whole wheatflour and cooked with potatoes, cabbage and other vegetablesthen sautéed with plenty of butter and slices of Bitto cheese. See: Pizzoccheri
POLENTA Yellow cornmeal, either fine or coarsely ground, cooked with water and seasoned with butter and Parmigiano. Polenta may vary in consistency from a soft to a solid form, according to its intended use. In some regions of Italy white cornmeal or buckwheat flour is used instead of yellow cornmeal

POLENTA CONCIA or PASTICCIATA Polenta casserole layered with sauce, cheese and butter, then baked

POLENTA TARAGNA Polenta made with half whole wheat flour and half yellow cornmeal with the adding of Bitto cheese. Its name is derived from a Lombardian word, tarello, the stick used to stir the polenta

POLLASTRA Pullet - A female chicken, 5-7 months old-that is, a chicken that has not yet started to lay eggs. Its weight varies roughly from 3 to 4 lbs. It should be boiled or poached, with or without stuffing.

POLLO Chicken (broiler) - A chicken 3-5 months old, usually weighing 2-3 lbs. It is suitable for roasting, frying in sauce, or boiling, with or without stuffing.
POLPETTE Meatballs. A misture of ground mea, bread, herbs and cheese formed into balls and fried. Polpette are also cooked in a tomato sauce for pasta. Polpette are often made using leftover bits of meat and vegetables
POLPETTONE A meatloaf made of the same mixture as for meatballs
POLVERINO The floury mixture sprinkled over Panforte before it is cooked
POLPO o POLIPO Octopus. The polpo verace (stone octopus) can be identified by the double line of suckers on its tentacles
POMODORI Tomatoes arrived in Europe from central and northern America. The first mention of tomatoes in Italy is dated 1544 by Pietro Andrea Mattioli who gives an accurate description and calls them "pomi d'oro ". At the beginning, the tomato plant was not accepted so readily, as it was believed to be poisonous so much so that in 1820 the state of New York passed a law banning the consumption of tomatoes. This belief was proven to be false by Mr. Robert Gibbon Johnson who took a bagful of tomatoes in a courtroom in Salem, New York and ate the entire bagful before an incredulous public.
Another gentleman, Mr. Michele Felice Corne did the same thing in Newport, R. I. In Italy, the tomatoes entered into popular use in the 17th century. In 1778 Vincenzo Corrado published the book "Il Cuoco Galante " in which he had several recipes with tomatoes. But the boom of tomatoes' popularity in Italy began in 1875 when Mr. Francesco Cirio started the industrial production of tomatoes first with the famous "salsa cirio", followed laser on by the canned, peeled, tomatoes. With this success, experimentation with the tomato plant began, and we now trave many different varieties. Among the better known variety is the San Marzano, a type of tomato that takes its name from the area of its origin. See: Tomato Happy, Pomodoro di Pachino, Pomodoro S. Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino
PORCHETTA Suckling pig. Also "in porchetta", the name given to all the dishes prepared in the same procedure as cooking roast pig, and using the same basic dressings (salt, pepepr, garlic, rosemary, wild fennel seeds).
PORCINI Wild mushroms with large meaty, brown caps slightly rounded on top. The stems are fleshy and wider at the bottom
PORRATA A sauce prepared in the same manner as agliata, but substituting leeks for garlic
PORRO Leek. Available almost all year round, leeks belong to the garlic and onion family. They may be substituted for onions in soups, risotto, and various sauces; they may also be baked.   
POTACCHIO Term used to describe food stewed with herbs, whitw wine and peperoncino
PRESSATO    
PRATAIOLO A withe and meaty mushrom with a pleasant aroma. It can be also cutivated (hor house)
PRESCINSEUA Ligurian dialect word for soured milk
PREZZEMOLO Parsley. An aromatic, herbaceous garden plant, with smooth leaves. The curly type is less common and is particularly suitable for garnishing. Parsley is excellent as a countereffect for garlic's odor
PROSCIUTTO Cured pork leg - Prosciutto is made by salting a pork leg and then preparing it according to local usage. The pork leg is cleaned and left to lie flat for a whole day in a cool place. Then it is cover with salt. The salting period lasts about two months, after which it is washed several times in cold water until the salt is removed. Then, it is hung on a sunny, airy place. The air plays an important role in the quality of the final product. The length of this stage depends on the local climate. The Prosciutto will be ready only when entirely dry. When dry, it is left hanging in an airy place at room temperature for a year and more. Prosciutto has many varieties. See: Prosciutto di Parma, Prosciutto di San Daniele, Prosciutto Veneto Berico-Euganeo, Prosciutto di Carpegna, Prosciutto di Norcia, Prosciutto Toscano  

PROSCIUTTO COTTO Ham - Success in making hams depends entirely on the quality of the meat chosen. Begin with a medium-sized pork leg with the bristles, bone and fat removed. Put the meat in an adequate container in a brine of heavily salted water, a bit of sugar, bey leaves, cloves, cinnamon, and saltpeter. Let it stand for about 20 days. Wash the ham in cold running water, dry it and put it in a mola for cooking ham.
The meat is pressed into the desired shaped mold.
It is sealed and immersed in a pot, covering it with water. While cooking, the temperature of the water should be 425 F. The ham should cook 1 hour for each 2 Ibs. of meat. Let it cool in the cooking water then keep it in the refrigerator. Let it rest for one day and then the ham is ready to be eaten. This product must be refrigerated all the time and should be sliced only when ready to eat,otherwise it gets dark.

PROVATURA Fresh cheese fron lazio, very similar to mozzarella, eaten as it is, or breaded and fried
PROVOLA 
PROVOLONE A farm cheese with a pungent, somewhat salty flavor. It can also be mild. See: Provolone Val Padana
PUDDICA A typical focaccia from the rural tradition of Apulia, specifically from the city of Brindisi. It's a richly seasoned and high-calorie dish, best eaten as a main dish, as an alternative to meals. In the past, this focaccia was eaten the evening after bread was baked, as it was leftover from the leavened dough.

PUNTARELLE Roman Wild Chicory - From the same family as the chicory, this very special salad is typical of Central Italy and only available in the winter months. Puntarelle must be washed and the green leaves are dispensed. The white-greenish tips are split with a knife lengthwise and dipped in cold water. This will allow the leaves to curl and lose some of their bitter taste. They are best eaten with an anchovy dressing.

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