AN AMERICAN IN ITALY : WILLINGER COOKS WITH `RED, WHITE & GREENS'.

Byline: Natalie Haughton Daily News Food Editor

Faith Willinger popped into the office one day last week laden with baskets of beautiful, fresh red, green and white vegetables picked up from growers at the Santa Monica farmers market just hours before. The American food and travel writer, who has lived in Italy the last 23 years (the 17 most recent in Florence), was ecstatic about the terrific assortment she found, including some Tuscan kale, which she'd never seen in markets here before.

It seemed only natural that you'd find the enthusiastic Willinger with veggies in hand, ready to tell how to prepare and serve them. She was in town to promote her first cookbook, ``Red, White & Greens: The Italian Way With Vegetables,'' a three-year project.

``The book, designed for anyone who loves vegetables and loves Italy, documents an Italian attitude toward vegetables: When you go to a farmers market, buy the best produce you can get your hands on and go home and figure out what you are going to do with it - usually as little as possible so you can taste each ingredient. But this attitude only works if you are cooking simple food,'' said Willinger, a joyous, down-to-earth epicure.

The Italian way with vegetables is less fussy than the American way which, in Willinger's opinion, involves too many ingredients. Unlike Americans, who tend to set out with a recipe in hand when they market or plan a shopping list, Italians subscribe to the make-it-as-you-go school of cooking. ``Italians buy the vegetable(s) and then decide what they are going to make.''

And they are casual about quantities. ``The Italians went crazy when they saw me measuring everything for recipes for the book,'' Willinger said.

``Follow my precise recipes once or twice, until you become comfortable with the recipe - then do it your way,'' Willinger advised.

Willinger noted that the recipes in the book, which are organized alphabetically by vegetable, came mostly from home cooks, friends and restaurant chefs who have taken her into their kitchens over the last two decades in Italy.

The dishes are simple foods that Italians eat every day at home. Italians are into quick cooking just as Americans are, she added. Willinger tested the recipes in Florence and then sent them to New York for another round using American ingredients and produce.

Willinger is adamant about using the best olive oil you can get your hands on and says ``finding a first-rate extra virgin olive oil, which is expensive ($30 to $35 a bottle) - and an extravagance - is essential for the success of these recipes.''

The rest of the ingredients in her recipes aren't expensive, she added - and a $30 bottle of extra virgin olive oil will last awhile. Mindful that people are concerned about fat and oil these days, she has reduced the amount of oil in her recipes to an acceptable minimum.

Unlike some other food experts who recommend cooking with pure olive oil and and using extra virgin only for salads or uncooked dishes, Willinger uses extra virgin for everything. ``It's like cooking with margarine and putting butter on the table. There is simply no point in using inferior olive oil.''

Willinger's favorite extra virgin olive oils are Castello di Ama, from central Chianti Classico south of Florence and Tenuta di Capenzzana from the Carmignano area west of Florence. The oils are best used within a year of production, she said, but if they are stored in a cool, dark place away from heat (provided they are in a dark glass bottle), they will last two to three years, she said. ``Olive oils go rancid only if they are exposed to heat and light.''

Willinger said she easily fell in love with Italian food.

``It's food that moves me and excites me. It comes from the heart,'' she said.

When she first arrived in Italy as a divorced tourist with a 2-year-old son in 1973, Willinger said she was shocked to find out what the food was really like.

``There were no spaghetti and meatballs, no spumoni,'' she said. ``I discovered red and yellow peppers for the first time.''

Enthused about Italian food and desiring to learn all she could, she wrote to Julia Child inquiring how she could do for Italian food what Julia had done for French food. Julia told her to work in restaurant kitchens and study with professional chefs, which Willinger did for a year in Rome.

Along the way, she met a Florentine, Massimo Tarli, an electrical engineer in the defense industry. They lived together for 17 years and married five years ago.

``He's a fabulous cook, and he taught me about olive oil,'' said Willinger, who entertains casually with her husband a couple of times a week.

Willinger said she became passionate about Italian food by traveling throughout the 20 regions of Italy and by sampling when people said ``Taste this'' wherever she went. In 1989, she wrote ``Eating in Italy,'' a traveler's guide to 11 Italian regions.

``Italians everywhere want to tell you about their food,'' she said. ``In the last two decades, I've made a million friends, and they've taken me into their kitchens.''

Not bad for someone who grew up in White Plains, N.Y., eating plain food. The most exotic thing she ever ate at home was a boiled artichoke. Although she was interested in food and did a little baking as a child, Willinger doesn't bake at all anymore. ``I'm not a dessert person - I'm into entrees and pastas.''

In Italy, she said, ``ingredients taste different in different regions and towns, and they are used in different ways.''

Her favorite food regions include Tuscany and Venice. ``Venice has the best and the worst fish in the world,'' she said. She also likes Rome, Sicily and Puglia.

You'll find her pantry in Florence stocked with great rice, great pasta, the best extra virgin olive oil, garlic and canned diced tomatoes. She also uses fresh basil (available to her six months of the year) and fresh tomatoes (in season) with abandon.

``I can make tomato sauce in three minutes with a can of tomatoes - by simply sauteing garlic, and adding tomatoes and fresh basil.''

When basil isn't available, she substitutes flat leaf parsley and chopped arugula. Willinger uses nothing frozen with the exception of fresh hot peppers that she freezes for use year-round; however she does rely on certain canned items.

When it comes to presentation, Willinger opts for the simplest possible. ``I want food prepared, put on the plate and eaten immediately. I want to eat a tomato, not a tomato rose,'' she said.

Although Willinger loves visiting the United States, she said she plans to stay in Italy. ``I love it, and I love the Italian attitude. There's no one way of doing things. Each Italian feels he or she is the exception to the rule.''

If there's a no-parking or no-littering sign, someone will park there for just a second or litter just a little, Willinger noted. ``It's a riot - and sometimes infuriating. It's a country of individualists.''

As for her wisdom for home cooks, Willinger suggested using fresh and seasonal and local ingredients.

If there's one thing Willinger would like to be remembered for, it's her Fettunta (garlic bread). ``It's my signature dish.''

To get a taste of what ``Red, White & Greens: The Italian Way With Vegetables'' has to offer, give the following recipes a try.

TOMATO AND MOZZARELLA SALAD FROM CAPRI

Insalata caprese, the salad from Capri, is the perfect dish for cooks in a hurry. Slicing is the hardest part. Bright red tomato slices are interspersed with juicy white mozzarella and whole green basil leaves, drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and a twist of pepper.

The salad was created in the 1950s, a substitute for the sumptuous cooking at the Trattoria da Vincenzo for summertime regulars out for a light lunch. They'd order a ripe, just-picked tomato and a fresh, locally made fior di latte, cow's milk mozzarella - no buffalo on the island of Capri. The salad has evolved on Capri to include a few leaves of rughetta, wild arugula and a pinch of dried wild oregano, both island products; everywhere else in Italy the salad is limited to tomato, mozzarella and basil. The dressing is always a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Vinegar would destroy the delicate flavor of fresh mozzarella and is never used.

Because the Capri salad is so simple, first-rate ingredients are imperative. Mozzarella should be fresh, white, locally made or imported. Both yellow, rubbery, processed mozzarella wrapped in plastic and hothouse tomatoes are unacceptable.

1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup loosely packed arugula (optional)

2 pounds ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/2-inch thick

1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 pinch dried oregano (optional)

3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper 

Tear basil and arugula into bite-size pieces. Alternate slices of tomato, mozzarella and basil leaves on a serving platter. Scatter arugula and oregano on top. Drizzle salad with extra virgin oil, season with sea salt and pepper and serve. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

FRANCESCA'S ZUCCHINI CARPACCIO 

How did new wave raw zucchini carpaccio, vegetarian variation of a Venetian raw meat appetizer, wind up on the menu of Borgo Antico, a popular neighborhood pizzeria around the corner from my apartment?

Florentine Francesca Cianci moved to New York and cooked at the restaurant Mezzaluna for five years, came home in 1990 and got a job managing Borgo Antico. She added stylish but simple dishes to the menu, using the produce form the farmers at the Santo Spirito market in front of the restaurant. Francesca now cooks at Il Borghetto, an elegant country inn in Montefiridolfi, outside Florence and Borgo Antico no longer serves her zucchini carpaccio. But I make it all the time when the farmers at the market sell fresh, just-picked zucchini, since it's one of the fastest recipes I know, an almost effortless appetizer with no cooking and only five ingredients, plus salt and pepper.

Each one should be of the highest quality. Fresh, seasonal zucchini are imperative; supermarket zucchini should be avoided. Use a potato peeler to produce curls of Parmigiano cheese. Two medium-size zucchini, sliced paper thin, can cover an entire platter.

2 small fresh zucchini

1/3 cup tightly packed arugula, roughly chopped

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (optional)

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 piece Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, about 4 to 6 ounces

Trim ends from zucchini and carefully slice into paper-thin rounds on a mandoline, meat slicer or with a 1-mm food processor blade. Put zucchini on a large serving platter.

Chop arugula and sprinkle over zucchini.

Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with sea salt and pepper.

Shave curls of Parmigiano-Reggiano directly over zucchini and arugula to cover. Serve immediately. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

TUSCAN TUNA AND BEANS WHITE OR GREEN

Preserved tuna, packed in extra virgin olive oil, is paired with white beans in Tuscany, a speedy dish to assemble, if you've got beans on hand. Canned beans work well and simplify this preparation - open a few cans and chop an onion. Quality tuna makes a big difference in the success of this dish. Leftover grilled or poached tuna can be used instead of canned, but it should be marinated in extra virgin olive oil. All choices will work better than insipid tuna packed in water.

1/2 medium red onion, chopped OR 2 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 

3 cups cooked beans OR 1 pound steamed OR boiled green beans 

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

8 to 10 ounces canned tuna, packed in olive oil OR fresh tuna, grilled OR poached, marinated in extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Marinate onion with vinegar 15 minutes. Drain onion.

Put beans in a serving bowl. Mix with onion, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper.

Drain tuna, break into flakes or chunks with a fork and scatter on top of beans. Sprinkle with parsley. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

GARLIC BREAD FETTUNTA

This is, without a doubt, my favorite recipe in the world. It's fast, simple, calls for no special equipment or skills and is open to seasonal adaptation with the addition of numerous toppings. Diners always seem to be impressed.

Fettunta, a contraction of the words fetta, ``slice,'' and unta, ``oily,'' is prepared by olive oil millers on a heater/stove while working at the cold, damp, oily-aired mill. Bread is lightly toasted, rubbed with garlic, dipped in newly pressed, bright green, peppery-flavored olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper. It's meatless, milkless, effortless, pleasing to even the most jaded palates and involves none of the fuss usually associated with garlic bread - peeling and chopping garlic, brushing oil on the bread. Traditionalists will need a wood fire, although a charcoal or gas grill or a toaster will do. And scouts can skewer their bread on a stick.

Unsalted rustic Tuscan bread, white or whole wheat, sliced about 3/4-inch thick, is the bread of choice for olive oil millers.

First rate extra virgin olive oil is a must, otherwise you'll wind up with greasy bread instead of fettunta. Newly pressed oil, called olio nuovo, easily recognizable by its bright color, cloudy with chlorophyll, found from late November through January in Italy, yields spectacular results.

4 slices country-style bread, sliced 3/4-inch thick

1 garlic clove, unpeeled 

1/2 cup OR more extra virgin olive oil

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Toast, grill or broil bread slices until lightly colored on both sides.

Rub garlic clove over bread's surface. The garlic will grate itself on the hardened toast and peel will disentegrate. Garlic lovers should press hard.

Drizzle at least 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, barely enough for any self-respecting Tuscan, over each slice of toasted bread, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

CAPER PASTE WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

I found this caper paste on a foraging trip on Pantelleria with Anna Tasca Lanza, Sicilian marchesa and gastronome, author of ``The Heart of Sicily'' (Clarkson Potter).

1/2 cup capers, preferably packed in salt

3 cups water (optional, for salt-packed capers)

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons dried Sicilian oregano

Soak salt-packed capers 30 minutes in 3 cups water, drain and pat dry with paper towels. Or rinse brine-packed capers and pat dry with paper towels.

Process capers with sun-dried tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil and oregano to make a fine textured paste. Pack into a jar and cover caper paste with a thin layer of olive oil. Store in refrigerator. Makes about 1 cup.

PANTELLERIA POTATO SALAD

Prepare this salad at least 30 minutes before serving so that the vegetables marinate in the extra virgin olive oil, wine vinegar and oregano dressing.

1 pound potatoes

Water

Sea salt

1 pound tomatoes

1 large red onion

2 to 3 tablespoons capers

1/4 cup black OR green olives (optional)

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon dried Sicilian oregano (OR fresh, if you can't find good quality dried oregano)

Freshly ground pepper

Place potatoes in a large pot and add water to completely cover. Add 1 tablespoon sea salt and boil potatoes 20 to 30 minutes or until tender when pierced with a toothpick. Drain potatoes, peel while still warm and cool.

Cut tomatoes in half and squeeze into a sieve over a small bowl, pressing contents to extract juice. Save juice for another use. Cut seeded, juiced tomatoes into chunks.

Cut onion in half then in 1/4-inch thick slices. Slice potatoes 1/2-inch thick or into chunks. Rinse capers to eliminate excess salt.

Toss potatoes, onions, tomatoes, capers, olives, vinegar, olive oil, oregano and sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and serve. Makes 4 to 6 side dish servings.

STAFF LUNCH LENTIL AND RICE SOUP

I first encountered this soup in Rome over 20 years ago. I learned the basic techniques of Italian cooking at Ristorante Silvano Paris, where I apprenticed when I first came to Italy. Classic Italian and Roman cucina were beautifully prepared but my favorite recipes were always from the staff meals, food considered too humble to appear on the menu. Restaurant owner, Silvano Paris had lunch daily in the dining room with a few regular clients, but I never failed to ask what the staff had eaten, often preferring the simple dishes to the classic fare offered on the daily menu.

1/2 cup chopped red onion

3/4 cup chopped celery

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 cup uncooked lentils, picked over and rinsed

1/4 cup canned tomato sauce

8 cups hot water OR light broth

Sea salt to taste

3/4 cup rice for risotto (Vialone Nano OR Carnaroli brands)

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped celery OR parsley leaves

1/2 to 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano OR Pecorino Romano cheese (optional)

Place chopped onion and celery in a 3-quart pot, add oil and stir to coat vegetables. Cook over medium heat until onion is soft.

Add garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add lentils, tomato sauce, hot water and salt. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer about 35 minutes or until lentils are almost cooked. (Dish can be prepared in advance up to this point.)

Add rice to lentils, bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, especially during final minutes of cooking. Add more water, if soup seems too dry. Taste for salt and season with pepper.

When rice is cooked but still firm and not mushy, remove pot from heat and let soup stand 5 minutes. Garnish with celery leaves. Serve plain or garnish with cheese. Makes 6 to 8 first-course servings.

AUNT ENZA'S GREEN SAUCE

My husband Massimo's Aunt Enza's cooking is Florentine with an occasional novelty picked up from the recipe section of a Franciscan calendar that hangs in her kitchen. We love her green sauce, salsa verde, which varies from the Italian classic of parsley, onion, anchovies, capers and plenty of extra virgin olive oil. Aunt Enza's salsa verde has a chopped hard-boiled egg to give it body and it's more like paste than sauce.

She serves it as a condiment for boiled meats but I use it with grilled fish or spread on small pieces of toasted country bread. All ingredients are finely minced, which Aunt Enza does by hand, although a food processor does a great job. The sauce is glued together with first-rate extra virgin olive oil.

1/2 slice stale bread

Water

2 tablespoons salted capers

3/4 cup Italian parsley OR 1/2 cup parsley and 1/4 cup arugula leaves, whole, packed in a measuring cup

1/2 medium red onion

2 to 3 anchovy fillets

1/2 to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 hard-cooked egg

Fine sea salt (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper

Soak bread in water, squeeze out water and measure 2 tablespoons squeezed, soaked bread.

Soak capers in 2 cups water at least 30 minutes to remove excess salt. Drain capers and pat dry.

Process capers, parsley, onion, anchovy fillets and damp bread until finely minced. Add oil and wine vinegar and combine well. Add egg, quartered, and pulse to chop. Taste and season with sea salt and pepper. Sauce will keep few days in refrigerator. Makes about 1 1/2 cups sauce.

FABIO'S LIVORNO-STYLE FISH

Fabio Picchi, chef-owner of the restaurant Cibreo in Florence, makes fish Livorno-style, cooked in a thick tomato sauce. It's one of the few great fish recipes in Tuscany, named for the city on the coast known in English as Leghorn. Fabio usually uses a member of the shark family, smooth hound (palombo), but red mullet and salt cod are also prepared Livorno-style. Red snapper, fresh tuna or any firm-fleshed white fish can be substituted with success.

1 1/2 pounds fish fillets

Flour

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

1 fresh hot red pepper OR chile pepper flakes to taste

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 cups tomato pulp

1/2 cup fish stock OR clam juice

Lightly coat fish fillets with flour and seson with sea salt and pepper.

Put garlic, parsley and hot pepper in a large skillet, drizzle with oil and cook over medium heat until garlic barely begins to color. Add tomatoes and fish stock and bring to a simmer.

Put fish fillets in skillet and immerse in simmering tomato sauce so fillets are covered. Cook over low heat, barely simmering 5 to 10 minutes or until fish is cooked. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

FRESH TASTING TOMATO SAUCE AND SPAGHETTI

Almost all tomato sauce recipes call for at least 30 minutes of cooking, but I make my tomato sauce in less than 10 minutes, by using a large skillet instead of the conventional saucepan. The tomatoes cook faster on the larger surface of the skillet and taste fresher than sauces subjected to 45 minutes of heat. Pasta is added to the sauce in the skillet to finish cooking both pasta and sauce together.

This basic tomto sauce can easily be prepared while waiting for the pasta water to come to a boil. Ripe seasonal tomatoes, preferably plum or sauce tomatoes, which have a lower water content, should be used when available but first-rate canned tomato pulp is a good choice for the rest of the year. I rarely peel fresh tomatoes when I make sauce, but those who wish to peel should.

1 1/2 pounds tomatoes OR 2 cups tomato pulp

1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced

3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

5 to 6 quarts water

14 to 16 ounces spaghetti

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil OR any combintion of chopped fresh herbs

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggino cheese for topping pasta (optional)

Peel tomatoes, if desired, with a vegetable peeler or by blanching tomatoes in boiling water. Cut tomates in half and squeeze juice and seeds into a strainer over a bowl. Chop or process tomatoes and add to reserved juice. Or measure 2 cups canned tomato pulp or drained plum tomatoes.

Put garlic in a large nonstick skillet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place over moderate heat and cook until garlic barley begins to color.

Add tomatoes to skillet and cook over moderately high heat 5 minutes or until tomatoes look cooked and most but not all liquid has evaporated. Add sea salt and pepper to taste.

For a smooth sauce, blend cooked tomatoes in a food processor with remaining 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil and return sauce to skillet. For a chunky sauce, add remaining oil before serving.

Bring 5 to 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Add 1 tablespoon sea salt and spaghetti; cook until pasta still offers considerable resistance, about 3/4 of cooking time.

Drain pasta, reserving 2 cups cooking water. Add drained al dente pasta, 1/2 cup pasta cooking water and basil to sauce in skillet.

Cook over high heat, stirring to mix sauce and pasta, until pasta is cooked. Add more pasta water, if sauce becomes too dry. Serve immediately, topped with cheese. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

TORQUATO'S DROWNED CAULIFLOWER 

Cauliflower is drowned in tomato sauce spiced with fennel and garlic, a wonderful recipe recounted by Torquato, my favorite farmer at the Santo Spirito market in Florence.

Water

1 1/2 to 2 pounds cauliflower

Coarse sea salt

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup tomato pulp, fresh OR canned

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

Freshly ground pepper

In a large pot, bring at least 5 quarts water to a rolling boil.

Detach florets from cauliflower at base of stems. Cook cauliflower in boiling water with 2 to 3 tablespoons sea salt 5 minutes or until al dente. Drain with a slotted spoon, refresh in cold water, drain and reserve. Save cauliflower cooking water.

Heat olive oil and garlic in a large nonstick skillet. When garlic barely begins to color, add tomato pulp and fennel seeds and cook over moderate heat 2 to 3 minutes.

Add cauliflower and 1 cup hot cauliflower cooking water. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until cauliflower is soft and liquid has evaporated. Add more cooking water, if sauce gets too dry. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Makes 4 to 6 side dish servings.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... Faith Willinger

Age: 50.

Profession: Food and travel writer, cookbook author and owner of Cucina Tuscana (since 1985), a travel and tour planning consulting service for tourists and professionals.

Hometown: Born in Port Chester, N.Y.; grew up in White Plains, N.Y.

Food background: A year working in restaurants in Rome; took classes in Italian cooking in Northern Italy; 23 years on Italian soil scouting, tasting and learning about Italian food.

Most popular dish she makes: Beans in any form.

Pet peeve: Cheap olive oil.

Favorite cookbook: ``China Moon Cafe,'' by Barbara Tropp.

Ideal vacation: Sicily.

Favorite foods: Garlic Bread Fettunta (her recipe is included today).

Favorite junk food: Fast-food french fries.

Secret food passion: Great extra virgin olive oil.

Favorite restaurant: Cibreo in Florence, Italy.

Favorite thing to cook and eat: Pasta with tomato sauce.

Favorite kitchen gadget: Pasta pot with insert. ``I use it to cook vegetables and pasta,'' Willinger said.

What does she do when not cooking?: She's in front of the computer writing, playing Tri Peaks or surfing the Net.

If she couldn't be a food and travel writer, what would she be?: ``I can't imagine doing anything else,'' Willinger said. ``I love what I'm doing.''

Dream job: ``I have it.''

Worst kitchen disaster: ``I ran out of gas (I cooked off a gas tank when I lived in the Italian countryside) on a three-day weekend, which meant no cooking.''

If she could dine with anyone (current or in history) who would it be?: Aretha Franklin. ``She sings the way I think Italian food is,'' Willinger said. ``The soul quality of her singing is like the soul quality of Italian cooking.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--Color) Faith Willinger's Tomato and Mozz arella Salad From Capri: In this case, haste makes taste. First-rate ingredients - including mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, juicy tomatoes and fresh basil - are a must.

(2) Francesca's Zucchini Carpaccio is an almost effortless appetizer that involves no cooking and is assembled from just five ingredients, plus salt and pepper.

(3) No caption (Faith Willinger)

David Crane/Daily News

Box: SPOTLIGHT ON ... Faith Willinger (See text)