Last weekend we escaped Milan and headed to Liguria—my favorite kind of pause in paradise: medieval hamlets, olive orchards, and those fresh, clear streams (and yes, Arly living his best life, swimming freely without us worrying about crowded beaches). Liguria is famous for pesto, of course, but it’s also full of little edible treasures… even if I had to laugh at the price of extra virgin olive oil. So this time I came home with something more humble: a bunch of lavender to dry. In this episode I tested two Ligurian classics: the traditional green pie (torta verde) and sardenaira, the focaccia I absolutely love. For the green pie I used zucchini (my fridge is full of it—yes, you know where from, haha!) and I swapped in spring onions for a sweeter taste and greener look, but I’ll be honest: it was tasty, just not as good as the one I bought in Liguria—probably because I didn’t have any chard. Then I tried making sardenaira for the first time ever, kneading for a full 10 minutes like a desperate housewife (arm workout included). The topping was pure Liguria: garden tomato pulp, Taggiasche olives, anchovies, capers, garlic, oregano—and when it came out of the oven, I was so, so proud.