Sunday Paper Recommends—Week of July 7, 2024

This week at The Sunday Paper, we're sharing a conversation, book, series, newsletter, and recipe that move the needle and spark inspiring change. We hope these suggestions open your heart and mind and encourage you to come together for meaningful conversations!

What We’re Reading

In this fascinating and informative conversation, Daniel Gibbs, MD, PhD, offers a perspective rarely heard in the medical field: a sage expert's take on Alzheimer's disease from the mind of someone who has it. Gibbs has long been part of the Oregon Health & Science University faculty, but he retired eight years ago when he received his diagnosis. He continues to teach about the disease. In this interview with JAMA Medical News, he offers insights about the disease, his cognitive health, and what many of us get wrong about Alzheimer's. This is an interesting offering in a field of study close to our hearts at The Sunday Paper and the Women's Alzheimer's Movement at Cleveland Clinic.

A Newsletter We’re Loving

Tiffany Shlain's Breakfast @ Tiffany's is an acclaimed free monthly newsletter that author, artist, filmmaker and founder of the Webby Awards, Tiffany Shlain, has been writing for over 25 years.  In each monthly dispatch, Tiffany shares her take on world events, projects she is working on, and a handpicked list of great films, art exhibitions, books, podcasts, and more to keep you thinking and inspired. 

You can sign up here.

What We’re Watching

Hulu has offered droves of great series, but nothing has caught as quickly as "Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini," which garnered more than 3 million views just in the first week it came out, making it the network's most popular docuseries. We dived in after Maria recommended it—and the series is haunting and engrossing. It follows the 2016 story of the kidnapping of Sherri Papini, a woman in a seemingly perfect marriage, and the hoax that surrounded it all. Nothing is what it seems, as this series proves. 

What We’re Listening to

Shefali Tsabary, Ph.D widely known as Dr. Shefali, has long been a trusted resource we've turned to at The Sunday Paper for her wise, grounded counsel. Naturally, we were thrilled to dive into her podcast, "Parenting and You." In the series, Dr. Shefali, a clinical psychologist and multiple bestselling author, engages in real-time conversations with parents about the highs and lows, joys and challenges of raising young minds today. Dr. Shefali offers the parents practical tools to help them through, leaving them and listeners more resilient by the end of the episode. 

Our Sunday Dinner Recipe

LIMONCELLO PISTACHIO TART

Makes 1 nine-inch (23 cm) tart

As any Italian will tell you, the best lemons are from the Amalfi Coast. These gargantuan, mutant-scaled citrus fruits are known for their floral bouquet, thick pith, and bright, tart flavor. They make their way into most desserts you find in the region, as well as the neon-yellow liqueur, limoncello, which practically flows from the kitchen faucets in Positano. Sadly, Amalfi lemons are a bit difficult to come by in Brooklyn, but limoncello is not, so we make do with what we have. This lemon-forward dessert is bursting with Mediterranean flavor, with the pistachios adding a contrasting savory note to the tart base. Cooking the curd (a tip I learned from friend and fellow Italian baker Tina Zaccardi) ensures a bright yellow filling, free of bubbles or pale yellow film.

FOR THE DOUGH

Unsalted butter, at room temperature       
195 grams, 14 tablespoons

Powdered sugar                                                            
60 grams, ½ cup

all- purpose flour                                                           
250 grams, 1 ¾ cups

Unsalted pistachios, toasted and finely ground                                                  
65 grams, ½ cup

FOR THE CURD FILLING

all-purpose flour                       
40 grams, 4 ½ tablespoons

Granulated sugar                      
350 grams, 1 ¾ cups

Grated lemon zest                    
4 grams, 2 teaspoons

Fresh lemon juice, from 4 to 5 large lemons                    
240 grams, 1 cup

Large eggs                                        
5

Large egg yolks                            
4

Limoncello                                      
30 grams, 2 tablespoons

Fine sea salt                                   
1 gram, ¼ teaspoon

Unsalted pistachios, toasted and finely chopped, for garnish
25 grams, ¼ cup

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Coat a 9-inch (23 cm) tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray.

Make the dough. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter and powdered sugar on low speed until combined. Add the flour and pistachios and mix until large clumps form, but don’t let the dough fully come together. Sprinkle clumps of the dough in the prepared tart pan. Use floured hands to press the dough into an even layer along the bottom and sides of the pan.

Line the dough with parchment paper, extending past the sides of the pan. Fill the base with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice. Bake until the bottom is set, about 30 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights, then return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned. Remove from the oven but leave the oven on. Reduce the oven temperature to 275°F (135°C).

Meanwhile, make the curd filling. Sift the flour into a heatproof medium bowl. Add the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the whole eggs, yolks, limoncello, and salt. Pour into the flour mixture, then whisk well until combined and homogeneous.

Fill a medium saucepan with 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Set the bowl over the saucepan, making sure it doesn’t touch the water. Whisk the curd as it heats up, until it’s thick and turns bright yellow, about 5 minutes.

Pour the lemon curd into the tart shell and bake until the center of the custard is no longer wobbly, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Cool completely in the pan, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove from the pan sides and bottom. Sprinkle the tart with the chopped pistachios around the rim before serving.

The tart can be stored, loosely covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

From DOLCI! by Renato Poliafito with Casey Elsass. Copyright © 2024 by Renato Poliafito. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Photographer is Kevin Miyazaki