briciole

fasole bătută

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

a creamy, flavorful spread

Would you like something creamy to spread on bread or crackers that is flavorful, nutritious and healthy? Look no further than my rendition of fasole bătută, a Romanian dish made with mashed beans seasoned with various aromatics (source). I read a few recipes and then went my own way, using what I had available and adjusting the quantities to my taste. This recipe suggests to fry the onions, which gave me the idea to caramelize shallots and use them as topping.

I really liked my version of fasole bătută: it's creamy and balanced in terms of flavor. (Note that I used a small amount of garlic, an ingredient that, when used raw, can easily overwhelm other flavors.)

Ingredients:

• 3.5 oz / 1/2 cup / 100 g Paul's mix beans or other dried beans of choice, like cannellini or canario [see below how to cook beans with aromatics]
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml Meyer lemon juice or 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• A teaspoon minced fresh dill (optional, but nice: this is my idea)
  
• 1 small garlic clove (or half of a larger one), peeled
  
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml olive oil of good quality
• Sea salt and freshly milled pepper, to taste
• 85 g / 3 oz. shallots, thinly sliced (1/8 inch / 3 mm)
• 1/2 tablespoon / 7.5 ml olive oil of good quality
  

How to cook dry beans
The way I cook beans for further use comes from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (Beans with Aromatics). After soaking half a cup of dry beans for several hours or overnight in enough water to cover them by about an inch (I use two cups), empty the whole bowl into a saucepan and add

• Half of a small onion (or a quarter of a medium one), halved
• A bay leaf
• A small clove of garlic, sliced
• A couple of sprigs of fresh parsley

Bring the water to a lively boil quickly, and keep it there for five minutes, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are ready. How long this takes depends on the type of beans and their freshness. Let them cool in their broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their cooking broth until ready to use.

How to finish the dish
Drain the beans, leaving them a bit moist. This is one of the advantages of cooking beans by yourself (instead of buying canned ones): the cooking liquid is aromatic and can be used as part of the dish you are making. Place the beans in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add Meyer lemon juice, dill and garlic, and start the processor.

When the beans are partially mashed, add 1 tablespoon of oil slowly through the feeding tube while the processor is running. Scrape the side of the bowl with a spatula to make sure that the ingredients get processed properly.

Process until the beans are nice a creamy. Add more oil and/or a bit of the bean cooking liquid to reach the desired consistency. Taste and, if needed, add a bit more Meyer lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Refrigerate until use.

Warm up 1/2 tablespoon of oil in a small frying pan and add the shallots. Cook on gentle heat until caramelized. Sprinkle a bit of salt and stir.

Take the fasole bătută out of the refrigerator ahead of serving (so it is not consumed cold). Right before bringing it to the table, top it with the shallots.

with caraway rye bread

I served my fasole bătută with slices of caraway rye bread that I made using a traditional Romanian ingredient. More on this in a future post.

Addendum. Cristina of La cucina di Cristina wrote in the answer to my comment on her blog that this is the most beloved (and most eaten) dish in Romania. It is consumed as appetizer with bread, the way I did, or as side dish with a sausage, or as entrée with a side of pickled vegetables, like cucumbers and green tomatoes.

I totally understand the enthusiasm Romanians have for this dish. I made it again, doubling the quantities and using a mix of mint and thyme instead of dill and it was once again a delight to eat spread on bread.

This is my contribution to the fourth installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. D like Drob (Romania) is hosted by Cristina of La cucina di Cristina.

This page contains Drob's recipe and the list of dishes contributed to the event.

If you'd like to participate, this post contains the complete list of countries, hosting blogs and deadlines.

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beans, spread, Romanian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

una crema di fagioli deliziosa

Desiderate qualcosa di cremoso da spalmare su pane o cracker che sia gustoso, nutriente e saporito? Siete arrivati alla ricetta giusta: fasole bătută, un piatto rumeno a base di fagioli passati con aromi vari. Ho letto alcune ricette e poi, come al solito, ho prodotto una versione personalizzata in base ai miei gusti e agli ingredienti che ho a disposizione.  Questa ricetta (in inglese) suggerisce di accompagnare fasole bătută con della cipolla fritta e questo particolare mi ha dato l'idea di caramellizzare dello scalogno.

La mia versione di fasole bătută, cremosa e bilanciata nel sapore, mi è piaciuta molto. (Da notare che ho usato solo una piccola quantita di aglio, un ingrediente che, quando è usato crudo, fa un po' il bullo con altri sapori.

Ingredients:

• 100 g fagioli cannellini secchi
• 15 ml / 1 cucchiaio succo di limone Meyer o 10 ml / 2 cucchiaini succo di limone
  
• 1 cucchiaino di aneto finemente tritato (facoltativo, ma ci sta bene: idea mia)
  
• 1 piccolo spicchio d'aglio pelato (o mezzo spicchio, se un po' grosso)
  
• 15 ml olio EV d'oliva
  
• sale fino e pepe macinato fresco, q.b.
• 85 g scalogno tagliato a fettine fine (3 mm)
  
• 7,5 ml / mezzo cucchiaio olio EV d'oliva

Cuocere i fagioli
Il metodo che uso per cuocere i fagioli secchi viene da Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone di Deborah Madison (Beans with Aromatics). Dopo aver tenuto in ammollo 100 g di fagioli per diverse ore o, meglio, tutta la notte, in abbastanza acqua da coprirli per 2,5 cm (io ne uso 475 ml), verso il tutto in una pentola e aggiungo gli odori:

• mezza cipolla piccola (o un quarto di cipolla media)
  
• una fogliolina d'alloro
  
• un piccolo spicchio d'aglio tagliato a fettine
  
• un paio di steli di prezzemolo

Portare a bollore vivace e mantenerlo per 5 minuti, poi abbassare il calore e far cuocere, coperti, fino a quando i fagioli non sono teneri. Il tempo necessario dipende dal tipo di fagioli e dalla loro freschezza. Far freddare i fagioli nel liquido di cottura, poi rimuovere gli odori e scartarli. Lasciare i fagioli nel liquido di cottura fino a quando non li utilizzate.

Completare la preparazione
Scolare i fagioli, ma lasciarli un po' umidi. Questo è uno dei vantaggi di cuocere i fagioli da soli (piuttosto che comprarli in scatola): il liquido di cottura è aromatico e quindi utilizzabile nella preparazione del piatto per il quale aveto cotto i fagioli.

Versare i fagioli nel robot con la lama, aggiungere il succo di limone Meyer, aneto e aglio e far andare il robot. Quando i fagioli sono parzialmente passati, far scendere lentamente il cucchiaio d'olio dall'apertura sul coperchio del robot, mentreil robot continua ad andare. Raschiare la parete del robot per assicurarvi che gli ingredienti vengano passati bene.

Continuare fino a quando i fagioli siano ridotto ad una crema. Aggiungere un po' d'olio e/o di liquido di cottura dei fagioli per ottenere la consistenza desiderata. Assaggiare e, se necessario, aggiungere un po' di succo di limone Meyer. Condire con sale e pepe a seconda del gusto. Riporre in frigorifero.

In una padellina, scaldare mezzo cucchiaio di olio EVO e aggiungere lo scalogno. Cuocere a fuoco dolce fino a quando sia caramellizzata (abbiate pazienza, ci vuole un po'). Salare leggermente e mescolare.

Tirare fuori dal frigorifero il  fasole bătută in modo che non sia freddo al momento di servirlo. Prima di portarlo a tavola, distribuire un po' dello scalogno sulla superficie, a piacere.

con del pane di segale

Ho servito il mio fasole bătută con fettine di pane di segale preparato utilizzando un ingrediente tradizionale rumeno. Ma questa è una storia per un altro post.

Addendum: Cristina de La cucina di Cristina ha scritto questa nota al mio commento sul suo blog: "questa è la ricetta forse piu' amata (e mangiata :-) ) in Romania: come antipasto se si mangia su una fetta di pane, contorno se aggiungi una salsiccia fritta vicino, secondo vegetariano se la mangi cosi o con delle verdure in salamoia (specialmente con cetrioli o pomodori verdi in salamoia).

La seconda volta che ho preparato questa crema di fagioli ho raddoppiato le quantità e usato un misto di menta e timo invece dell'aneto. È davvero buona e posso capire come sia popolare in Romania.

Questo è il mio contributo alla quarta tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. D come Drob (Romania) è ospitata da Cristina de La cucina di Cristina.

Quasta pagina contiene la ricetta di Drob e la lista dei piatti contribuiti all'evento.

 Se siete interessati a partecipare, questo post contiene la lista completa di paesi, blog ospitanti e scadenze.

Related articles

pane di segale con cumino dei prati / caraway rye bread

insalata di fagioli e tonno / bean and albacore tuna salad

the right company for kale pesto

The first scene brings us to a large rapeseed field. Our eyes luxuriate in the saturated colors of tall yellow flowers under a blindingly blue sky. As our mind wonders where such a beautiful place is, a painful sense of foreboding starts to distort the idyllic image. The young woman in the middle of the yellow ocean is panicking and the middle-aged men trying to reach her is anxious. The tension builds up as the camera switches vintage point until the scene goes up in flames — literally.

Sidetracked, the first episode of the BBC movies Wallander turned me into a terrified fan of the series. I could not stop watching that and the other two episodes of the first season: the movies held me in their power. But the horror of the deaths and crimes shown in them terrified me. A part of me wanted to flee, while the other part was glued to the couch, totally focused on the screen and the events shown on it.

I like everything about the movies and find the character of police inspector Kurt Wallander fascinating and poignantly rendered by Kenneth Branagh. After watching three movies, I had to read the novels by Swedish author Henning Mankell. I started from the first one Faceless Killers, which introduced Kurt Wallander to the public 23 years ago. In 1999 Mankell published The Pyramid, a collection of five stories that follows Wallander career from his beginning as a patrolman who helps solve a crime and gets moved into the investigative branch of the police, to the middle-aged, seasoned investigator recently separated from his wife that we meet in the first novel. (This is the book I am reading right now.)

Faceless Killers opens with a brutal, inexplicable murder of a farmer and his wife. As Wallander applies known investigative techniques, based on looking very carefully at the available information, spiced up with a bit of gut feelings and intuition, to find who did it and why, we follow his having to come to terms with his wife's recent decision to leave him.

The chaos without is reflected in the chaos within Wallander's life. Of course, a murder is not at the same level as a separation and an estranged daughter, Linda — whose suicide attempt he thwarted some years prior. However, the need to rationalize and act upon them has similarity. In the end, he cannot do anything to recreate the family nucleus, which in practice had ceased to exist for a while, but he can bring the murderers to justice, thereby resetting the scales, so to speak — albeit temporarily.

The novel includes more than one personal thread: Wallander's father, a painter, appears and his mental and physical decline requires attention. And Rydberg, Wallander's mentor and most trusted colleague, is diagnosed with cancer. The mood of the novel is definitely somber. And the fact that it starts in early January, in the dead of winter, adds some more darkness. The one steady light is Wallander's determination to solve the crime that haunts him. And he will do that.

bean and albacore tuna salad for Wallander

Often Wallander is so engrossed in his investigations that food and sleep are pushed aside, sometimes with dangerous consequences. One recurrent motif in the novel is his wish to start eating better, a resolution that gets repeatedly postponed to the following day when, supposedly, he will have more time to choose mindfully how to feed himself. But the healthy, nutritious salad in his thoughts never materializes on his plate, so I thought I would make one for him, one that, with a bit of planning, he could prepare for himself at home.

The combination of beans and canned tuna (we called it fagioli col tonno) reminds me of childhood summer vacations (vacanze estive), when salads of various kinds rotated on the menu. Its simplicity leaves room for interesting variations, like this one. The baby kale pesto with cashews I described yesterday smoothes the edges of the two bold flavors of beans and albacore. I cook beans whenever I have time and if I don't need them right away, I freeze them. The pesto can also be made in advance and frozen. Particularly useful are the two-tablespoon cubes you can obtain by freezing it in an ice tray. And canned albacore is an item always in my pantry, the kind I discovered some years ago: troll caught and preserved in its own juices, flavorful, low in mercury and without added ingredients besides salt.

Paul's mix, a medley of organic beans

Once you have the elements of the salad, combining them together takes little time and the result is satisfying and nourishing, just what Kurt Wallander and we all need.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for bean and albacore tuna salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup / 200 g  7 oz. Paul's mix beans or other dried beans of choice [see below how to cook beans with aromatics]
• One 7.5 oz. can troll- or pole-caught albacore preserved in its juices
• 2 tablespoons baby kale pesto with cashews

How to cook dry beans
The way I cook beans for further use comes from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (Beans with Aromatics). After soaking a cup of dry beans for several hours or overnight in enough water to cover them by about an inch (I use 3 1/2 cups), empty the whole bowl into a saucepan and add

• A small onion (or half of a medium one), halved
• A large bay leaf
• A large clove of garlic, or two small ones, sliced
• A few sprigs of fresh parsley
• A piece of kombu or other seaweed of choice (optional)

If it feels that there is not enough water to cook the beans well, add 1/2 cup. Bring the water to a lively boil quickly, and keep it there for five minutes, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are ready. How long this takes depends on the type of beans and their freshness. Let them cool in their broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their cooking broth until ready to use.

How to prepare the pesto
See the post baby kale pesto with cashews for the recipe.

How to assemble the salad
Drain the beans but leave them a bit moist. Open the can, empty it in a bowl, and with a fork flake the albacore to incorporate its juices. Add kale pesto and mix thoroughly to combine the ingredients. Serve (at room temperature).

To my palate, this salad does not need additional salt an neither does it need olive oil, since the albacore provides its oil. 

Besides choosing healthier dishes, hopefully Wallander will learn to enjoy the food, instead of just stuffing himself, which is what he does when eating on the run. When it comes to his relation with food, he can learn from Montalbano.

This is my second contribution to the 18th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started some time ago and that I continue to host.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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This is also my submission for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. 

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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Finally, this is my contribution to MLLA #57, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen, and hosted this month by PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di fagioli e tonno

or launch the insalata di fagioli e tonno audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

beans, tuna, kale, pesto, salad, cashew

Related articles

pesto di cavolo riccio novello con anacardi / baby kale pesto with cashews

fagioli gratinati / bean gratin

strascinati alla semola tostata / toasted semolina flour strascinati

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

dressed with purple sprouting broccoli

Imagine a pasta that smells like toasted hazelnuts (nocciole tostate). It's not a dream, but the result of my experiments following my experience with farina di grano arso. 

I don't (yet) know how they obtain the gray color and smoky flavor of that flour, but reading again Debra's post about it gave me the idea of trying to toast some semolina flour. I knew I would not get a gray, smoky flour, but I thought that maybe the result would be interesting. It certainly was. 

original and toasted semolina flour

I dry-roasted some semolina flour in a frying pan, then made a number of experiments using the golden result in combination with various other flours. I also toasted durum flour and used that in combination with various other flours. Toasted durum flour is easier to work with, but does not give the pasta made with it the same nutty flavor toasted semolina flour does, so I prefer the latter. I am giving you here what I think was the combination that gives the best result.

strascinati made with some toasted semolina flour

You may recall that strascinati was the first type of eggless pasta I made, some months ago. More recently, I made a version using chestnut flour. I made that version of strascinati using two fingers, while I made the toasted semolina flour strascinati using three fingers.

 

I have dressed this lovely pasta in various ways. Here I am showing them with the purple sprouting broccoli dressing I described in the recent post about orecchiette di grano arso. Besides being flavorful, this vegetable is quite photogenic.

Ingredients for the pasta:

• 25 g / 1 oz. toasted semolina flour (see below instructions on how to toast semolina flour)
• 75 g / 2.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality
• 55 g / 2 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
  
• A pinch of salt

Ingredients for the dressing:

• 150 g / 5.25 oz. purple sprouting broccoli, large ones cut in half lengthwise
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil of good quality
• A clove of garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
• Freshly grated aged Dubliner (or other cheese that combined a note of nuttiness with a slight sharpness), to taste, but with a light hand (see Note below)

How to toast semolina flour
(Do this ahead) Toasting semolina flour requires patience, because you don't want to burn it. Warm up a cup of semolina flour in a dry frying pan over medium-low heat. First, stir often, then, once the semolina flour starts to get darker, stir almost continuously. As it darkens in color, the semolina flour gives up a bit of smoke. Once the flour is all darker turn down the heat a bit.

To decide when to stop, follow your nose: when the semolina flour smells nicely toasted, remove from the heat, then stir a little longer. Let the toasted semolina flour cool completely, then store it in a container until you need to use it.

How to make the dough and shape strascinati
Make a dough with the pasta ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. If you are used to making a regular semolina dough, note that this dough requires a longer kneading and remains a tiny bit grainy. The effort is repaid by the lovely nutty smell that makes your nose dance. Let the dough rest, covered, for half an hour or so.

Roll the dough into a thick roll, then cut it into 5-6 pieces and shape each one into a roll about 3/8 inch (1 cm) in diameter. Cut each roll into approximately 1 1/4-inch (3 cm) long pieces, then use the three middle fingers (or the index and middle finger) to drag each small piece of pasta dough towards you. This movement thins the pasta and gives it a shell-like shape that will also carry the imprint of your fingers.

How to cook and dress the strascinati
Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the strascinati in it. Bring back the water to a rolling boil, wait 10 seconds and toss the sprouting broccoli in it. Bring back to boiling and proceed with the cooking. The time needed to cook pasta and broccoli is short, so don't wander far away from the pot. Also, the time is dependent on size and dryness of pasta, so my directions are indicative: you may find that the broccoli cook too long if added as I describe, so next time you want to delay adding them.

While the pasta cooks, warm up the oil in a frying pan and add the garlic. Taste the pasta and stop the cooking slightly before the strascinati are ready. Drain strascinati and broccoli, leaving a bit of cooking water clinging to them, and add them to the pan with the oil. Turn up the heat a bit and toss gently to coat, a minute or so, then remove from the heat. Discard the garlic, sprinkle some cheese and toss some more. Adjust salt if needed, plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on top. Serve immediately. The recipe makes two portions.

Note: When I dressed this kind of strascinati with tomato sauce, I used Parmigiano-Reggiano. For the dressing described in this post, I wanted a cheese that had a note of nuttiness, but was also slightly sharp. I cast Kerrygold Vintage Dubliner in the role and the result was excellent.

isn't it lovely?

Just try it.

The warm note of toasted nuts you smell while kneading the dough and shaping the pasta is detectable once the pasta is cooked. The sprouting broccoli and cheese go along perfectly with the strascinati: the ensemble is a simple dish with complex flavor that is utterly satisfying.

As I said: Just try it.

This is my contribution to edition #375 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Brii of briggishome, organizer of the Italian edition of WHB.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

strascinati alla semola tostata

or launch the strascinati alla semola tostata audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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handmade pasta, semolina flour, broccoli, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

strascinati con i broccoli viola

Immaginate una pasta che profuma di nocciole tostate. Non è un sogno, ma il risultato dei miei esperimenti dopo aver provato ad usare la farina di grano arso. 

Ancora non so come i produttori riescano ad ottenere il colore grigio e il profumo leggermente affumicato di tale farina, ma nel leggere di nuovo il post di Debra mi è venuto in mente di provare a tostare la semola. 

originale e tostata

Ho tostato della "semolina flour" in una padella a secco e poi ho fatto diversi esperimenti utilizzando il risultato in combinazione con altre farine. Ho anche provato a tostare della farina di grano duro e ad utilizzarla in combinazione con altre farine. La farina di grano duro tostata è più facile da lavorare, ma la pasta che si ottiene non ha lo stesso sapore noccioloso di quella fatta con la semola tostata e quindi preferisco quest'ultima. Qui sotto descrivo la combinazione che mi ha dato il risultato preferito.

Come ho raccontato in precedenza, dove abito non trovo semola e semola rimacinata come in Italia. La semolina flour è macinata più grossolanamente della semola rimacinata, ma mi sembra più fine della semola. Per i vostri esperimenti, provate a tostare entrambe e confrontate i risultati, poi scegliete la soluzione migliore.

strascinati fatti con della "semolina flour" tostata

Gli strascinati sono il primo tipo di pasta senza uova che ho imparato a fare, qualche mese fa. Più di recente, ne ho fatta una versione alla farina di castagne. Per fare tale versione ho utilizzato due dita per trascinare la pasta, mentre per questa versione ho usato tre dita. 

 

Ho condito questa pasta deliziosa in modi diversi. Qui la vedete con i broccoli viola cha ho descritto di recente nel post sulle orecchiette di grano arso. Oltre ad essere gustosa, questa verdura è alquanto fotogenica. 

Ingredienti per la pasta:

• 25 g semola o semola rimacinata tostata (vedi sotto le istruzioni per tostare la semola)
• 75 g semola di grano duro (rimacinata o meno, o un misto, a seconda di quello che prevede la vostra ricetta di famiglia)
• un pizzico di sale
• 55 g acqua tiepida

Ingredienti per il condimento:

• 150 g infiorescenze di broccolo viola (se grosse, tagliatele a metà per il lungo)
• 1/2 cucchiaio (7,5 ml) olio d'oliva
• Uno spicchio d'aglio, pelato e leggermente schiacciato
• Formaggio Dubliner invecchiato o un altro formaggio che abbia insieme una nota nocciolosa e una leggermente piccante, grattugiato fresco, a piacere, ma aggiunto con mano leggera

Tostare la semola o semola rimacinata richiede pazienza. Scaldare 150 g della semola scelta in una padella a secco su calore medio-basso. All'inizio, muovere la semola spesso, poi, quando comincia a imbiondire, muoverla quasi di continuo. Abbassare il calore quando è diventata tutta più scura.

Per decidere quando spegnere il calore, seguite il vostro naso: quando la semola o semola rimacinata emana un odore gradevolmente tostato rimuovere dal calore, scuotere la padella ancora un po' e poi far freddare. Conservare in un barattolo fino al momento dell'uso.

Preparate un impasto ben lavorato con le semole (al quale avete aggiunto un pizzico di sale) e l'acqua. Questo impasto richiede una lavorazione un po' piu lunga del solito (e al tatto si sente un pochino granelloso), ma premia con il suo profumo di nocciole tostate. Coprire e far riposare per una mezz'ora.

Formate un rotolo con la pasta e poi tagliatelo in 5-6 pezzi. Con ogni pezzo fate un rotolino spesso un cm e tagliatelo a pezzi lunghi circa 3-3,5 cm, poi usate le tre dita di mezzo oppure indice e medio per trascinare ogni pezzetto verso di voi. Questo movimento spiana la pasta e le dà una forma cava che porta l'impronta delle vostre dita.

Portare a bollore una pentola d'acqua salata e versarci gli strascinati. Riportare a bollore vivace, lasciar passare 10 secondi e poi versare i broccoli, riportare a bollore e continuare la cottura. Il tempo necessario a cuocere la pasta e le infiorescenze di broccolo è breve, quindi non lasciate il posto di comando vicino ai fornelli. Il tempo dipende dalla grandezza degli strascinati e da quanto secchi sono, quindi le mie istruzioni sono indicative: se vi rendete conto che i broccoli cuociono troppo quando li aggiungete al momento da me indicato, la volta successiva ritardate l'inizio della loro cottura.

Mentre la pasta cuoce, scaldare l'olio in una padella e aggiungere l'aglio. Assaggiare la pasta e fermare la cottura poco prima che gli strascinati siano pronti. Scolare pasta e broccoli, lasciando un po' dell'acqua di cottura, e versare nella padella con l'olio. Alzare un po' il fuoco e mescolare delicatamente pasta e broccoli per un minuto per terminare la cottura, poi togliere dal fuoco. Rimuovere l'aglio, distribuire un po' di formaggio e mescolare delicatamente. Regolare il sale, impiattare (due porzioni), distribuire un po' di formaggio e servire immediatamente.

Nota: Quando ho condito questi strascinati col mio sugo di pomodoro, ho usato del Parmigiano-Reggiano. Per il condimento descritto in questo post, volevo un formaggio che avesse una nota nocciolosa, ma fosse anche una puntina piccante. Ho assegnato il ruolo al Kerrygold Vintage Dubliner e il risultato mi ha soddisfatta.

è un bel piatto, vero?

La nota di nocciole tostate che sentite mentre preparate l'impasto e formate la pasta si assapora quando la pasta è cotta. I broccoli e il formaggio vanno d'accordo col sapore degli strascinati e il trio forma un piatto semplice dal sapore complesso molto soddisfacente. Provare per credere.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 375 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Kris di Tutto a occhio.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

reginelle / sesame seed cookies

reginella à la Simona

Sicily smells of sesame seeds. Not the actual island, but the Sicily of my memory. I close my eyes, I whisper "Sicilia" and I smell toasted sesame seeds. The same thing happens if I read about Sicily: I open one of my Montalbano books and my nose smiles.

My first visit to Sicily, the summer before I turned 18, overloaded all of my senses in a joyous way: the beauty of churches and other buildings in Palermo, the sticky smell of the hot July days, the pleasant coolness of the sea, the sound of the dialect (of which I learned a few words), the taste of new foods. Of all the novelties my senses encountered, the smell of sesame seeds (semi di sesamo) is the one with highest emotional content. I had never tasted sesame seeds before, not even set my eyes on them. I only knew the name and that they were small.

First, I ate bread with the surface sprinkled with sesame seeds and I was amazed at the amount of flavor the small seeds packed. So, when I saw reginelle, cookies covered with sesame seeds, I did not need any special encouragement to pick one up (gently, to avoid seed loss) and bring it to my mouth. As each bite crumbled in my mouth, sesame seeds were scattered around. The cookie softened but retained a bit of crunch and the seeds teased my teeth into chasing them. A light swetness supported the pleasure without distracting the taste buds. One reginella was a dose of pure and simple pleasure, the memory of which lasted a long time.

I have vivid memories of other foods I tasted during that vacation, from rich gelato eaten in a soft, sweet bun, to fresh fish, from light mini cannoli to intense cheeses, but it's reginelle that feed my nostalgia. When I visited Palermo with my husband a few years ago, I carefully chose the bakery in which to purchase reginelle: I wanted the very best. A bite, stolen when hardly out of the store, sent me back to that summer of many years before, when I first discovered the pleasure these cookies provide.

brought back from Palermo

Until recently, I had never tried to bake them at home, afraid, I suspect, of taking out of the oven something so different from the original that the disappointment would be crushing. Reading again The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri (1994), the first of the novels that have as protagonitst police inspector Salvo Montalbano, brought me back to my first visit to Sicily and back to the yearning for reginelle, so this time I didn't skirt their calling and set about to make them. First, a note on vocabulary. In Sicilian dialect, sesame seeds are called cimino or giuggiulena. Just let this word tingle your ears: giuggiulena. It comes from from Arabic جلجلا (juljulān, "sesame").

I made several batches, trying a slightly different combination of ingredients each time, in search of the elusive bite of recognition. As I expected, none were exactly the same, and some were further from the archetype than others. The recipe I settled on is good: it makes reginelle that are a pleasure to eat and that have already made a couple of converts to their cause.

Ingredients:

• 200 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g whole-wheat pastry flour or 50 g all-purpose flour
  
• 70 g ultrafine sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2 g baking ammonia
  
• 40 g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  
• 20 g cold strutto (rendered pork fat) or 20 g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  
• 1 large egg (possibly from pastured poultry), lightly beaten to mix white and yolk
  
• 1-2 tablespoons milk
• flavoring of choice: a pinch (1/16 teaspoon) saffron powder + grated zest of 1/4 Meyer lemon; or vanilla sugar + 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (see Notes)
• plenty of sesame seeds (I used unhulled ones)
  

Notes:

1. The whole-wheat pastry flour is my way of making cookies a bit more nutricious.
2. I had my homemade strutto and pretty much finished it due to all the batches of reginelle I baked. It makes the cookies friabili (crumbly), but it also has a bit of a flavor and that is why I mixed it with butter. You can use all butter.
3. Based upon my reading, baking ammonia is the leavening agent traditionally used in reginelle. I have some I bought in Italy, where it is easy to find it in grocery stores. As you can read on this page, baking ammonia has advantages over baking powder when used in baked goods like cookies.
4. The recipes I read used various flavorings, from saffron powder to lemon zest to vanilla. In my first batch I used a small amount of saffron powder (1/16 teaspoon) I had and liked the result, but then I could not find more in the store and using saffron threads did not give me the same result. I then used a combination vanilla and lemon zest and was not happy, so I removed the lemon zest and used my vanilla sugar plus a bit of vanilla extract.

• If using saffron powder, dissolve it in a tablespoon of warm milk.
• Put flours, sugar (vanilla sugar, if using), salt, and baking ammonia in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
• Add butter and strutto, and pulse a few times, until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.
• Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface.
• Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it.
• Add the vanilla extract or lemon zest (whichever using) to the well.
• Add 1 tablespoon of milk or the milk and saffron powder mix (if using).
• Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
• Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball. Add a bit more milk, if necessary.
• Shape the dough into a flat ellipse and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill while you get ready for the next phase. 

shaping the dough

Take a kitchen towel, spread it on your working surface and pour some water over it, so about half of it gets wet, but there is no pool of water. Take a round cake pan and pour sesame seeds in it so you have a nice layer. Preheat the oven to 400 F (or 350 F, see below). Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

Halve the dough and keep one half in the fridge. The following is how I decided to shape the reginelle and to roll them in the sesame seeds. Place dough on your working surface and pushing on its surface with the rolling pin, flatten it slightly (about 1/2 inch / 1.25 cm thick). With the bench scraper, cut strips (3/4 inch / 2 cm wide) and then cut each strip into pieces (1.5 inch / 4 cm long).

prepping the surface

Place a piece of dough on the towel and lightly roll it with the palm of your hand so its surface becomes slightly damp, then deposit it on the sesame seeds. Shake the pan so the dough rolls around and covers itself with seeds. Gently pick up the seeded piece of dough and place it on the lined baking sheet. Leave at least an inch (2.5 cm) of space all around each reginella. When you become comfortable with the process, you can work with a few pieces of dough at a time. And of course, you can come up with your own version of how to do all this.

I have read two schools of thought in terms of baking: one starts at high temperature (400 F) and then drops to lower 10 minutes after the start and one uses the same temperature (350 F) throughout. I think I prefer the result of the first version, while my husband prefers the result of the second: you can be  your own judge. Either way, I follow the advice of leaving the oven door slightly ajar (1/8 inch / 3 mm) to let the ammonia escape but without letting too much heat dissipate.

• If starting at 400 F, 10 minutes after the start, lower temperature to 320 F
• If starting at 350 F, keep the same temperature throughout

Either way, check the reginelle after 20 minutes from the beginning and estimate the amount of time still needed. The reginelle are ready when the surface is golden. Check the bottom as well: it should be brown but not dark brown. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and move the reginelle to a rack to cool. While the first batch is baking, prepare the second batch as above.

Store reginelle in an airtight container and enjoy. You probably won't think about Sicily when you bite on one, but you should still have a pleasant, crunchy experience.

Final note: reginelle shed sesame seeds throughout their life cycle. I have been collecting them and used them for a second time: the second baking did not affect their flavor, in part, I think, because I used unhulled seeds. I will not use them a third time for reginelle, but I have already used them as toasted sesame seeds on salads.

rolling in the sesame seeds

I have not visited Porto Empedocle Vigata, where the novels are set, but years ago, I spent a month working at the Club Med Kamarina and have been to Ragusa, Vittoria and other places in the area, so I have a sense of the landscape Camilleri describes in his Montalbano novels.

It was interesting to read again the first one of the series. We meet Montalbano and see his charming human touch at work. For example, he lies about his identity to the mother of a young man he wants to question to avoid alarming her. He understands immediately that Ingegner Luparello's wife is a smart woman and the two of them develop a mutual esteem. He may be a bit rough, but his first instinct is to try and connect to the person he is dealing with. 

The most memorable part of the novel is probably the improbable friendship that blossoms between Montalbano and Ingrid, a beautiful Swedish woman accidentally married to an absent Sicilian. The story moves forward to reach the solution. We never doubt that Montalbano will figure out what happened. But the process of uncovering the truth includes also making sure that innocent Ingrid is not dragged into the mud, that the Luparello widow's wish is respected, that Saro gets some money to cure his little boy, in sum, that the chaos of the world in general and of that corner of Sicily in particular, for at least a brief time, is organized in a sort of just order that allows Montalbano a few hours of quiet sleep or a long swim in the sea in front of his house in Marinella.

a cookie from the heart

In an interview (in Italian), Camilleri says (my translation of the transcription):

I wrote the first, then the second [The Terra-Cotta Dog], and said: the end. I wrote the second to better define the character, but then what happened happened. 

"What happened" was that The Terra-Cotta Dog was a huge success. Nineteen years after the publication of The Shape of Water, readers around the world still wait impatiently for the next Montalbano to come out. Long live Andrea Camilleri.

This is my contribution to the 18th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started some time ago and that I continue to host.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

This is also my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Rachel of The Crispy Cook. You can find the guidelines for participating in the event here, and here is the announcement.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

reginelle

or launch the reginelle audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

cookie, sesame-seeds, Italian recipe

Related articles

semi di sesamo / sesame seeds

orecchiette di grano arso coi broccoli / burnt wheat orecchiette with broccoli

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

a study in contrast

Farina di grano arso is gray and gray are the orecchiette made with it. I have talked about this special flour and how to use it to make pasta in a recent post.

I made orecchiette di grano arso three times so far and I have always cooked some purple sprouting broccoli in the same pot. I harvest them as individual florets (as part of my CSA u-pick share).

vividly colored

A strikingly colored pasta deserves a strikingly colored accompaniment. This broccoli variety loses its purple hue when cooked, but it turns into a brilliant green that offers a nice contrast to the dark pasta. The final touch of color is given by the white cheese sprinkled on the pasta before serving.

pretty in monochrome

Ingredients and instructions to make the orecchiette are given in this post, which includes a short video of my hands shaping the pasta.

Ingredients for the dressing:

• 150 g / 5.25 oz. purple sprouting broccoli, large ones cut in half lengthwise
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil of good quality
• A clove of garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
• Freshly grated fiore sardo, to taste, but with a light hand

Make the orecchiette and let them dry for a couple of hours (or a bit more: I usually make orecchiette early in the morning and then cook them for lunch).

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the orecchiette in it. Bring back the water to a rolling boil and toss the broccoli in it. Bring back to boiling and proceed with the cooking. The time needed to cook pasta and broccoli is short, so don't wander far away from the pot. Also, the time is dependent on size and dryness of pasta, so my directions are indicative: you may find that the sprouting broccoli cook too long if added as I describe, so next time you want to delay adding them.

While the pasta cooks, warm up the oil in a frying pan and add the garlic. Taste the pasta and stop the cooking slightly before the orecchiette are ready. Drain orecchiette and broccoli, leaving a bit of cooking water clinging to them, and add them to the pan with the oil. Turn up the heat a bit and toss gently to coat, a minute or so, then remove from the heat. Discard the garlic, sprinkle some cheese and toss some more. Adjust salt if needed, plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on top. Serve immediately. The recipe makes two portions.

a steaming plate

The orecchiette taste slightly nutty and smoky, and the broccoli provide a nice contrast with their earthier, but also bright, flavor. A garlicky nuance is there, counterbalanced by the lightly sharp cheese. In sum, a lovely ensemble of flavors.

This is my contribution to edition #374 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Simona of briciole.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

orecchiette di grano arso coi broccoli

or launch the orecchiette di grano arso coi broccoli audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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handmade pasta, broccoli, cheese, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

contrasto di colori

La farina di grano arso è grigia e sono grigie le orecchiette che con essa si fanno. Ho parlato di questa farina speciale e di come la uso per fare la pasta in un post recente.

Ho fatto le orecchiette di grano arso tre volte finora e ho sempre cotto insieme ad esse delle infiorescenze di broccolo viola.  

che bel colore!

Una pasta dal colore particolare merita un accompagnamento dal colore particolare. Questa varietà di cavolo broccolo perde il colore viola quando viene cotta, ma diventa di un verde brillante che offre bel contrasto al grigio della pasta. Il tocco di colore finale è il formaggio bianco aggiunto subito prima di servire. 

eleganza in bianco e nero

Ingredienti e instruzioni sulla manifattura delle orecchiette sono in questo post, che comprende un breve video con le mie mani che formano la pasta.

Ingredienti per il condimento:

• 150 g infiorescenze di broccolo viola (se grosse, tagliatele a metà per il lungo)
• 1/2 cucchiaio (7,5 ml) olio d'oliva
• Uno spicchio d'aglio, pelato e leggermente schiacciato
• Fiore sardo grattugiato fresco, a piacere, ma aggiunto con mano leggera

Fare le orecchiette e farle asciugare per un paio d'ore (o un po' di più: io di solito faccio le orecchiette al mattino e le cuocio per pranzo).

Portare a bollore una pentola d'acqua salata e versarci le orecchiette. Riportare a bollore vivace e versare i broccoli, riportare a bollore e continuare la cottura. Il tempo necessario a cuocere la pasta e le infiorescenze di broccolo è breve, quindi non lasciate il posto di comando vicino ai fornelli. Il tempo dipende dalla grandezza delle orecchiette e da quanto secche sono, quindi le mie istruzioni sono indicative: se vi rendete conto che i broccoli cuociono troppo quando li aggiungete al momento da me indicato, la volta successiva ritardate l'inizio della loro cottura.

Mentre la pasta cuoce, scaldare l'olio in una padella e aggiungere l'aglio. Assaggiare la pasta e fermare la cottura poco prima che le orecchiette siano pronte. Scolare pasta e broccoli, lasciando un po' dell'acqua di cottura, e versare nella padella con l'olio. Alzare un po' il fuoco e mescolare delicatamente pasta e broccoli per un minuto per terminare la cottura, poi togliere dal fuoco. Rimuovere l'aglio, distribuire un po' di formaggio e mescolare delicatamente. Regolare il sale, impiattare (due porzioni), distribuire un po' di formaggio e servire immediatamente.

a steaming plate

Le orecchiette hanno un sapore leggermente tostato e affumicato e i broccoli offrono un piacevole contrasto con il loro sapore "verduroso." Il sapore di aglio è leggero ed è bilanciato dal formaggio leggermento piccante. Insomma, un'ottima combinazione di sapori. 

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 374 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Simona di briciole.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

zuppa stile caldo verde / caldo verde-inspired soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

green goodness

With a name as sensuous as caldo verde (literally, green broth), a soup's future is secure. Who doesn't want to eat some caldo verde? I certainly wanted to, but there was a little glitch: I don't eat sausages, I stopped eating them years ago, for various reasons. I have nothing against chouriço or linguiça, which are called for in the recipe for caldo verde, a traditional Portuguese soup, often referred to as Portuguese kale soup. And I don't like to eat "imitation" something, so I set about making a soup "inspired by" caldo verde, without sausages. I didn't go all the way vegetarian, because I used some of my homemade light chicken stock, but if you substitute that with vegetable broth, you have a vegetarian version of this satisfying soup, perfect whenever you need a good plan to use kale overflowing from your garden.

I actually used a mix of rainbow chard (bietola) from Redwood Roots Farm and Red Russian kale (cavolo riccio) from my garden, cut as shown in this video (starts at around 7:45" — as an aside, I disagree with her assessment of chard stalks flavor: I like making this dish with them).

various shades of greens

For my rendition, I selected this recipe on the BBC site as guide, then, as usual, went my own way, giving precedence to ingredients I had available. In particular, instead of using an onion, I took advantage of freshly harvested baby leeks (porri novelli) and of shallots (scalogni) from my garden's 2012 production. Locally grown, dried shiitake mushrooms add a nice note to the rustic soup and contribute to its earthy color.

Ingredients:

• 7 dried shitake mushrooms
• 3 baby leeks, white and light green portion, sliced and thoroughtly rinsed
• 3 medium shallots, finely chopped
  
• Alternative to leeks and shallots: 1 large onions, finely chopped
• Olive oil of good quality
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1/2 lb potatoes, well scrubbed and diced
• 1 parsnip, well scrubbed, trimmed, and thinly sliced
• 2 cups light chicken stock or vegetable broth, possibly homemade + water as needed
• 1 bay leaf
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 bunch of kale and rainbow chard (see below for quantity details)
  
• A generous squeeze of fresh Meyer lemon juice

Before you start preparing the vegetables, place mushroom in a bowl and cover with warm water. Let them fully rehydrate.

Warm up some olive oil in a soup pot and gently cook baby leeks and shallots until soft, stirring often. Drain mushrooms, remove stems (and save to make broth or stock), and slice caps. Add to the pot mushrooms and the water where they soaked, stir and cook for a few more minutes.

Add potatoes and parsnip to the pot and stir well. Add bay leaf, stock and enough water to cover the vegetables well. Bring to a boil and cook gently until potatoes and parsnip are tender and easily smashed with the back of a spoon.

While the soup cooks, wash the greens and separate the leaves from the stalks. (Set aside the chard stalks and make this dish or something else with them.) Thinly slice the greens as shown in the video mentioned above. Basically, chiffonade. Make a stack of leaves, then roll it lengthwise. Hold the roll with one hand and with the other cut thin slices across (as if it were a salame). Make another stack and repeat. I am not a paragon of knife skills as you can see from the photo: the greens should be cut a bit more thinly, if possible.

Season soup with salt and pepper, to taste, then process with an immersion blender. I left some texture in the soup. Add some hot water, if the soup is very dense. Bring soup back to a boil.

My guide recipe instructs to blanch the greens, but I didn't see the need to involve another pot, because the greens I use don't taste bitter to me.

Add as much of the pile of cut greens as the soup can support and as you prefer. As you can see from the photo, I didn't use a light hand here. Simmer for a few minutes, until the greens are tender. Add the Meyer lemon juice and stir well. Adjust salt and pepper and serve this warming and satisfying soup. Should I mention how healthy an nutritious it is?

the view from above

This was not my first foray into Portuguese cuisine. Some time ago, I followed detective Pepe Carvalho's instructions and made an excellent pot of caldeirada (fish soup).

This is my contribution to the third installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. C like Canja (Portugal) is hosted by Patrizia of La Melagranata.

On this page you will find Canja's recipe and the list of dishes submitted to the event.

If you are interested in participating, this post has the complete list of countries, hosts and time frames.

This is also my submission for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. 

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

zuppa stile caldo verde

or launch the zuppa stile caldo verde audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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soup, potato, kale, chard, Portuguese recipe

Per i lettori italiani

bontà verde

Con un nome sensuale come caldo verde (brodo verde), il successo di una zuppa è assicurato. Voglio dire: chi non vuole assaggiare del caldo verde? Certamente io volevo assaggiarlo, ma c'era un piccolo ostacolo: ho smesso di mangiare salsicce, per motivi vari. Non ho nulla contro chouriço o linguiça, che vengono elencati come ingredienti del caldo verde, zuppa tradizionale portoghese. E non mi piace mangiare prodotti che sono l'imitazione di qualcos'altro, quindi ho preparato una zuppa "stile" caldo verde, senza salsicce. Non ho fatto proprio una versione vegetariana, dal momento che ho usato del brodo di pollo, ma se lo sostituite con brodo vegetale, il risultato è una versione vegetariana di questa ottima zuppa.

Il verde nel mio caso è un misto di bietola "arcobaleno" che ho raccolto a Redwood Roots Farm e cavolo riccio "Red Russian" raccolto dal mio orticello. Le foglie le ho tagliate, come si vede in questo video (cominciando a 7:45" — tra parentesi, non sono d'accordo con il giudizio della chef sulle coste: a me piacciono e le uso per preparare questo piatto).

vari toni di verde

Come guida per la mia versione, ho scelto questa ricetta sul sito della BBC, poi, come al solito, ho fatto di testa mia, dando la precedenza ad ingredienti che avevo a disposizione. In particolare, invece di usare una cipolla, ho sfruttato dei porri novelli che avevo raccolto insieme alla bietola e degli scalogni dal mio orticello (raccolto del 2012). Funghi shiitake secchi di produzione locale hanno contribuito una nota rustica (e in loro colore).

Ingredienti:

• 7 funghi shitake secchi
  
• 3 porri novelli, la parte bianca e verde chiaro, tagliati a fettine e sciacquati accuratamente
• 3 scalogni medi tritati
• In alternativa a porri e scalogno: 1 grossa cipolla tritata
• 2 spicchi d'aglio pelati e schiacciati 
• Olio extra-vergine d'oliva
• 225 g patate, lavate accuratamente e tagliate a dadi
• 1 pastinaca, lavate accuratamente e tagliata a fettine
• 475 ml brodo di pollo o brodo vegetale fatto in casa + acqua
• 1 foglia d'alloro
• Sale fino e pepe macinato fresco, q.b.
• 1 mazzo di bietola o cavolo riccio (vedi sotto per dettagli)
• Succo di limone (possibilmente Meyer)

Mettere i funghi in una ciotola, coprirli con acqua calda e farli reidratare.

Scaldare dell'olio d'oliva in una pentola capiente e aggiungere porri e scalogno. Cuocere a fuoco dolce fino a quando sono teneri, mescolando spesso. Scolare i funghi, rimuovere i gambi (e metterli da parte per usarli come ingredienti in un brodo) e affettare i cappelli. Aggiungere alla pentola i funghi e l'acqua nella quale sono stati reidratati, mescolare bene e cuocere per qualche altro minuto.

Aggiungere patate e pastinaca e mescolare bene. Aggiungere alloro, brodo e abbastanza acqua in modo da coprire bene le verdure. Portare a bollore e cuocere fino a quando patate e pastinaca sono tenere e si possono schiacciare facilmente con un cucchiaio.

Mentre la zuppa cuoce, lavare bietola e cavolo riccio e separare le foglie dagli steli. (Mettere da parte le coste e prepararci questo piatto o qualcos'altro.) Tagliare le foglie a nastri fini come si vede nel video menzionato prima. In pratica, fare una piccola pila di foglie e poi arrotolarle per il lungo. Tenere il rullo con una mano e con l'altra, tagliare fettine fini (come se fosse un salame). Fare un'altra pila di foglie e ripetere. La foto dimostra che non eccello col coltello: i nastrini dovrebbero essere più fini.

Condire la zuppa con sale e pepe, a seconda del gusto. Usare il frullatore ad immersione. Io non ho reso la zuppa proprio omogenea, ma l'ho lasciata un po' rustica. Aggiungere acqua calda, se la zuppa è troppo densa. Riportarla a bollore.

La ricetta guida dice di sbollentare le foglie, ma io non ho ritenuto necessario coinvolgere un'altra pentola dal momento che non percepisco l'amaro nelle verdure in questione.

Aggiungere alla zuppa tante manciate di nastrini quante la zuppa assorbe o a seconda del vostro gusto. Come si vede dalla foto, io sono stata generosa. Cuocere per alcuni minuti, fino a quando le verdure appena aggiunte sono tenere. Spruzzare del succo di limone e mescolare bene. Correggere sale e pepe e servire quest'ottima zuppa, che è anche nutriente e salutare.

vista dall'alto

Questo non è il mio primo assaggio della cucina portoghese. Un po' di tempo fa, ho seguito le indicazioni dell'investigatore Pepe Carvalho e ho preparato un'eccellente pentola di caldeirada (zuppa di pesce).

Questo è il mio contributo alla terza tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. C come Canja (Portogallo) è ospitata da Patrizia de La Melagranata.

Su questa pagina trovate la ricetta per Canja e la lista dei contributi all'evento.

Se siete interessati a partecipare, questo post contiene la lista completa di paesi, blog ospitanti e scadenze.

insalata di patate con salsa cremosa di peperoni e anacardi / potato salad with red pepper and cashew dip dressing

potatoes dressed in red

I crave color these days, even though the weather has been mostly bright and sunny. A batch of my roasted red pepper and almond dip, made last summer and frozen, brightened me for a few days. I was about to thaw another one, when, in the freezer, I found a container of roasted Round of Hungary peppers, also from last summer. 

Round of Hungary (or pimento cheese) peppers

I thawed them and used them to make half a batch of the roasted red pepper and almond dip substituting almonds (mandorle) with cashews (anacardi). I like the result: I detect the flavor of cashews in the background of the peppers.

Although I like them a lot, I have never used cashews in my kitchen. That's about to change, thanks to a collection of recipes focused on cashews that I received recently. In the meantime, having cashews in the kitchen gave me the idea of trying them in a known recipe.

purple majesty potato plant

The photo above is from last year, but I have a few plants like that in my vegetable garden now: I love the bicolored leaves. I also harvested some potatoes a few days ago, which screamed to be boiled and turned into a salad. Some were Purple Majesty and some of a pale-fleshed variety I don't remember (you can see it in the photo in this post). I selected the smallest ones and added to them, for variety's sake, a couple of red-skinned, white-fleshed potatoes from Warren Creek Farms (the same farm where I get the beautiful beans you've seen featured in several recent posts).

Based on how well the red pepper dip had worked as pasta sauce for my chestnut flour gnocchetti, I decided to use the cashew version as potato salad dressing. With a couple of small adjustments, it worked quite nicely. I am giving here the ingredients I used for a salad for two, but it is easy to increase them to match the number of people you wish to serve.

Ingredients:

• 10.5 oz. / 300 g new potatoes
• Fine sea salt, to taste
• 2 tablespoons roasted red pepper and almond dip made using cashews instead of almonds (see note below)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil of good quality
  
• Sherry vinegar, to taste

Note: cashews are sold already skinned, so no blanching + skinning is required. Toast them in the oven until golden. Carefully monitor them while they are in the oven to avoid burning. 

Scrub the potatoes and boil them in a pot of water until tender. Drain, cool and cube to obtain bite-size pieces. Season lightly with salt. Add the dip, olive oil and a touch of vinegar and toss lightly but thoroughly.

Let the salad rest before serving. If you refrigerate it, take it out ahead of time so it is not eaten cold.

This is a light and lovely salad, perfect served for dinner after a bowl of winter squash soup (recipe to be published soon, I hope).

This is my contribution to No Croutons Required, a monthly vegetarian soup and salad challenge hosted jointly by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen. Jacqueline is the host for February and she chose potato salad as theme.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di patate con salsa cremosa di peperoni e anacardi

or launch the insalata di patate con salsa cremosa di peperoni e anacardi audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

potato, sweet pepper

Related articles

gnocchetti alla farina di castagne / chestnut flour gnocchetti

žemlovka: budino di pane alle mele / žemlovka: apple bread pudding

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

would you like a slice?

Ever since I could read, I have known about Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, because it is one of the twin cities of Perugia, my home town. But I have never been in that part of Europe, so Bratislava is still a name and a dot on the map.

Recently, I heard on the radio a report on Košice, the capital of East Slovakia, which is the 2013 European Capital of Culture. Hopefully during the year that city and its cultural heritage will become better known to the rest of Europe. 

Browsing the web in search of a Slovak dish that would inspire me, I came across žemlovka, a bread pudding enriched with apples. After reading several recipes for this dessert, I came up with a personalized version, based mostly on the recipe from the BBC site with a couple of elements from the recipe on the Slovak Cooking site. In particular, I cut down the amount of butter substantially and of sugar a bit. I grated the apples left unpeeled and used some of my homemade ricotta instead of farmer's cheese. As a personal touch, I sprinkled the surface with sliced almonds.

I like to identify recipes that are not simply a one-off endeavor, but can become part of my repertoire, and this certainly makes the cut. A light dessert, perfect served by itself or with some of my homemade ice cream, and also nice for a sweet breakfast (colazione) or a brunch.

just out of the oven

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 oz. / 50 g raisins (uvetta)
• 2 medium apples
• Freshly squeezed Meyer lemon (or regular lemon) juice
  
• 1 1/4 cup / 10 fluid oz. / 300 ml non-fat milk
• 1 tablespoon / 14 g browned butter, cut into pieces
• A bit of regular butter for greasing the baking dish
• 2 pastured eggs
• 1/4 cup / 50 g (unrefined) sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (cannella)
• a generous dash of ground nutmeg (noce moscata)
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 2 1/2 oz. / 70 g homemade ricotta
• 6 oz. / 170 g homemade challah, baked two days prior
  
• 1/4 cup / 25 g sliced almonds

The recipe from the BBC site instructs you to soak the raisins in cold tea. I did not have time to comply, so I covered the raisins with warm water. (Next time, I will use cold tea: I am curious to taste what difference it makes.)

Grate the apples using an extra-coarse grater (or shred them in the food processor fitted with the shredding disk). Sprinkle a bit lemon juice and stir. Butter a baking dish and preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C. I used a 2 qt. pyrex gratin dish (11 x 7 x 1.5").

Warm up the milk in a saucepan, then add the butter and allow it to melt. Let the milk and butter cool.

Put the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla in a bowl and beat with an electric beater at medium speed until well combined. Add the buttery milk and beat briefly at low speed until combined. Finally, add the ricotta and beat some more at low speed.

Cut the challah into 1/2-inch cubes and make a layer in the baking pan. Strain the raisins, discarding the liquid, and scatter them over the bread. Distribute the apples in an even layer on the bread. Pour the batter slowly over the apples. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on the surface.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes until the pudding has set and its surface is golden.

As I said above, my version of  žemlovka is a lovely dessert, lightly sweet and very satisfying.

This is my contribution to the second installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. B like bryndzové halušky (Slovakia) is hosted by Terry of Crumpets & Co..

This page contains bryndzové's recipe and the list of contributions to the event.

If you are interested in participating, this post has the complete list of countries, hosts and time frames.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

žemlovka 

or launch the žemlovka: budino di pane alle mele audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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bread, apple, egg, ricotta, Slovak recipe

Per i lettori italiani

volete assaggiarne una fetta?

Conosco Bratislava, la capitale della Slovacchia, da quando so leggere, dal momento che è una delle città gemellate con Perugia. Ma non l'ho mai visitata, e quindi Bratislava rimane per me un nome e un punto sulla cartina.

Qualche giorno fa alla radio ho sentito un servizio su Košice, la seconda città della Slovacchia in termini di popolazione, che è Capitale Europea della Cultura del 2013, Questo dovrebbe servire a rendere maggiormente note sia la città che il suo ricco retaggio culturale. 

Girando su internet alla ricerca di un piatto slovacco che mi ispirasse, ho incontrato žemlovka, un budino di pane alle mele. Dopo aver letto un certo numero di ricette, ho preparato una versione personalizzata, basata sulla ricetta sul sito della BBC con alcuni elementi della ricetta sul sito Slovak Cooking (entrambe in inglese). In particolare, ho:

• diminuito drasticamente la quantità di burro
• usato un po' meno zucchero
• grattugiato le mele non sbucciate
• usato un po' della mia ricotta fatta in casa (invece del farmer's cheese)
• aggiunto come tocco personale le fettine di mandorle sulla superficie

Mi piace trovare e provare ricette che non siano solo una tantum, ma che possano diventare parte del mio repertorio e questa certamente rientra nella categoria. Come dessert, l'ho servito da solo e con un po' del mio gelato fatto in casa, ed è anche ottimo per una colazione dolce o un brunch.

just out of the oven

Ingredienti:

• 50 g uvetta
• 2 mele medie
• Succo di limone (io ho usato limone Meyer, che è meno acido)
• 300 ml latte magro
• 14 g burro noisette tagliato a pezzetti
• Un po' di burro per ungere la teglia
• 2 uova codice 0
• 50 g zucchero
• 1 cucchiaino (5 ml) cannella
• Un pizzico generoso di noce moscata
• 3/4 cucchiaino estratto di vaniglia
• 70 g ricotta (nel mio caso, fatta in casa)
  
• 170 g challah, (nel mio caso, fatta in casa) di due giorni
• 25 g mandorle a fettine

La ricetta sul sito della BBC indica di far rinvenire l'uvetta nel tè freddo. Per mancanza di tempo, io ho usato dell'acqua calda, come al solito, ma la prossima volta ci provo: sono curiosa di capire che differenza fa.

Grattugiare le mele grossolanamente (a mano o con l'apposito disco del robot), spruzzarle con del succo di limone e mescolare. Ungere una pirofila bassa da due litri e riscaldare il forno a 180 C.

Scaldare il latte in un pentolino, aggiungere il burro e farlo sciogliere. Far intiepidire.

Mettere uovoa, zucchero, cannelle, noce moscata e vaniglia in una ciotola e sbattere con un frullino elettrico a velocità media fino per incorporare bene gli ingredienti. Versare il latte con burro e mescolare a velocità bassa. Infine, aggiungere la ricotta e mescolare ancora un po' a velocità bassa.

Tagliare la challah a cubetti di 1,25 cm di lato e formarci uno strato nella teglia. Scolare l'uvetta e distribuirla sopra il pane, poi fare uno strato con le mele. Versare il liquido lentamente sopra le mele. Distribuire le mandorle sulla superficie.

Cuocere in forno per circa 30 minuti, fino a quando il pudding ha una superficie dorata.

Come ho detto sopra, la mia version di žemlovka è un ottimo dessert, leggermente dolce e molto soddisfacente.

Questo è il mio contributo alla seconda tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. B come bryndzové halušky (Slovacchia) è ospitato da Terry di Crumpets & Co..

Questa pagina contiene la ricetta per bryndzové e l'elenco dei contributi all'evento.

Se siete interessati a partecipare, questo post contiene la lista completa di paesi, blog ospitanti e scadenze.

Related articles

vaniglia pura / pure vanilla

gnocchetti alla farina di castagne / chestnut flour gnocchetti

A little (edible) math:

a new version of a pretty pasta shape

+

a beloved dip repurposed as pasta sauce

=

a cheerful plate of pasta

Besides exploring new pasta shapes, I like creating variations of known ones. Today's pasta is an example. I took the pasta dough made with 50% farina di castagne (chestnut flour) previously used in making a version of strascinati and I tried making gnocchetti sardi (Sardinian gnocchi) with it. That worked very nicely.

I then took some roasted red pepper and almond dip (made last summer and frozen), and repurposed it as pasta sauce. The result? Sparkling!

The word "peppers" (peperoni) immediately brings to mind the summer farmers' market and the many varieties of this vegetable that I can find there, from sweet to mildly spicy to fiery hot. Fortunately, during pepper season, I did a bit of preservation work. 

Round of Hungary (or pimento cheese) peppers

Sweet, meaty Round of Hungary peppers are perfect to make roasted red pepper and almond dip . A batch yields quite a bit, so a few times I froze half for future use. Hence now, in the dead of winter, I have some of the bright red spread to eat as usual or use in innovative ways.

soft in sepia (for Black and White Wednesday)

My original post on gnocchetti sardi  includes a short video, which I am reposting here. The video shows my hands cutting the rope of pasta and shaping gnocchetti. As in the video that inspired me, I am showing two ways of shaping the pasta: you can use your thumb or your index finger, depending on how you feel more comfortable. You'll see in the video that the position of the gnocchi board depends on the finger you want to use. 

 

The trick here is to apply the right amount of pressure on the piece of dough while dragging it along the board so that you get the sort of curl with the grooves on the surface and the nice nook on the other side. If you press too hard, the dough gets sort of smushed and the dough sticks to the board. Make sure to flour lightly the gnocchi board as needed to prevent sticking. Also, if you have experience making gnocchetti with the original dough, be advised that in this version they are softer, so a light touch is called for when shaping and handling them.

Ingredients:

• 50 g / 1.75 oz. chestnut flour
• 50 g / 1.75 oz. all-purpose flour
• A pinch of fine sea salt
• 55 g / 2 oz. lukewarm water (I recommend weighing the water)
  
• 2 tablespoons roasted red pepper and almond dip

Make a dough with the first four ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let the dough rest, covered, for half an hour or so.

Roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the gnocchetti. Roll each piece into a pencil-size snake (3/8 inch / 1 cm thick), then cut into 1 cm / 3/8 inch long pieces. Shape each small piece into a gnocchetto using a gnocchi board or other method, and lay out to dry.

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the gnocchetti in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). They will come to the surface as they cook. The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size of the gnocchetti, how dry they are, etc., but it is relatively short. Don't wander far away from the pot, so you can carefully check the process.

While the pasta is cooking, place the red pepper dip in a bowl and add 1/2 tablespoon or so of the pasta cooking water to soften it (adjusting the quantity based on the density of the dip). Drain the pasta and transfer it into the bowl with the sauce. Stir well with a delicate touch. Plate and serve immediately. The recipe makes two small portions.

This is my contribution to the second edition of Pasta Please, a new pasta-centric event created by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and hosted this month by Lisa of We Don't Eat Anything With A Face. The theme this month is: peppers. 

This post contains the roundup of the event.

This post goes to Pantry Party, an event created by Elizabeth of The Law Student's Cookbook whose February theme is pasta. (My handmade pasta does not come from the pantry, but the flour(s) I use to make the dough do.)

This post contains the roundup of the event.

This is my contribution to edition #71 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Shruthi of Food & Clicks.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia (using Lightroom preset Sepia Tone).

This post contains the gallery of images submitted to the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

gnocchetti alla farina di castagne

or launch the gnocchetti alla farina di castagne audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

handmade pasta, chestnut flour, sweet pepper

lassi alla salsa di mele / applesauce lassi

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

heatlhy breakfast beverage

"Everything tastes better with applesauce" has been a tenet of our household ever since I started making roasted applesauce. It is easy to make, healthy, and has an intense apple flavor undisturbed by extraneous ingredients. Just to give a couple of examples, I have used it to dress gnocchi di ricotta, to accompany French toast, and, of course, simply spread on bread.

I've been making kefir at home for 13 months now. I use it in various ways, in particular to prepare lassi for my husband's breakfast (colazione): strawberry or peach lassi, when either fruit is in season, or mango lassi, when I find good mangoes at the store. One day that I had no suitable fruit available, I decided to try using roasted applesauce. The result was applauded and therefore, this has become the classic winter lassi.

The batch of applesauce in the photo turned out of a lovely pinkish color thanks to the inclusion of some apples of red-skinned apple varieties to make it.

not the last jar of roasted apple sauce

Ingredients for one portion:

• 1/4 cup [60 ml] roasted applesauce
• 1 cups [240 ml] plain kefir, possibly homemade
• agave nectar or honey, optional and to taste (I don't use any)

Put apple sauce and kefir into the blender. Blend, taste and, if desired, add a bit of sweetener. Pour into a tall glass (bicchiere) and serve. 

This is my contribution to edition #370 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

lassi alla salsa di mele 

or launch the lassi alla salsa di mele audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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kefir, apple

Per i lettori italiani

bevanda ottima per la colazione

"Tutto è piu buono con la salsa di mele" diciamo spesso in casa da quando faccio la salsa di mele arrostoo. È facile da preparare ed ha un intenso sapore di mele non disturbato dall'aggiunta di ingredienti estranei. L'ho usata per condire gli gnocchi di ricotta, per accompagnare del French toast, e, naturalmente, semplicamente splamata sul pane.

Faccio il kefir a casa ormai da  13 mesi e lo utilizzo in vari modi, soprattutto per preparare una bevanda per la colazione di mio marito: lassi alla fragola o alla pesca, quando questi frutti sono di stagione, oppure al mango. Un giorno che non avevo frutta adatta ho provato ad usare un po' della salsa di mele arrosto e, dato il successo del risultato, questa versione della bevanda è diventata un classico del periodo invernale.

La salsa di mele nella foto è venuta di colore rosato grazie alla presenza di mele dalla buccia rossa.

non è l'ultimo vasetto di salsa di mele

Ingredienti per una porzione:

• 60 ml (60-65 g)  salsa di mele arrosto
• 240 ml kefir, possibilmente fatto in casa
• nettare di agave o miele a piacere, facoltativo (io non ne uso)

Mettere nel frullatore salsa di mele e kefir. Frullare, assaggiare e, se necessario, aggiungere del nettare di agave o miele. Versare la bevanda in un bicchiere e servire.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 370 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Brii stessa.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.