briciole

minestra di cicerchie

cicerchia soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

minestra di cicerchie

Cicerchia (Lathyrus sativus) is a legume that, according to this page (in Italian), was once widely consumed, while nowadays, it is grown only in central Italy.

before (bottom) and after soaking

Cicerchie are available only dried: prior to cooking, they must be soaked for 24 hours and the soaking water must be eliminated because it contains a neurotoxic amino acid (ODAP or BOAA) that can cause lathyrism. This condition was and remains a problem when and where lack of alternative food sources led to consumption of large quantities of Lathyrus. As Hank of Hunter Angler Gardener Cook says in this post: "Make these beans a special treat, not a staple, and you’ll be fine." Our consumption of cicerchie has been occasional and I follow the preparation instructions.

I got the cicerchie in the photo at Bavicchi, the store in downtown Perugia that I mentioned in this and other posts. The reference to Perugia in not accidental. In fact...

Perugia: Fontana Maggiore

our tour of the 20 regions of Italy organized by Trattoria MuVarA brings us to my home region: Umbria. If you're familiar with my blog, you know that I was born and grew up in beautiful Perugia. (This post has a few more photos of the city in the heart of Italy.)

My presentation of legumes that are traditional of Umbria already includes lenticchie di Castelluccio, fagiolina del Lago Trasimeno and roveja. To prepare cicerchia, today's legume, I consulted the repository of traditional Italian recipes, the Accademia Italiana della Cucina and there I found an Umbrian recipe for minestra di cicerchie. The English version of the recipe is available in the book by the Academy called La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy. According to the recipe headnote, cicerchie were a popular legume among Umbria peasants. As always, I altered the recipe to adjust it to my taste and then prepared a variation of it. If you don't have cicerchie, the soup can be made with chickpeas (ceci).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cicerchie
• olive oil
• 6 oz. roasted strained tomatoes (thawed, since they were made last year and frozen) [the original recipe calls for strained tomatoes]
• one large clove of garlic, or two small, minced
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (prezzemolo)
• 6 mint (menta) leaves, broken into small pieces with your hands (I used my orange mint)
• water
• 1 cup [240 ml] homemade light chicken stock or vegetable option
• sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste

For the variation:

• quadrucci (see below)
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Soak the cicerchie for 24 hours in 4 cups of water then drain and discard the water. Put in a saucepan and pour water to a level above the cicerchie. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Simmer, covered, until tender. The original recipe mentions a long cooking time (roughly 2 hours), which does not match my experience (less than half that time), so check the progress periodically. Also, during cooking, some of the cicerchie lost their skin and I discarded it.

Warm a bit of olive oil in another saucepan, then add garlic and herbs. Cook for a minute or so, until the garlic smells fragrant, stirring, then add the strained tomatoes. Cook into a sauce. In my case, about 8 minutes. Add the cooked cicerchie and let cook in the tomato sauce for 10 minutes, then add the stock plus enough water to make a soup of desired consistency. Continue cooking for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

I served the soup with lightly toasted slices of homemade rye bread (pane di segale), as shown in the top photo.

minestra di cicerchie with Parmigiano-Reggiano

I made a batch of tagliatelle alla borragine and cut into quadrucci (small squares) the pieces of pasta too short: my mother used to do this when she made tagliatelle, which was pretty much every Sunday.

I cooked the quadrucci in the soup (this only takes a few minutes). Before serving it, I enriched the soup with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Either way, it was a nice dinner soup, the flavor of cicerchie earthy and unique, reminiscent of both chickpeas and lentils.

This is my submission for the sixth installment of the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit all the 20 regions of Italy using the alphabet as guide. F come Foligno (representing Umbria) is hosted by Cristina of La cucina di Cristina. This page has the list of all dishes prepared for the event.

This is another nice soup for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. This post contains the roundup of the event.

I am also sending this to My Legume Love Affair 47, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes.

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

minestra di cicerchie

 or launch the minestra di cicerchie 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.]

[jump to Comments]

soup, cicerchia, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

minestra di cicerchie

La cicerchia (Lathyrus sativus) è un legume che, secondo quanto scritto su questa pagina una volta era molto consumato, mentre oggi viene coltivato solo in Italia centrale .

prima (in basso) e dopo l'ammollo

Le cicerchie si trovano solo secche: prima di cuocerle occorre tenerle in ammollo per 24 ore e l'acqua deve poi essere eliminata, poiché contiene un amminoacido neurotossico che può causare latirismo. Tale condizione era e rimane un problema dove e quando la mancanza di fonti alimentari alternative porta al consumo di sostanziali quantità di Lathyrus. Il nostro consumo di cicerchie è molto occasionale e io seguo le istruzioni per la preparazione.

Le cicerchie nella foto le ho comprate da Bavicchi, il negozio di Perugia dove faccio la mia spesa di legumi menzionato in questo e altri post. Il riferimento a Perugia non è accidentale. Infatti...

Perugia: la Fontana Maggiore

il giro delle regioni italiane organizzato da Trattoria MuVarA ci porta nella mia regione nativa: Umbria. Sono infatti nata e cresciuta a Perugia. (Questo post ha altre foto della città.)

In post precedenti ho parlato di legumi tradizionali umbri: lenticchie di Castelluccio, fagiolina del Lago Trasimeno e roveja. Per preparare un piatto a base di cicerchie ho consultato il sito dell'Accademia Italiana della Cucina e ho trovato una ricetta umbra per minestra di cicerchie. Come al solito, ho adattato la ricetta ai miei gusti e poi ho preparato una variazione. Se non trovate le cicerchie, potete preparare questa minestra con i ceci.

Ingredienti:

• 180 g cicerchie
• olio d'oliva
  
• 170 g pomodori arrosto passati (scongelati, dal momento che li ho preparati e congelati l'anno scorso) [la ricetta originale prevede passata di pomodoro]
• un grosso spicchio d'aglio (o due piccoli) tritato
  
• 2 cucchiai di prezzemolo tritato
• 6 foglie di menta (io ho usato la mia menta arancio) spezzettate con le mani
  
• acqua
• 240 ml brodo di pollo leggero fatto in casa o brodo vegetale
  
• sale fino e pepe nero macinato fresco, q.b.
  

Per la variazione:

• quadrucci
  
• Parmigiano-Reggiano grattugiato fresco
  

Mettere le cicerchie in ammollo in un litro d'acqua. Dopo 24 ore, scolare le cicerchie e scartare l'acqua. Mettere le cicerchie in una pentola e aggiungere acqua fino a coprirle bene. Portare a bollore poi abbassare il calore. Cuocere a fuoco dolce fino a quando le cicerchie sono tenere. La ricetta originale parla di un tempo di cottura lungo (circa due ore) che non coincide con la mia esperienza (meno di un'ora), quindi il mio consiglio è di controllare periodicamente le cicerchie. Durante la cottura, un certo numero di cicerchie hanno perso la buccia e io l'ho scartata.

Scaldare un po' di olio d'oliva in una pentola, poi aggiungere aglio ed erbe aromatiche. Cuocere per un minuto circa, mescolando, fino a quando l'aglio sprigiona il suo aroma, poi aggiungere i pomodori. Cuocere fino ad ottenere un sughetto (nel mio caso, 8 minuti), poi versare nella pentola le cicerchie e farle cuocere nel sugo per 10 minuti. Versare nella pentola il brodo e abbastanza acqua da formare una minestra della consistenza desiderata. Continuare a cuocere per 10 minuti. Salare e pepare a seconda del gusto e poi servire. 

Ho servito la minestra con delle fettine di pane di segale fatto in casa leggermente tostate, come si vede nella foto in alto.

minestra di cicerchie with Parmigiano-Reggiano

Ho fatto le tagliatelle alla borragine e ho tagliato a quadrucci i pezzi di pasta troppo corti: mia madre faceva così quando faceva le tagliatelle, quasi tutte le domeniche.

Ho cotto i quadrucci nella minestra portata. Prima di servirla, ho aggiunto del Parmigiano-Reggiano. In entrambi le versioni, questa è un'ottima minestra. Il sapore delle cicerchie è particolare, e ricorda sia le lenticchie che i ceci.

Questo è il mio contributo all'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare tutte le regioni italiane utilizzando come guida l'alfabeto. F come Foligno è ospitata da Cristina di La cucina di Cristina. Su questa pagina trovate la lista dei piatti preparati per l'evento.

Questa minestra va anche a Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, un evento settimanale creato da Deb di Kahakai Kitchen. Questo post contiene il riepilogo dell'evento.

Contribuisco questo post anche a My Legume Love Affair 47, edizione corrente del popolare evento "leguminoso" creato da Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, e ospitato questo mese da Priya of Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes.

minestra di verdure stile ribollita

ribollita-inspired vegetable soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

ribollita stage

Our tour of the 20 regions of Italy organized by Trattoria MuVarA brings us to Toscana (Tuscany). Though I like Firenze (Florence) and have been there many times, my favorite Tuscan city is Siena, which I featured in this post written after our most recent visit. (Siena is relatively close to my home town of Perugia.)

Siena: il Palazzo Comunale in Piazza del Campo

Siena was the second Italian city my (now) husband visited with me and we both have vivid memories of that occasion. I have always liked the famous Piazza del Campo, but seen my husband's jaw drop when, at the end of a narrow street, the view opened upon it, was a reminder of just how unique the place is.

To prepare something in honor of Tuscany, I went to my wish list and got to the letter "r", where I found ribollita, the famous Tuscan soup. The word ribollita literally means "boiled again." One day you make a pot of soup, then you add bread slices. The day after, you reheat it and it becomes ribollita. There is a bit more to it, but that is the basic idea.

In her cookbook Cucina Povera, Tuscan Peasant Cooking, Pamela Sheldon Johns has a recipe for ribollita that includes a timetable suggesting what to do with the soup on day 1 through 4. Here you can read Sheldon Johns' headnote and recipe, here is the version given by Kyle Phillips, and here is the version by Frank of Memorie di Angelina. Finally, this is the recipe on the Accademia Italiana della Cucina site: it is in Italian, but I am putting the link here anyway, so you can see that no quantity is given for any of the ingredients.

I never had ribollita when visiting Tuscany, which freed me from memory-based constraints. I had the intention to stay close to the tradition, but in the end I took liberties, so, I decided to call the soup I made for the event "ribollita-inspired." However, by using some things I had in the vegetable crisper (mostly from my vegetable patch), I was true to a philosophy that is dear to my heart: you use up everything you have, trying to turn it into something flavorful and healthy.

dry pinto beans

As part of my most recent grain CSA share, I received some local dry pinto beans  and decided to try them: most recipes I read use cannellini beans, while one uses zolfini beans (I have some of those, but that's a story for another day).

fava bean leaves

At the farmers' market, I found fava bean leaves (foglie delle fave), also called fava greens, which I had never tasted and had to try so I used those instead of cavolo nero (a.k.a., dinosaur, Tuscan, or black-leaf kale).

Once again, I make no claims about my rendition, but the spirit is there. This being a popular dish, recipes tend to be family-based and also seasonal. And in true popular cuisine style, I didn't weigh anything, so the recipe is a list of ingredients — which makes me laugh since such a behavior used to upset me when I asked my mother for one of her recipes.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for minestra di verdure stile ribollita

Note: the non-leafy vegetables are cut into small pieces, a mix of sliced and diced, while the leafy vegetables are sliced into ribbons. In the list of ingredients I indicate this as "chopped."

1. olive oil
2. 1/4 large onion, chopped
3. 2 scallions, sliced into thin rounds
4. 1 large carrot, chopped
5. 1 small celery rib, chopped
6. 2 garlic cloves, minced
7. 2 small icicle radishes, chopped
8. a bunch of chard stalks, chopped (left over and/or from ingredient #15 below)
9. a mix of herbs (e.g., chopped parsley, leaves of thyme, chopped rosemary needles)
10. 1/2 cup dry pinto beans, cooked as explained in this post
11. 4 cups homemade light chicken stock, or vegetable alternative
12. 1 medium-small cabbage, divided into six wedges and shredded
13. water as needed
14. 1/4 lb. fresh fava bean leaves, chopped
15. a handful of greens for braised mix (chard, kale, mustard greens, etc.), thick ribs removed where necessary, chopped
16. sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste
17. a squeeze of lemon juice
18. bread of choice: I baked this rye bread (without flowers but with caraway seeds), because I thought it would go well with the soup (and I was right); slices of country-style bread, possibly Tuscan (saltless) bread, are traditional

Warm olive oil in a soup pot (a terracotta pot is ideal, but I don't have one — yet) and add onion and scallions. Stir to coat and let cook for a few minutes. Add carrot and celery, stir and cook for a few minutes. Add garlic, then radishes and chard stalks (or whatever you want to use here) and finally the herbs. Let cook for a few minutes and in the meantime, mash the beans.

The recipes I have read instruct you to drain half the beans, and set those aside, then to mash the rest with the cooking liquid. I mashed all the beans in their broth, using a potato masher (so the result was not smooth), then added everything to the soup pot.

Next, pour the broth into the pot and then add the cabbage. Pour some water as well, but not quite to cover, since the cabbage will shrink as it cooks. Cover the pot, bring to a boil and cook gently for 50 minutes or so, until the cabbage is tender. Add the leafy greens, bring back to a boil and cook gently for 10 minutes or so, until everything is nice and just perfect in texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

vegetable soup stage

You can serve the soup at this point, by itself (as in the photo above), or ladled in bowls in which you have previously put a layer of thin bread slices. If you do the latter, cover each bowl and keep warm. Let the bread soak up the broth for 15 minutes or so, then serve. In this case, we can call it minestra di pane (bread soup). You can skip this part and go for the ribollita stage.

Put a layer of bread slices in another pot (again here, a terracotta one would be great), and pour soup on it. Depending on how much soup you have, make another layer of bread plus soup. Let the bread soak up the broth for several hours or overnight. When you want to serve the soup, reheat it. If you want a less dense soup, add a bit of water. Gently stir while reheating (this will break the bread), then serve hot with a bit of olive oil drizzled on top.

The splash of green in the top photo is a sort of pesto I made with the leftover fava bean leaves. It is not necessary of course, but it looks nice, doesn't it? The soup was excellent in all versions. 

If you become a fan of ribollita, you can learn to sing this song. Here are the words of the first part:

com'è squisita, com'è squisita la ribollita
e specialmente se ribollita l'è più squisita
se vuoi star bene qua nella vita
mangiati spesso una ribollita
e quando poi l'avrai finita
potrai leccarti pure le dita

how delicious, how delicious is ribollita
and if reheated, it's even more delicious
if you want to be healthy in this life
eat some ribollita often
and when you've finished it
you can also lick your fingers

This is my submission for the fifth installment of the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit all the 20 regions of Italy using the alphabet as guide. E come Empoli is hosted by Cinzia of Cindystar. This post contains the list of contributions and a slide show.

I am also sending this to My Legume Love Affair 46, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by the creator herself. This post contains the roundup of the event.

And this hearty soup is perfect 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:

minestra di verdure stile ribollita

or launch the minestra di verdure stile ribollita 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.]

[jump to Comments]

soup, cabbage, fava-bean, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

la mia ribollita

Siena è la seconda è che mio marito ha visitato con me. Vedere i suoi occhi pieni di meraviglia al nostro arrivo a Piazza del Campo mi diede un senso ancora più intenso di quanto sia bella.

Per preparare un piatto in onore della Toscana, ho consultato la mia lista d'attesa e alla letter "r" ho trovato ribollita, la famosa minestra Toscana. L'idea di base è la seguente: il primo giorno si prepara una pentola di minestra. Poi si aggiungono delle fette di pane. Il giorno dopo, si riscalda e diventa ribollita.

Non ho mai mangiato la ribollita quando sono stata in Toscana, il che mi ha reso libera di fare un po' quello che volevo. Sono partita con l'idea di rimanere vicina alla tradizione, ma alla fine ho fatto un po' quello che volevo, in base agli ingredienti che avevo a disposizione (in gran parte provenienti dal mio orticello) e quindi ho chiamato la mia minestra "stile ribollita."

fagioli pinto

Nella mia cassettina di granaglie più recente ho trovato dei fagioli pinto e ho deciso di usarli, invece dei cannellini. (Una ricetta che ho visto usa i fagioli zolfini, che ho e che userò quanto prima.)

foglie delle fave

Al farmers' market ho comprato un sacchetto di foglie delle fave, che avevo visto l'anno scorso ma non avevo ancora provato e le ho usate invece del cavolo nero.

Presumo che in Toscana ogni famiglia abbia la propria ricetta per la ribollita. La mia è tradizionale nello spirito, nel senso che utilizza ingredienti di stagione e di produzione locale. Da notare anche che la ricetta sul sito dell'Accademia Italiana della Cucina non specifica le quantità degli ingredienti: come vedrete, io farò altrettanto.

Nota: le verdure non a foglia sono tagliate a pezzetti, mentre quelle a foglia sono tagliate a nastri. Nella lista degli ingredienti, utilizzo per tutte l'aggettivo "tagliate."

1. olio d'oliva
2. 1/4 cipolla grossa, tagliata a pezzetti
3. 2 cipolle verdi, tagliate e rondelle fini
4. 1 carota grossa, tagliata a pezzetti
5. 1 piccola costa di sedano, tagliata a pezzetti
6. 2 spicchi d'aglio tritati
7. 2 piccoli ravanelli ghiacciolo, tagliati a pezzetti
8. una manciata di coste, tagliate a pezzetti (avanzate e/o dall'ingrediente numero 15 qui sotto)
9. un misto di erbe (per es., prezzemolo tritato, foglioline di timo, aghi di rosmarino tritati)
10. 1/2 tazza (120 ml) di fagioli pinto o cannellini, cotti come spiegato in questo post o come fate di solito
11. 4 tazze (950 ml) brodo di pollo leggero fatto in casa, o brodo vegetale
12. 1 cavolo cappuccio medio-piccolo, diviso in 6 spicchi e tagliato a nastri fini
13. acqua, q.b.
14. 120 g foglie delle fave, tagliate a nastri
15. una manciata di verdure a foglia (bietola, cavolo nero, cavolo riccio, ecc.), costa centrale rimossa, se necessario, tagliate a nastri
16. sale fino e pepe macinato fresco, q.b.
17. un po' di succo di limone
18. pane a scelta: io ho fatto questo pane di segale (senza i fiori ma con semi di cumino tedesco), perché pensavo che sarebbe stato perfetto con la minestra (e avevo ragione); tradizionalmente si usa il pane toscano

Scaldare dell'olio d'oliva in una pentola capiente (possibilmente di terracotta) e aggiungere i due tipi di cipolla. Mescolare e far cuocere alcuni minuti, poi aggiungere carota e sedano, mescolare e lasciare cuocere alcuni minuti. Aggiungere aglio, ravanelli e coste (o le verdure che volete usare qui) e le erbe aromatiche. Lasciare cuocere per alcuni minuti e nel frattempo schiacciare i fagioli.

Le ricette che ho consultato dicono di scolare la metà dei fagioli e metterli da parte e di schiacciare o ridurre in purè il resto nel loro brodo. Io ho schiacciato tutti i fagioli nel loro brodo usando questo tipo di schiacciapatate, quindi il risultato non era omogeneo, e ho aggiunto tutto insieme alla minestra.

Versare il brodo nella pentola e poi aggiungere il cavolo. Versare dell'acqua, ma non fino a coprire del tutto, dal momento che il cavolo cuocendo diminuirà di volume. Coprire la pentola, portare ad ebollizione e cuocere a fuoco dolce per circa 50 minuti, fino a quando il cavolo non sia tenero. Aggiungere le verdure a foglia, riportare a bollore e cuocere a fuoco dolce per circa 10 minuti, fino a quando tutto sia ben cotto e piacevole al palato. Condire con sale e pepe a seconda del gusto.

minestra di verdure

A questo punto potete servire la minestra da sola (come nella foto qui sopra) oppure versarla in piatti fondi nei quali avete messo uno strato di fettine di pane tagliate fine. Se fate questo, tenete in caldo i piatti. Fate riposare un quarto d'ora circa e poi servire. In questo caso, la minestra di verdure si pu&ochiamare minestra di pane. Potete saltare questo passaggio e andare diritto alla ribollita.

Disporre uno strato di pane in fondo ad un'altra pentola (possibilmente di terracotta) e versarci sopra della minestra. A seconda di quanta minestra avete, fare un altro strato di pane e minestra. Lasciar riposare per diverse ore o durante la notte. Quando volete servire la minestra, riscaldatela. Se preferite una minestra meno densa, aggiungere un po' d'acqua. Mescolare con delicatezza mentre la minestra si scalda, poi servire ben calda con un pochino d'olio spruzzato sulla superficie.

Il tocco di verde brillante nella foto in alto è una specie di pesto che ho fatto con le foglie delle fave che mi sono avanzate. Non è necessario, ma ci sta bene, non credete? La minestra è eccellente in tutte le versioni. 

Se diventate dei fan della ribollita, potete canticchiare questa canzone.

Questo è il mio contributo all'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare tutte le regioni italiane utilizzando come guida l'alfabeto. E come Empoli è ospitata da Cinzia di Cindystar. Questo post contiene la lista dei contributi e uno slide show.

Contribuisco questo post anche a My Legume Love Affair 46, edizione corrente del popolare evento "leguminoso" creato da Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, e ospitato questo mese da Susan stessa. Que sto post contiene il riepilogo dell'evento.

E questa minestra è perfetta per Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, un evento settimanale creato da Deb di Kahakai Kitchen. Questo post contiene il riepilogo dell'evento.

ful medames

Egyptian fava bean dish

For the current edition of Cook the Books, we are reading Outlaw Cook by John Thorne, with Matt Lewis Thorne (1992). I started reading the book from the beginning, but then decided to follow my interests and jump around, choosing chapters based on their subject.

I enjoyed the chapter on plowman's lunch, which includes various recipes, like those for Welsh rabbit (yes, rabbit, not rarebit), soused cheese, and bread and cheese pudding. Considering that various types of homemade cheese are always available in my kitchen, I could have chosen one of the recipes, but I discarded the idea, because I don't like beer (birra), my knowledge of alcoholic beverages is very limited, and my knowledge of ale or stout is nil, so choosing a pairing with my cheese would have been a wild guess.

I read the chapter Monet À Table, which is the review of a book about the cooking journals of Claude Monet, with a special perspective: by pure chance, we are watching the TV mini-series The Impressionists, where an old Claude Monet tells the story of his career and his relationship with Renoir, Bazille, Degas, Cézanne and Manet to a journalist, and at some point offers him some of his homemade plum brandy. From Thorne's piece I learned that Monet grew greengage plums for it in his two-and-a-half-acre walled kitchen garden.

I also read with interest the chapter on ful medames, "Egypt's national dish" (piatto nazionale egiziano). From reading this post by Kalinda of Wheat-Free Meat-Free, I knew that ful medames is prepared using a special kind of small fava beans, but I had other plans. The dish had been for a while on my to do list as a way of making use of the locally grown and dried fava beans (fave secche) that I get as part of my mostly-grain CSA and that I have mentioned in the post about macco di fave.

You can read the chapter and Thorne's recipe. I halved the quantity of fava beans, used the optional lentils (lenticchie) as a belated homage to the New Year, and then adjusted the other ingredients to my taste:

• 1 cup of dried fava beans, soaked for 16 hours (or as needed) in plenty of water, then skin removed
• 1/4 cup green lentils
• 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus to taste
• a pinch of dried lemon zest (this was my idea)
• a generous pinch of ground cumin (from freshly toasted and ground cumin seeds), plus to taste
• a garlic clove (spicchio d'aglio), peeled and chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• two small sprigs of fresh parsley (prezzemolo)

Bring to a boil 3 cups of cold water in a saucepan. Add the fava beans and cover. Bring back to a boil, cook for 10 minutes then lower the heath, add the lentils, cover again and simmer until the legumes are soft and can easily be mashed. (I cooked them for 50 minutes.) Note: I realized afterward that this 10 minutes are planned within the context of fava beans still in their skin. The next time I prepare this dish, I will add fava beans and lentils to the boiling water at the same time. This may well affect the cooking time. Mash the legumes roughly with a potato masher and let cool. The mash will absorb the water as it cools.

Pour the legumes into the food processor and add olive oil, lemon juice and zest, cumin, garlic, a bit of salt and pepper and parsley. Process until garlic and parsley are well distributed, then taste and adjust salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use. Adjust lemon juice and cumin after the ful medames has rested for a while (I added more cumin). I think that the flavor matures and improves with time (at least one day).

The photo shows a plate I prepared for my husband's lunch, which included, besides the ful medames, drained homemade kefir (think of labneh made with kefir instead of yogurt), a hard-boiled egg (uovo sodo) and slices of my homemade challah.

This is 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.

The fave secche make this post suitable for My Legume Love Affair 43, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Claire of Chez Cayenne.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

ful medames

or launch the ful medames 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.]

fava bean, Egypt

legumi che passione! numero 41: il riepilogo

My Legume Love Affair #41: the roundup ¹

I just published the roundup of the 41st edition of MLLA, the famous event created and organized by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook which I had the honor and pleasure to host for the month of November.

The roundup is divided into two parts, to make reading easier. For your reference, here are the two links:

— part one
— part two

A beautiful set of legume-centered dishes awaits you. I am sure that you'll be inspired by the recipes presented. Kiran of SUMADHURA is hosting My Legume Love Affair #42 and will be happy to receive your contribution(s) to the event. The deadline for submitting of your legume dish is December 31. You can always find out who is hosting on this page.

¹ A note about the title of my post: legumi che passione! is not the literal translation, but my personal rendition of the original My Legume Love Affair.

legumi che passione! numero 41: il riepilogo (seconda parte)

My Legume Love Affair #41: the roundup (part two)

To facilitate reading, I have divided the submissions I have received into two sets. The roundup of My Legume Love Affair #41 started in this post and continues here.

Make yourself comfortable, then follow me on a journey of flavors, colors, traditions and culinary creativity. For each submission, I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a brief description or quote that summarizes it.

If reading about all these great recipes has inspired you to participate, My Legume Love Affair #42 just started and is hosted by Kiran of SUMADHURA. The deadline for submitting of your legume dish is December 31. You can always find out who is hosting on this page.

At the end of this portion of the roundup, I reveal the lucky winner of the event prizes.

---

Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe shares with us Avocado soy rotis
"The rotis were a fine companion over the weekend... I found these rotis via the last edition of MLLA and hope someone else might discover them in this round up."

---

Roshni of Roshni's Kitchen presents Ada Kozhakattai
"This is a variation of ada dosai... The ratio of rice and dal is different in this one." Photos show the process from soaking rice and dals to final dish.

---

Princy of Spicy Foood shares Dal Fry And a quick snack!
"When the mood to make dinner is lost, it has to be this easy to make dal fry... And when you do make dal fry, make it a point to try this snack!"

---

---

Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes presents first Mushroom & SoyaKheema Masala
"Wonderful looking protein packed masala prepared with minced soy granules and button mushrooms... gets ready very much quickly and tastes super fabulous."

then Creamy Zucchini & Sprouted Greengram Soup
"I used some leftover sprouted green grams with zucchini to make this super filling soup... I simply served this bowl of healthy and protein packed soup with a slice of veggie pizza..."

and finally Sweet Potato & Red Lentils Soup
The combination of sweet potatoes and red lentils "works out wonder and this soup is totally satisfying and comforting, super filling if served with grilled meats or with a simple sandwich."

---

Juli of Bean Basics prepared Red Beans and Brown Rice
"It isn't just my favorite bean recipe though, it is one of my favorite dishes of all time, it's just that good... it has such a wonderful bacon flavor."

---

Deepika of My Life & Spice prepared Black eyed pea soup
"We all have our own favorite side to go with this. Baby P will eat this soup with a roti, Anya with a breadstick... I myself love the warmth of this chunky soup by itself."

---

Richa of Hobby And More offers Roasted Garam masala chickpeas
"A very addictive protein filled savory snack anyone! ... Put them in pretty pouches and add to your holiday gift box, for a crunchy savory option!"

and also Tempeh and veggies cooked in spicy tomato gravy 
Kadhai /Karahi is an Indian wok, usually made with cast iron or steel and used for shallow or deep frying or high heat dishes! This is a tangy and spicy curry and goes well with vegetables as well...

---

Priya of BON APPETIT presents Adai (Crispy Lentils & Rice Pancakes)
"Want a satisfying breakfast or dinner recipe — try this mixed lentils and rice pancake, that’s protein packed, filling and easy to make."

---

Valerie of City|Life|Eats prepared Grain-Free Cranberry Sage Dressing
"This dressing has a distinctive savory note amid the sweetness, because of the chickpea flour," which "has a strong savory taste, so be aware of that if you have never worked with chickpea flour."

---

Suma of Veggie Platter prepared a number of dishes: first, Greengram Rotti
"Adding a protein punch to the delicious akki rottis, the famous breakfast dish from Karnataka."
 

then Moongdal Laddus
"The laddu mix can be prepared ahead and stored in airtight containers... All you do when you need to eat laddus is adding melted ghee to the mixture and shape it into laddus."
 

then Mixed Vegetable - Soy Chunks Curry
A healthy combinaiton of mixed vegetables and soy to pair with rotis and make into a nice lunch.

and Spinach Dal
"The basic vegetable preparation from South India goes on similar lines. A vegetable is stir fried along with a seasoning and fresh, grated coconut is added at the end."

and finally Spinach - Chickpea Wraps
"These wraps have a chickpea curry + a salad blend filling and are nutritious and yummy. The only thing to remember is to prepare a very dry filling."

---

Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook prepared Warm Buttered Black Beluga Lentil and Pasta Salad
"Black Belugas, so named for their remarkable resemblance to Beluga caviar, of a pitch black that fades to a luxurious, shiny sable brown when cooked."

---

Simona of briciole presents funghi, fagioli e castagne (mushrooms, beans and chestnuts)
A taste of fall in a dish that includes popular ingredients, including two, mushrooms, and chestnuts, traditionally gathered in the woods (though not in this rendition).

and also fagioli monete del papa (Christmas Lima beans)
After soaking them for 24 hours.. "I decided to give the whole stage to the beans and their bold flavor... with some onion as supporting cast."

---

And now the announcement of the winner of Food Photography from Snap Shots to Great Shot by Nicole S. Young and of a Hurst Bean Box (a case of six bags of the winner's choice of Hurst Bean products). I used a random integer generator and the program gave me the number 5. The 5th name in the list of participants to submit an entry (minus the host, the organizer and previous winners) was Shri of Tasty Touch. Congratulations to the winner! Susan will contact the lucky winner to arrange the shipment.

Thank you so much to all who participated and made this edition of MLLA a success!

I believe all the submissions I have received are presented in the roundup. However, mishaps are part of life, so if you find anything missing or in need of amendment anywhere in the roundup, please do let me know.

legumi che passione! numero 41: il riepilogo (prima parte)

My Legume Love Affair #41: the roundup (part one)

Hosting the 41st edition of MLLA, created and organized by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook was, as in previous occasions, a great pleasure. Throughout the past month, I have received contributions from around the world, delicious variations (savory or sweet) on the theme of legumes.

Hosting an event means having the pleasure of collecting and then sharing the collection — of savoring in solitude each dish as it comes into my mailbox, and then inviting everybody to the final banquet.

I am presenting the contributions in the order I have received them — however, multiple posts by the same author are grouped together. For each submission, I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a brief description that summarizes it — a tiny morsel that will entice you to follow the link and read the details.

Now, please, make yourself comfortable, then follow me on a two-part journey of flavors, colors, traditions and culinary creativity. And at the end of the second portion of the roundup, I will reveal the lucky winner of the event prizes.

---

Carolyn of Desire Empire shares with us Grilled Chicken and Bean Salad
The road to healthy weight loss includes legumes, which are filling, relatively low fat and full of nutrients... Super Food indeed."

---

Chinmayie of Love Food Eat presents Tofu, Peppers & Green Pigeon Pea Salad
Nutritious pigeon peas (known as ‘Hasi Togari’ in Kannada) are showcased in a warm salad with oriental flavours

---

Heather of girlichef prepared Smoky Yellow Eye Bean Soup
"Yellow Eye beans... that, when combined with some savory smoked pork necks and the slow heat of smoky chipotles, formed a big bowl of comfort that we didn't want to stop eating."

---

Kalinda from Wheat-Free Meat-Free prepared Ful Medames (Egyptian Fava Beans)
"You don’t frequently see breakfast recipes that use beans... Ful medames are an Egyptian breakfast dish (or possibly lunch) made of fava beans."

---

Sowjanya of Ruchikacooks offers Mulagushiyam (A postpartum/Lactation recipe with legumes)
"This recipe uses simple ingredients like moong dal, milk and channa (garbanzo beans) which are known to induce milk production."

---

Laura of The Spiced Life prepared Spanish lentil Soup with Sausages and Apples
"This stew has all the earmarks of a perfect fall or winter dinner, simmering away during the day to keep the kitchen warm, filling your bellies in the evening to keep you warm."

---

Shri of Tasty Touch presents Mashed Amaranth
"Amaranth leaves are lightly boiled and pureed which is mixed with cooked moong dal and simmered with spices to perfection."

---

Janet of The Taste Space prepared Indian Eggplant and Lentil Curry (Dal Bhat Meets Baingan Bharta)
"With the roasted eggplant, you create a smokey, sultry savoury mush... Now throw it into your dal. Mix the two together. Bliss, sheer bliss. And a complete meal: veggies and beans."

---

Jane of The Healthy Beehive shares Vegan Mc-Rib LESS sandwich
A vegan version of the McRib, with a base of a bean burger: "While I am sure this is no McRib sandwich, it is healthy, tasty, and doesn’t have ingredients I cannot pronounce."

---

Shaheen of Allotment 2 Kitchen prepared Spiced Root Vegetable and Lentil Stew
"Although spiced, this is not a  blow your head off 'spicy hot' stew. It's not curried in flavour either, just body warming, perfect for the weather."

---

Kalyani of Sizzling Tastebuds prepared Vazhaipoo Paruppu Usuli with Moong Dal
A traditional South Indian / Tamil dish whose name can be loosely translated ad Banana flower blossom stir fry with split green gram.

Kalyani prepared also Avarekaayi Saaru
This can be served with hot steamed rice or steamed millet dumplings. "But whatever you do, don't forget to add ghee - it takes the taste of this simply fabulous sambhar to greater heights."

---

Caffettiera of La caffettiera rosa presents Black Bean Soup
"If you can, while you can, make this soup. It is good. It is also dead easy... The active – read: standing – time is minimal, the calories are acceptable, and you can just make loads and eat over a few days."

---

Celine of Greens and Peaches prepared Pumpkin-Kale stew with lentils
"This stew is one surprising dish. The addition of lentils made it very nutritious and the flavors are wonderful. The ideal meal on a cold winter night."

---

tigerfish of An Escape to Food prepared Green and Yellow Split Pea Soup
"Green split pea has a slightly more "pea" flavor, yellow a little milder, but end of the day, hardly noticeable. If nutrients are the concern, don't worry about it as there is no big difference."

---

Akheela of Torviewtoronto offers Ivy gourd stir fry
Ivy gourd can "be found in Indian markets in California and elsewhere... sold green, looking very much like a tiny cucumber, but in India it is also sometimes used in its scarlet red mature stage." [source]

---

Vaishali of Ribbon's to Pasta's prepared Leele Doongri ne Kadhi ane Rotlo
Rotlas are thick millet breads... best served with some kind of kadhi or brinjals... I made spring onion curry. Leele is green in Gujrati and Doongri is onion."

Vaishali prepared also Bedmi Poori Aaloo Sabzi
"Bedmi Poori is an Old Delhi speciality... a bread made of wheat flour and ground udad dal... served with Aaloo sabzi, cooked lavishly in pure ghee. The sabzi is then topped with a tangy and spicy chutney."

and Maatla Oondhiyo
"Layers of particular vegetables and beans are put in the earthen pots... sealed and fired in an underground kiln. After the pot is sufficiently cooked, it is removed and enjoyed by friends and family."

and finally Peanut Chikki
A combination of jaggery and peanuts "cooked together makes a wonderful dessert after meals. During winters this chikki is a must in our family..."

---

To facilitate reading, I have divided the submissions into two sets. The roundup of My Legume Love Affair #41 continues in this post: please, follow me there to savor another set of delicious dishes from all over the world.

fagioli monete del papa

Christmas Lima beans

For the current edition of Cook the Books, we are reading Harlot's Sauce: A Memoir of Food, Family, Love, Loss, and Greece by Patricia Volonakis Davis. The author falls in love with Greece — or, to be more precise, with her idea of it — then with a man of Greek origin, Gregori. Their marriage ends in divorce, but in the process, Volonakis Davis experiencelife in her beloved Greece and gets to know herself and her capabilities. Throughout the book, the tone is delightfully self-deprecating, which makes the reading eminently enjoyable, even — maybe especially — when we recognize ourselves in the protagonist.

The book talked to me, so to say, on an additional level: In describing what it meant to grow up in an Italian-American family, Volonakis Davis shows that certain cultural values survived intact the Atlantic crossing. She does a great job explaining the concept of figura. I have an emotional — rather than intellectual — sense of what it means. It's a fundamental tenet of education in an Italian family: you are supposed to always fare una bella figura (literally, to cut a fine figure, in the sense of making a good impression), which then reflects well upon your family. The worst thing that can happen is fare una butta figura (literally, to cut a poor figure, in the sense of making a bad impression), which of course embarrasses the whole family. [Volonakis Davis also talks about malocchio (evil eye) and there, though I understand her, I have no direct experience: I don't remember anybody in my family ever mentioning it.]

Let me now move on to more lighthearted notes. At one point, Volonakis Davis talks about the beloved puppet mouse Topo Gigio and about calcio (soccer). One day, Topo Gigio was a guest at the Ed Sullivan Show. I honestly don't like that video for various reasons, so if you don't know who Topo Gigio is, I suggest you watch him sing Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" in this video. You can watch Topo Gigio on YouTube: I particularly like the videos where he is next to singer and dancer Raffaella Carrà. In talking about the soccer team (squadra di calcio) Cosmos, Volonakis Davis mentions the player Giorgio Chinaglia. I hadn't thought about Chinaglia in many years, but since my mother was a fan of Lazio, the team with which he played, I remember the brouhaha surrounding his move to the US (in 1976).

Back to the book, I read it with pleasure. I got very engrossed in the story, especially the part where Volonakis Davis builds a business while living in Greece. Food certainly plays a role: it could not be otherwise with an Italian family and a Greek one as protagonists. One of my favorite episodes of the book occurs in Crete, on the name day (in Italian, onomastico) of Gregori's uncle, who is a priest. Volonakis Davis describes the procedure followed to manage the visitors who come to the priest's house to offer well wishes: how visitors rotate in sitting with Papa Elias, what is served to whom, etc.

As the tension within the marriage grows, Patricia and Gregori express their unhappiness in various ways. For example, Gregori, called upon to prepare dinner, always makes beans, because his wife hates them (there is a bit more to the bean story, and you'll find out if you read the book). That reminded me of gigantes, the beautiful Greek giant beans (or elephant beans) I have admired in recipes by Ivy of Kopiaste and Peter of Kalofagas. I had never seen those beans, but I thought I would look for some them, but then something happened that changed my plans.

In mid-October, I visited my hometown of Perugia and, as always when there, I went to Drogheria Bavicchi to get some legumes (see this post for more information). I was hoping to find more of the lenticchie nere ennesi that I described in this guest post, bu alas! no such luck. However, one cannot leave that store empty-handed: they have such a selection of legumes that I always find something new to me. This time was no exception. The first type of bean I got is quite large and really pretty, burgundy mottled. It is a type of lima bean that actually exists in this country too: it is called Christmas Lima or Chestnut Lima bean. I had in fact seen it in a store in the Bay Area and liked the way it looked.

The beans I purchased are called monete del Papa (literally, Pope's coins) and are not grown in Umbria, but they come from Piemonte, in the Italian Northwest. I was recommended to soak them for 24 hours. In terms of preparation, I decided to give the whole stage to the beans and their bold flavor reminiscent of boiled chestnuts (castagne, hence their name), with some onion (cipolla) as supporting cast. I prepared them the first time for my father and he liked them a lot. I bought more and prepared them for my husband in the same way.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for fagioli monete del papa

Ingredients:

• 125 g / 4 oz. Christmas (or Chestnut) Lima beans (about 1 cup)
• 8 oz. cipollini onion (or other sweet onion), sliced into 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick half-moons
  
• olive oil
• several sprigs of fresh thyme
• sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste

The way I cook beans for further use comes from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison (Beans with Aromatics). Rinse beans well, then soak in 4 cups of water for 24 hours. Drain, place in a saucepan and add enought water to cover them by about one inch. Add a quarter of a large onion, halved, a bay leaf, a clove of garlic, quartered, and 3-4 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. Note that these beans take quite a bit longer than smaller beans to cook. Taste them to assess when it is time to remove them from the heat. Let them cool in their broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them.

Oil a skillet and add onion and thyme leaves, and cook gently until onion is nice and soft. Add some broth, as needed, to keep the onion moist. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drain beans and place in a bowl, add cooked onion, season appropriately, stir well and serve warm or at room temperature, with olive oil (olio d'oliva) drizzled on top.

As mentioned in a previous post, I get the "cipollini" onions in the photo from my mostly-fruit CSA, Neukom Family Farm. These onions are excellent in flavor and keep very well, so I am partial to them.

Going back to the passage that inspired me, I was particularly struck by the fact that in the relationship between Patricia and Gregori, food became a way of expressing growing unhappiness. We usually use food in the opposite way. Now, of course, I wonder if Volonakis Davis still hates beans. Update (December 14): in this post, you can read the answer to my question. Thanks, Patricia!

This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Johanna of Food Junkie not Junk Food. You can find the guidelines for participating in the event here, and here is the announcement.

This post contains the roundup of the event. Update (December 14): the recipes contributed by Cook the Book Club's members are now featured on a page of the author's website.

The bold colored and flavored chestnut beans make this post suitable for My Legume Love Affair 41, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Simona of briciole (that is, me).

This post contains the first part of the roundup and a link to the second part.

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

fagioli monete del papa

or launch the fagioli monete del papa 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.]

bean, onion

Novel Food #14: funghi, fagioli e castagne

 mushrooms, beans and chestnuts

What are you reading now? I am finishing The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl, a very interesting novel. It brought back memories of studying Dante's Divine Comedy in school. I have not read it since, but episodes from it came back to mind easily while reading the novel.

Thus began the announcement I wrote for edition #14 of Novel Food, the culinary/literary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started in the fall of 2007. Reading about Dante means thinking about Florence, the city where he was born, that he loved, and from which he was banned for political reasons, an event that forced him to be a guest elsewhere and learn "how salty other people's bread tastes" (Par. XVII, 58-59).

I honestly have not taken Dante in my hands after finishing high school. I am still not sure that making students spend hours over the poem is the best way to make them appreciate it. What is certain is that while my memory of pages from Purgatorio and Paradiso is nil, I can recite lines from Inferno, where the characters are deeply human in their frailties and sins. In particular, it is difficult to forget the opening words:

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita,
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura
ché la diritta via era smarrita.

Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

or the ominous words Dante reads upon the entrance to Inferno, which ends with the famous line

Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'intrate.

All hope abandon, ye who enter in!

(Longfellow's translation comes from this page: for each section of the original, click on Current English link at the bottom to see Longfellow's translation. What I like about this site is that you can also see the illustrations for the poem from Gustave Doré, Salvador Dali and Sandro Botticelli, and also maps of Inferno, which is divided into circles.)

One more word on Dante. In an enjoyable article published earlier this year on the English newspaper The Independent, the poet is number 13 among Italy's top 15 cultural exports. (However, I must correct the Italian in #2: it is Il dolce far niente.)

On to the novel: The Dante Club is set in Boston and Cambridge, MA, almost 600 years after Dante's birth (1265) and the protagonists are well-known literary figures of the time, starting from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, at work on the first translation of Dante's Inferno (the first book of the Divina Commedia) for the American public. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., James Russell Lowell and publisher James Thomas Fields are the other main characters, together with Nicholas Rey, the first black Boston policeman and of course the murderer, who, as the book proceeds, gets nicknamed Lucifer.

The Dante Club revolves around a series of gruesome murders. The author does a great job in maintaining the suspense, even when pieces of the puzzle start to get clear to the reader. The cold Boston winter contributes to the creation of a nightmarish atmosphere that keeps the reader hooked until the last chapter.

The story is gripping and well-told and the cast of characters includes interesting men and women. The underlying thread is the completion of the translation in time to be submitted to the celebration of Dante's anniversary. As always, when I choose a mystery for my post, I am afraid to reveal more and in so doing spoil the enjoyment. (This page has the full plot, so don't go there if you plan on reading the mystery.)

Inspired by the book, I first thought of replicating a medieval recipe (like I did with a Roman recipe in the previous version of Novel Food), but instead, as I was thinking about Dante in exile, wandering around in the fall and winter, I thought about chestnuts (which, turned into flour, are used in Tuscany to make a cake called castagnaccio), gathered in the woods of central Italy and mushrooms, another product of the woods. And so I decided to share here a dish that is a personal rielaboration of a recipe a dear relative described to me a few years ago. The most important change I made to it was substituting the original chickpeas (ceci) with beans. Instead of using Italian cannellini, I reached for locally grown canario beans, but cannellini would of course work just as nicely.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for funghi, fagioli e castagne

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of dry beans (canario or cannellini), soaked overnight and then cooked as described in this post
• 1/2 lb chestnuts
• a bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion (about 3/4 lb), chopped 
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary needles (rosmarino)
  
• 1 lb white mushrooms (or a mix of various kinds: it would be great if it included some wild mushrooms), cleaned and sliced
• sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste

Besides the beans, cook the chestnut in advace. Place chestnuts in a saucepan, cover abundantly with water and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and simmer until they are tender. Peel a large one and verify that it is cooked. Keep the chestnuts in the cooking water and take out one at a time to peel. Use a sharp knife with a pointed blade to remove the shell, then the skin. Set aside. (If a chestnut breaks, while being handled, it is fine, as it will be chopped later anyway.)

To prepare the dish, generously spray a deep sauté pan with olive oil and warm it up. Add the onion, garlic and rosemary and cook gently for 12-15 minutes, stirring often. When the onion is soft and translucent, turn up the heat slightly and add the mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the drained beans and 1/4 cup of their broth, cover and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Coarsely chop the chestnuts and add them to the pan. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, mix thoroughly and serve hot.

I always serve this dish alongside polenta. And I will soon fulfill my promise to devote a post to this traditional Italian dish. I start making polenta before I start cooking the dish, so that, by the time the former is ready, about 50 minutes later, the latter is also ready. In the photo above, the accompaniment is leftover polenta, sliced and warmed up in an oiled skillet on both sides, so a crisp skin forms.

Dante could not have eaten polenta as we know it, since during his lifetime corn (mais or granturco) was yet unknown in Europe. However, the Greeks, Romans and others who lived in Italy in ancient times made puls by cooking farro, millet (miglio) and other grains or chestnut flour in water or milk, then added legumes, vegetables, eggs and cheese for a nutritious meal. I imagine Dante ate versions of those dishes, so here is another connection.

This is my contribution to the 14th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I have started some time ago (this time I am hosting solo as Lisa is taking a break from blogging).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

The lovely canario beans make this post suitable for My Legume Love Affair 41, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Simona of briciole (that is, me).

This post contains the first part of the roundup and a link to the second part.

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

funghi fagioli e castagne

or launch the funghi, fagioli e 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.]

beans, mushroom, chestnut

Annuncio: legumi che passione! (numero 41)

My Legume Love Affair #41 ¹

I have the honor of being the host for the November 2011 edition of MLLA, the popular, legume-centered event that is the brainchild of Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Participation in the event revolves around a recipe that showcases one or more legumes. The recipe can be savory or sweet, with or without meat — no restrictions. The legume (or legumes) must be one of the main ingredients, not a minor character. (Exceptions to this general rule are legumes whose flavor is so intense that they are used in small quantities, like tamarind and fenugreek.)

You can send me a new post or a post from your archive reposted for the occasion. You can submit the recipe to other events as well, and you can send me more than one post (in which case, though, only one submission will be counted towards the random drawing described below). If you have a recipe to share, but not a blog where to post it, send the recipe and other applicable pieces of information to me and I will add it to the roundup. You will also be entered in the drawing.

The post must include a link to this announcement and also to Susan's post containing the host lineup. Use of the beautiful logo, designed by Susan, is optional. (The legumes portrayed in it are Umbrian lentils.)

Example of legumes include (but are not limited to):

• fresh or dried beans of any kind
• lentils
• chickpeas, ak.a., garbanzo beans (fresh or dried or their flour, a.k.a., besan)
• peas (fresh or dried or their pods)
• fava beans (fresh or dried)
• soy beans (fresh or dried, or their derivative products, like tofu)
• peanuts
• carob beans
• lupini beans

Not an exhaustive list, but it should give you a sense of the wide range of options. Note that in French the word légumes means vegetables, and also legumes. This event is about the second meaning.

To submit your post, send an email to simosite[AT]mac[DOT]com with MLLA entry in the subject and containing the following information:

1. Your Name
2. Name of Your Blog
3. Title and URL of Your Recipe Post
4. Your Location (necessary for the second prize described below; let me know if you prefer that I do not disclose it in the roundup)
5. Photo of the dish or legume(s) featured in it: Optional (but helpful) and maximum 400 px wide

If you don't have a blog, submit your recipe by sending me an email as described above (except for #2 and #3, which do not apply) with the description of the recipe.

The deadline is Wednesday, November 30 at noon PST.

If you don't receive an answer to your email or a comment on your post within two days of sending me the email, please contact me again: sometimes email messages get lost in cyberspace. Also, feel free to contact me should you have any questions regarding the event and its  rules.

The following prizes will be awarded to one winner via random drawing:

• Food Photography from Snap Shots to Great Shot by Nicole S. Young. This prize is offered by Susan at her expense, and she will also absorb worldwide shipping charges.  F.T.C. Notice: Susan does not receive any compensation from Amazon. 
• Hurst Bean Box - A case of six bags of the winner's choice of Hurst Bean products, suitable for every diet, sponsored by Hurst Bean. (Due to shipping restrictions, this prize can only be awarded if the winner is a U.S. resident.) FTC Notice: In May 2010, Susan, at her request, received two Hurst Bean complimentary products which are not available for purchase in her local markets. Susan does not generally accept free products from Hurst Bean nor is she financially compensated by them.
• Drawing Structure - If the winner is a U.S. resident, she/he will be the recipient of both Prizes 1 and 2 above.  In the event that an international winner is drawn, a second drawing will be conducted from the U.S. pool of entrants to ensure that the Hurst Prize is awarded every month.  In these instances, the international winner will receive the book, and the U.S. winner will receive the Hurst Prize.

¹ A note about the title of my post: legumi che passione! is not the literal translation, but my personal rendition of the original My Legume Love Affair.

cucinare in trasferta: fagioli pinto freschi al pomodoro

cooking while away from my kitchen: fresh pinto beans in tomato sauce

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

In my previous post, I talked about our trip to Milwaukee and visit to the Milwaukee Art Museum and Fondy Farmer's Market.

At the market, among other items, we bought fresh shelled pinto beans. As you can see from the photo, they were sold next to borlotti (cranberry beans), and in both podded and shelled version (pinto in the pink buckets, borlotti in the purple ones).

The plan was to prepare the beans with a tomato sauce and I could have bought some tomatoes at the market for that, but they were sold is largecontainers  and I was also not sure I would find a grater in the apartment where we were staying to make crushed tomatoes, so I relied on a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes¹ to help me prepare the dish. What I made is losely related to fagioli all'uccelletto.

I like the depth of flavor of the fire-roasted tomatoes, which I think goes very well with beans. The bowl in the background contains a mix of polenta and corn meal (farina di mais) that I brought from home to prepare polenta. It was one of the food items I packed. Others were two containers of homemade cookies (more on those in an upcoming post), my homemade caciotta cheese (already mentioned in this post) and a supply of chocolate.

Printer-friendly version of briciole's recipe for fagioli pinto freschi al pomodoro

Ingredients :

• a cup of shelled fresh pinto beans
• a bit of olive oil
• a large shallot (scalogno), finely chopped
  
• a 14.5 oz. can of organic diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• sea salt, to taste
• basil (basilico) chiffonade, 5-6 leaves
  

Put the beans in a small saucepan and cover them with water (I used two cups). Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and cook the beans gently until just tender.

Warm up a bit of olive oil in a saucepan. Add the shallot, stir well to coat, then cook for a few minutes. Cover and continue cooking until the shallot is soft and translucent. Add the tomatoes, stir, bring to a gentle bubble, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes. If you want, mash some of the tomatoes with a potato masher or spoon.

Drain the beans and add to the tomato sauce. Again, bring back to a gentle bubble and cook for 15 minutes, or until the beans are cooked to your liking. Take the pan off the heat. Adjust the salt, if needed (the canned tomatoes contain salt), then add basil, and stir well to distribute.

Serving option #1: place a portion of beans in a bowl and distribute on the surface thin slices of caciotta or similar cheese. Cover the bowl and let stand for a few minutes, so the heat from the beans softens the cheese. Serve accompanied with toasted slices of country-style bread (pane casereccio).

Serving option #2: serve beans with a side of soft polenta. I will write more about my polenta soon. Suffice here to say that I added to it some of my caciotta cheese at the end of the cooking time. Again here you can experiment with other cheeses.

This is my submission for My Legume Love Affair 39, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Cathy of What Would Cathy Eat?

This post contains the roundup of the event.

I am also sending this post to Tin Can Recipes, a monthly event that will run until the end of this year. The organizers are Ale, Fra, Sere and Paola of Il Giardino degli Aromi and Brii of briggishome. The rules for participating are detailed on this page.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

fagioli pinto freschi al pomodoro

or launch the fagioli pinto freschi al pomodoro 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.]

¹ The can of tomatoes in the photo is for information only: it is not an advertisement. I do not have a business relationship with the product's company.

[jump to Comments]

bean, corn, tomato

Per i lettori italiani

Nel post precedente ho parlato del nostro viaggio a Milwaukee e della visita al Milwaukee Art Museum e al Fondy Farmer's Market.

Al mercato abbiamo comprato, tra gli altri prodotti, un secchiello di fagioli pinto freschi sgranati. Come potete vedere nella foto, i fagioli pinto erano in vendita vicino ai borlotti, sia nel baccello che sgranati (i pinto nei secchielli rosa, i borlotti in quelli viola).

L'idea era quella di preparare i fagioli coi pomodori e per attuarla avrei potuto comprare dei pomodori al mercato, ma erano in vendita in cestelli piuttosto grossi e non ero sicura che nell'appartamento dove abbiamo alloggiato avrei trovato gli attrezzi per preparare la salsa, quindi ho deciso di comprare una scatola di pomodori arrostiti sulla fiamma a pezzi¹. Il piatto che ho preparato si ispira ai fagioli all'uccelletto.

La ciotola in secondo piano contiene farina di mais per fare la polenta che mi ero portata da casa (di fatto è un misto di quello che qui chiamano polenta, a grana piuttosto grossa, e cornmeal macinato a pietra, a grana più fine). Altri generi alimentari che avevo messo in valigia sono: due contenitori di biscotti fatti in casa (prossimamente su questo blog), la mia caciotta fatta in casa (già menzionata in questo post) e una scorta di cioccolato (mai viaggiare senza!).

Ingredienti per i fagioli al pomodoro:

• una tazza (240 ml) di fagioli pinto freschi sgranati (vedi Nota in basso)
  
• un po' di olio d'oliva
• uno scalogno piuttosto grosso, tagliato fine
• una scatola da 410 g di pomodori arrostiti sulla fiamma a pezzi
• sale, q.b.
• 5-6 foglie di basilico tagliate a chiffonade

Nota: non ho pesato i fagioli per mancanza di una bilancia, quindi ho solo il volume.

Mettere i fagioli in una piccola pentola e coprirli con acqua (io ho usato 2 tazze, 480 ml). Portare a ebollizione, abbassare la fiamma e cuocere a fuoco dolce fino a quando i fagioli sono appena teneri.

Scaldare un po' d'olio in una pentola, aggiungere lo scalogno, mescolare e lasciar cuocere per qualche minuto. Coprire e continuare a cuocere fino a quanto lo scalogno è tenero. Aggiungere i pomodori e mescolare. Portare a lieve bollore e far cuocere per 10-12 minuti. Se volete, potete schiacciare parte di pomodori con un cucchiaio.

Scolare i fagioli e aggiungerli ai pomodori. Portare a lieve bollore e far cuocere per 15 minuti o fino a quando i fagioli non siano cotti secondo il vostro gusto. Togliere la pentola dal fuoco, correggere il sale, se necessario (i pomodori in scatola contengono sale), aggiungere il basilico e mescolare bene.

Ho servito i fagioli in due modi:

1. Mettere una porzione di fagioli in una scodella e distribuire sulla superficioe delle fettine fine di caciotta o formaggio simile. Coprire la scodella e lasciar riposare per qualche minuto, in modo che il calore dei fagioli ammorbidisca il formaggio. Servire con fette di pane casereccio tostate.

2. Servire i fagioli con della polenta morbida condita con caciotta. Anche in questo caso potete usare altro formaggio di vostro gradimento.

Con questo post contribuisco all'evento Tin Can Recipes dedicato alla celebrazione dei 200 anni del cibo in scatola. L'organizzazione dell'evento è di Ale, Fra, Sere e Paola del blog Il Giardino degli Aromi e di Brii che scrive briggishome. Le regole per partecipare le trovate su questa pagina.

Questo post contiene la raccolta dell'evento.

Contribuisco anche all'evento My Legume Love Affair 39, edizione corrente del popolare evento sulle leguminose creato da Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, e ospitato questo mese da Cathy di What Would Cathy Eat?

Questo post contiene il riepilogo dell'evento.

¹ La scatola di pomodori nella foto è solo a titolo informativo: non è una pubblicità. Non ho alcun rapporto commerciale con l'azienda produttrice.