briciole

zuppa di verza e cavolo riccio per Anna

Savoy cabbage and kale soup for Anna

Savoy cabbage and kale soup

Since I started writing (mostly about food), I look at memories and memoirs with a different eye. I grew up with a father who was constantly narrating stories and a mother who basically never did. When I was a kid, I listened to my father, but I was not fully aware of how important such transfer of information was. Now I have a different perspective.

A little voice inside me has been saying that I should record my father's stories. The voice grew firmer after I read Anna, Heart of a Peasant, by Carol Marie Davis. Ms. Davis is Anna's granddaughter and is also Rachel's mother and Rachel writes The Crispy Cook and co-hosts the Cook the Books Club.

Anna's story is different from that of any member of my family, since none of them traveled half-way across the world and started a new life in a place utterly different from the one in which they had grown up. My maternal grandmother moved from Croatia next door to Italy after marrying, but I have no idea what she thoughts of her adoptive country. I guess I did move half-way across the world, and I can tell you that it was not an easy transition, although I had several advantages over Anna, not the least of them the fact that I spoke the language and I had someone waiting for me in California. Anna was sent away from her native village in Byelorussia (now Belarus) following a terrible accident (I am trying not to give away too much here) and after a brief interlude, she boarded a ship headed towards America.

In the first part of the book, Ms. Davis recreates the life of Anna's family in the countryside of Byelorussia, a life steeped in popular traditions that coexist with religious faith. In the second part, we see Anna holding on to the traditional knowledge her grandmother had transmitted to her, while adjusting to the ups and downs of life in the US (having arrived in 1914, Anna experienced, among other things, the Great Depression).

The book follows Anna as she gets married, starts a family, moves into a house, raises children and grandchildren in Hastings-on-Hudson (NY). The last chapter includes a moving photograph of Anna and her husband, saying goodbye to each other on the grounds of a nursing home. The photo was taken by Ms. Davis and I want to think that it represents how she remembers her grandparents: looking at each other, holding hands. Together, they've gone through a lot.

The last pages of the book contain a set of recipes, a tribute to Anna's cooking. When I read them, I had no doubts about my choice: cabbage soup. Interestingly enough, the same recipe caught the attention of other readers of the book. In particular, Rachel, Anna's great-granddaughter, has made the soup and I refer you to her post on the topic for the original recipe. I made a number of changes to adapt it to my taste and ingredients I have available. I used a lovely purple Savoy cabbage, locally grown, and Red Russian kale from my garden. I added a bit of celery and thyme to the garlic, onion and carrot base, used fire-roasted crushed tomatoes instead of puréed tomatoes, omitted the sugar and cut down the lemon juice. Finally, I topped the soup with homemade kefir instead of sour cream.

purple Savoy cabbage

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pound Savoy cabbage sliced into 1/2-inch ribbons
• 3/4 pound Red Russian kale, thick ribs removed and sliced into 1/2-inch ribbons
  
• olive oil
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic (aglio)
  
• 1 large onion (cipolla), chopped
• a few sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 large carrot (carota), chopped
• half a celery rib (costa di sedano), chopped
• 1 quart (4 cups) homemade light chicken stock or vegetable option
  
• 1 28-ounce can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste (concentrato di pomodoro)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• salt and freshly milled black pepper
• homemade kefir (optional)

In a large soup pot, heat oil and sauté garlic for a couple of minutes, then add onion and thyme and sauté for a few minutes, then add carrot and celery and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Add stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, and bay leaf and simmer for 10 minutes or so, until carrots are tender.

Take out the bay leaf and discard. Purée with an immersion blender. Add lemon juice, cabbage and kale, and 3 cups of water. Simmer until cabbage is cooked (in my case it was about 45 minutes). Add more water, if needed, to obtain a soup of the desired consistency. Adjust salt and pepper and serve topped with some homemade kefir.

kale everywhere

Kale grows plentiful in my little vegetable garden and it reseeds itself, mostly due to the fact that I always let one or two plants go to seeds and then the seeds end up in my compost, so spreading the compost means spreading kale. I am not complaining: above you can see a corner of the garden where kale is a cover crop.

I am adding my thoughts on Anna, Heart of a Peasant to those of other bloggers, as you can see in this post, where Rachel of The Crispy Cook has gathered all the reviews. Thank you, Ms. Davis, for a very interesting read, and thank you, Rachel, for sharing your mother's book with us.

And I am sending this hearty soup to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen (another co-host of the Cook the Books Club).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

zuppa di verza e cavolo riccio per Anna

or launch the zuppa di verza e cavolo riccio per Anna 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.]

FTC disclosure: I have received a free review copy of the book mentioned in this post. I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for discussing the book on my blog. The views expressed in the post are my own.

cabbage, kale, tomato, soup

zuppa di porri, barbabietola rossa e sedano rapa

leek, red beet and celeriac soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

The soup started with the purchase of some beautiful leeks and celeriac at the farmers' market. My first experiment was to make my leek and potato soup (zuppa di porri e patate) substituting some of the potatoes with celeriac. The result was nice, but I didn't feel like I had made something new, so for the next try I chose to remove potatoes altogether from the equation and add a roasted red beet (barbabietola rossa).

I find celeriac (also called celery root and a few other names) fascinating and I realized it is also photogenic: I titled the black and white version of this photo "The universe is complex: consider celeriac."

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for zuppa di porri, barbabietola rossa e sedano rapa

Ingredients:

• 1 lb red beets (one large or two smaller)
• 1 lb leeks, weighed after the dark green leaves have been removed (save them to use in making stock or broth)
• 1 lb celeriac (in my case, two)
• olive oil
• 3 cups of homemade light chicken stock, or vegetarian option
• water, as needed
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (sale e pepe), to taste
• fresh juice of half a lemon

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Scrub the beet(s), wrap in foil, place on a baking sheet, and bake until easily pierced with a knife. Let cool until easy to handle, then slip off the skin. Slice as if you were making a beet salad. (If you buy beets with their greens still attached, cut the greens an inch above the beet, then proceed with the preparation.)

Cut the leeks in half lengthwise, cut into 1/8-1/4-inch slices and rinse well in a colander. Warm up some olive oil in a soup pot, then add the leeks and stir well to coat. Let cook for a few minutes, then cover and continue cooking while you scrub, peel and cut the celeriac into chunks approximately the size of the pieces of red beet. Add celeriac to the leeks, stir, then cover and let cook gently for 10 minutes or so, stirring often.

Add the red beets, the stock and enough water to just cover the vegetables. Cover, bring to a boil and then adjust the heat to maintain a lively simmer. Cook until the celeriac is soft (i.e., it can be easily mashed with the back of a spoon against the side of the pot). Remove from the heat, then purée with an immersion blender. Add water to obtain a soup of the desired consistency. Adjust salt and pepper, then add the lemon juice. Stir, then let the soup rest for a while before tasting to verify that the amount of lemon juice was sufficient to brighten the flavor of the soup. Making the soup at least a few hours before you are planning to serve it will give it enough time to rest and ripen.

Reheat the soup, taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Serve with some cheese as topping (freshly grated or crumbled, depending on the kind of cheese you choose) and/or some cooked grains (like hull-less barley) added. In the photo at the top, I show the soup accompanied with Salt-and-Pepper Cookies.

This is my contribution to edition #304 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 Chris of Mele Cotte.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

zuppa di porri, barbabietola rossa e sedano rapa

 or launch the zuppa di porri, barbabietola rossa e sedano rapa 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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leek, red beet, celeriac, soup

Per i lettori italiani

Questa zuppa è cominciata con porri e sedano rapa acquistati al farmers' market. Come primo esperimento ho preparato la mia zuppa di porri e patate sostituendo parte delle patate col sedano rapa. Il risultato mi è piaciuto, ma non mi sentivo di aver fatto qualcosa di nuovo e così per il secondo esperimento ho tolto le patate del tutto e ho aggiunto una barbabietola rossa cotta al forno.

Il sedano rapa mi affascina ed è anche fotogenico: ho intitolato la versione in bianco e nero di questa foto "L'universo è complesso: consideriamo per esempio il sedano rapa."

Ingredienti:

• 450 g barbabietola rossa
• 450 g porri, pesati dopo aver rimosso le foglie verde scuro (tenetele da parte e usatele per fare il brodo)
• 450 g sedano rapa (nel mio caso, due)
• olio d'oliva
• 700-750 ml di brodo di pollo leggero o vegetale fatto in casa
• acqua, q.b.
• sale e pepe nero macinato fresco a piacere
• succo di mezzo limone

Scaldare il forno a 190 C. Pulire bene la barbabietola (o barbabietole), avvolgere in pellicola di alluminio e cuocere in forno fino a quando è facile perforarla con una lama. Lasciar intiepidire e poi rimuovere la buccia. Fare a pezzi come se si dovesse preparare un'insalata. (Se comprate barbabietole con ancora attaccate le foglie, tagliare i gambi 3 cm sopra alla radice e poi proseguire con la preparazione.)

Tagliare i porri a metà per il lungo e poi a fette di 3-6 mm. Sciacquare bene in un colapasta. Scaldare dell'olio d'oliva in una pentola da zuppa e aggiungere i porri. Mescolare bene e poi lasciare cuocere per alcuni minuti, mentre pulite, pelate e tagliate a pezzi il sedano rapa (all'incirca grossi come i pezzi di barbabietola). Aggiungere il sedano rapa alla pentola, mescolare, coprire e cuocere a fuoco dolce per 10 minuti, mescolando spesso.

Aggiungere alla pentola i pezzi di barbabietola rossa, il brodo e abbastanza acqua da coprire le verdure. Mettere il coperchio e portare a bollore, poi regolare il calore per mantenere un leggero bollore. Cuocere fino a quando il sedano rapa sia morbido (cioè potete schiacciarlo con il dorso di un cucchiaio di legno contro la parete della pentola).

Togliere la pentola dal fuoco e ridurre le verdure a purè con il minipimer. Aggiungere acqua quanto basta per ottenere una zuppa della consistenza desiderata. Regolare sale e pepe e aggiungere il succo di limone. Mescolare e lasciar riposare la zuppa per un po' di tempo prima di verificare che la quantità di limone sia sufficiente a far risaltare il sapore della zuppa. Preparare la zuppa almeno alcune ore prima che dobbiate portarla in tavola le dà abbastanza tempo per riposare e maturare.

Riscaldare la zuppa, assaggiare e, se necessario, regolare il condimento. Servire con del formaggio (grattugiato fresco o sbriciolato, a seconda del tipo di formaggio scelto) e/o dei cereali cotti (come orzo mondo). Nella foto in alto, ho accompagnato la zuppa con dei biscotti salati.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 304 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Marta di Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare.

Questo post contiene il raccolt dell'evento.

crema di mais e peperoni Ancho Magnifico arrosto

corn soup with roasted Ancho Magnifico peppers

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Two years ago, I wrote three posts on a corn soup. The reason for the multiple entries was the search for a specific texture in the tofu that went with the soup. This is the last post, which describes the end of my quest. I made this soup again last year, any time I could get fresh corn at the farmers' market or in my CSA box. Then, at some point, I had the idea of adding to the roasted corn some roasted peppers.

A short detour about peppers. My knowledge of the pepper world is fairly limited, but in the process of expanding. To the well-known bell peppers, I have added Round of Hungary and long Italian, all in sweet territory. However, for the corn soup I wanted something with a bit of heat, and it turned out that Ancho Magnifico peppers were just what I had been looking for. When you see a whole basket of these beautiful peppers, you agree that the name magnifico suits them perfectly.

The soup in the photo above, from last year, owes its color to the roasted peppers being deeply red. (Note that the corn is only a prop: I bought it because I liked the color of the kernels.) At the end of the season, I roasted the peppers in the photo above, which were still a bit green. I used two of them immediately and froze the other two, so when corn season started this year, I didn't need to wait for the peppers to enjoy the soup I like so much. As the peppers were not uniformly deep red, the color of the soup in the photo at the beginning of the post is different from the one from last year.

One last note about peppers. While waiting for this year's Ancho Magnifico peppers to make their appearance at the market, I prepared one batch of the soup using poblano peppers. I made the mistake of not tasting the peppers before adding them to the soup, which turned out to be too hot for my husband. I solved the situation by making a second batch of soup sans peppers and diluting the first one. So, my recommendation is to taste the kind of hot peppers you decide to add to the soup, to make sure the end result has the amount of heat you desire.

The soup owes the intensity of its flavor to the roasting of its main ingredients. It takes a bit of time to prepare, but you can also do the roasting in advance and then cook the soup.

Printer-friendly version of briciole's recipe for crema di mais e peperoni Ancho Magnifico arrosto

Ingredients:

• 4 ears of corn (pannocchie di granturco¹), still wrapped in their husks (if they aren't, wrap them in foil before roasting them) and with their silks attached
  
• 2 Ancho Magnifico peppers
• olive oil
• a shallot (scalogno) or half of a small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup of homemade chicken stock, or vegetarian option
• a small potato (about 3 oz.), scrubbed and coarsely grated
• water, as needed
• sea salt, to taste
• fresh chives (erba cipollina)

Prehear oven to 450 F. Place corn on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool, then remove the husks and silk. Working on a shallow bowl or pyrex dish, use a knife to separate kernels (chicchi) and scrapings from the cob. This page from bon appetít describes precisely the way I do this with the knife. (Save the empty cobs to make stock or broth.)

Roast the Ancho Magnifico peppers at 375 F. Place them in a paper bag or plastic container until cool, then remove skin and seeds.

Warm some olive oil in a soup pot. Add the shallot or onion and cook briefly, then add the stock and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the corn and potato, and 2-3 cups of water, enough to barely cover the corn. Note: The quantity of water depends on the desired thickness of the soup and the amount of corn obtained from the ears, so adjust it as needed.

Bring to a boil and cook, losely covered, for 7 minutes. Add the peppers. Purée the soup with the immersion blender and then push it through a mesh strainer. Bring the soup back to boiling and simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat. Shortly before serving the soup, reheat it and adjust the salt. Serve topped with snipped fresh chives .

¹ Both mais and granturco mean corn in Italian.

This is my contribution to edition #299 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 Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

crema di mais e peperoni Ancho Magnifico arrosto

or launch the crema di mais e peperoni Ancho Magnifico arrosto 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, corn, hot pepper

Per i lettori italiani

 

Due anni fa ho scritto tre post sul tema "crema di mais." Il motivo era la ricerca di una consistenza particolare per il tofu che l'accompagnava. Questo è il terzo post dove descrivo il termine della mia ricerca. Ho preparato questa crema di mais di nuovo l'anno scorso ogni volta che trovavo il mais buono al mercato o nella mia cassettina. Ad un certo punto mi è venuta l'idea di aggiungere dei peperoni arrosto.

Breve divagazione sui peperoni. La mia conoscenza di questa verdura è piuttosto limitata, ma in via di espansione. Ai peperoni comuni (che qui si chiamano "peperoni a campana") ho aggiunto quelli chiamati Round of Hungary e long Italian, entrambi dolci. Ma per la crema di mais volevo una varietà un po' piccante e i peperoni Ancho Magnifico si sono rivelati perfetti per questo ruolo. Nel vedere un cesto pieno di questi bei peperoni ci si rende conto che il nome Magnifico calza a pennello (e credo che anche Lorenzo de' Medici sarebbe d'accordo).

La crema nella foto qui sopra, dell'anno scorso, deve il suo colore ai peperoni rossi arrosto. Il mais è solo per bellezza: l'ho comprato perche mi piaceva il colore dei chicchi. Al termine della stagione ho arrostito i peperoni Ancho Magnifico della foto, che erano ancora un po' verdi. Ne ho usati due subito nella preparazione della crema di mais e gli altri due li ho surgelati, cosicché quando quest'anno è cominciata la stagione del granturco non ho dovuto aspettare che arrivassero anche i peperoni per preparare la zuppa che adoro. Dal momento che i peperoni non erano uniformemente rossi, la crema nella foto all'inizio del post ha un colore diverso da quella nella foto dell'anno scorso.

Nota finale sui peperoni. In attesa che gli Ancho Magnifico arrivino al mercato, ho preparato della crema di mais utilizzando due peperoni di varietà poblano. Ho fatto l'errore di non assaggiare i peperoni prima di aggiungerli alla crema, che alla fine è risultata essere troppo piccante per il gusto di mio marito. Ho risolto la situazione preparando di nuovo la zuppa, stavolta senza peperoni e usandola per diluire quella troppo "hot." La mia raccomandazione quindi è quella di assaggiare i peperoni piccanti che scegliete da aggiungere alla crema di mai per assicurarvi che il risultato finale sia piccante al livello desiderato.

L'intensità del sapore della crema di mais è dovuta al fatto che i suoi due ingredienti sono arrostiti. Ci vuole un po' di tempo per prepararla, ma la cottura al forno di mais e peperoni può essere fatta in anticipo. Il passaggio al setaccio richiede un po' di pazienza. Il risultato è una crema dalla consistenza uniforme e piacevole per il palato. (Quasi, quasi uno di questi giorni ne produco una versione dolce per poterla servire come dessert.)

Ingredienti:

• 4 pannocchie di granturco ancora con le foglie (se non ci sono, prima di infornarle avvolgere le pannocchie nella pellicola di alluminio)
• 2 peperoni Ancho Magnifico
• olio d'oliva
• uno scalogno (o metà di una cipolla piccola), tagliato fine
• 250 ml di brodo di pollo o vegetale fatto in casa
• una piccola patata (circa 85 g), ben pulita e grattugiata grossolanamente
• acqua, q.b.
• sale fino, q.b.
• erba cipollina fresca

Cuocere le pannocchie in forno a 230 C per 20 minuti. Farle intiepidire un po' poi rimuovere le foglie. Appoggiandosi all'interno di una ciotola bassa o di una teglie di pyrex, usate un coltello per separare i chicchi dal tutolo. Questa pagina dalla rivista bon appetít (in inglese) descrive il procedimento che uso anche io per sgranare il mais col coltello. (Mettere da parte i tutoli e utilizzarli come ingrediente per fare il brodo vegetale o di pollo.) 

Arrostire i peperoni utilizzando il metodo preferito, per esempio al forno a 190 C. Mettere i peperoni in una busta di carta o contenitore di plastica fino a quando sono tiepidi e poi rimuovere pelle e semi.

Scaldare dell'olio in una pentola da minestra. Aggiungere lo scalogno (o cipolla), girare e cuocere per qualche minuto, poi aggiungere il brodo, coprire e cuocere, coperto, per 10 minuti. Aggiungere mais e patata e 500-700 ml d'acqua, abbastanza da coprire appena il mais. Nota: la quantità d'acqua dipende dalla consistenza desiderata per la crema e dalla quantità di mais ottenuto dalle pannocchie e va aggiustata al bisogno. 

Portare a bollore e cuocere, per 7 minuti col coperchio non completamente chiuso. Aggiungere i peperoni. Ridurre le verdure a purè con il minipimer e poi passare al setaccio per eliminare le bucce dei chicchi di mais. Portare di nuovo a bollore la crema e cuocere a fuoco dolce per 5 minuti, poi togliere dal fuoco. Poco prima di servire la crema, riscaldatela e aggiustate il sale. Distribuire dell'erba cipollina sulla superficie di ogni porzione e servire.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 299 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Aitina, Branka e Conchita di Fragoliva.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

zuppa di broccoli e zucchine

broccoli and zucchini soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Hot soup in the summer? Not a surprising menu item, if you are along the California coast, home of the natural air conditioning system called "the fog." Denizens of the areas affected by this fascinating natural phenomenon know how to handle it. For example, if you are outside in the late afternoon and evening, you need to have something warm to put on, or you won't be comfortable.

I know this and dress accordingly. However, last week, one afternoon, I went to an outdoor event, and although I was wearing my warm polartec sweater, I got a bit chilly. During my drive back home, I had a vision of hot soup. At the same time, the radio was talking about temperatures above 100 F in the eastern part of the US. I got home and warmed up the soup I had seen in my vision. It was a dream rooted in reality, since I knew that in the fridge I had a container with soup: broccoli and zucchini soup.

I recently wrote about a simple broccoli salad that I love to prepare. This is another way of using fresh broccoli from the farmers' market:

cavolo broccolo

or the so-called romanesco broccoli:

cavolo broccolo romanesco (also called romano or cimoso)

The soup is also a way of consuming zucchine (zucchini) plentiful at the farmers' market and also present in my CSA box.

The final ingredients are fresh red onion (cipolla rossa), either the round or the torpedo kind, also from the farmers' market, a leek (porro) and fresh basil (basilico).

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for zuppa di broccoli e zucchine

Ingredients:

• 8 oz fresh red onion, chopped
• 1 medium leek, white and light green portion (keep the dark green leaves to make broth or stock)
• 1 lb broccoli or romanesco broccoli
  
• 1 1/2 lb zucchini
• olive oil
• 4 cups homemade light chicken stock or vegetable broth
• water, as needed
  
• 12 fresh basil leaves, or to taste
• sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste

Cut the leek in half lengthwise, then slice crosswise and rinse carefully in a colander to remove any dirt. Wash and cut broccoli heads into florets. Peel the tough outer layer of the stalk, quarter if very thick, and cut crosswise into short lengths. Wash and slice the zucchini.

Warm up some olive oil in a soup pot and add onion and leek. Stir to coat and after a couple of minutes, cover the pot and let the vegetables cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Add broccoli, zucchini and stock, then enough water so that the vegetables are almost, but not completely, covered: you should still see a bit sticking out of the liquid. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, then lower to a lively simmer and cook until the vegetables are soft. Check after 25 minutes. When done, remove from the heat and add the basil. Purée with an immersion blender. Given the watery nature of zucchini, I find this soup liquid enough, but you can certainly add more water, if needed, to make the soup reach the desired consistency. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.

The result is a mild-flavored soup that you can enjoy as is or enrich in various ways: cheese (freshly grated or crumbled, depending on the kind of cheese you choose), cooked grains (like hull-less barley or quinoa), chopped onions cooked with poppy seeds (semi di papavero). The latter, featured in the photo above, were left over from another recipe that I hope to feature soon. If you don't add grains to the soup, accompany it with some nice bread, maybe homemade.

This is my contribution to edition #294 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 Anh of A Food Lover's Journey.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

zuppa di broccoli e zucchine

or launch the zuppa di broccoli e zucchine 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.]

soup, broccoli, zucchini

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Per i lettori italiani

Zuppa bollente d'estate? Per chi vive lungo la costa della California, patria del sistema di aria condizionata naturale che si chiama "la nebbia," non è una sorpresa. Gli abitanti delle aree affette da questo affascinante fenomeno naturale sanno come gestirsi. Per esempio, se uno è fuori il pomeriggio tardi o la sera, deve avere qualcosa di caldo da indossare.

Questo lo so bene e mi vesto in modo appropriato. Però la scorsa settimana un pomeriggio sono andata ad un evento all'aperto e anche se avevo addosso il mio maglioncino di polartec bello caldo, mi sono un po' infreddolita a stare ferma. Mentre ero in auto verso casa, ho avuto una visione: un bel piatto di zuppa bollente. Nello stesso momento, alla radio parlavano delle temperature elevate (40 C) nella zona est degli USA. Sono arrivata a casa e ho scaldato la zuppa della mia visione: era un sogno ancorato nella realtà dal momento che sapevo di avere nel frigorifero un contenitore con della zuppa di broccoli e zucchine.

Di recente, ho scritto un post su un'insalata di broccoli che mi piace molto. Questo è un altro modo per utilizzare il cavolo broccolo:

 

o anche il cavolo broccolo romanesco (detto anche romano o cimoso)

Questa zuppa è anche un buon modo per utilizzare le zucchine che in questo momento sono dappertutto, compresa la mia cassettina settimanale.

Gli altri ingredienti della zuppa sono: cipolla rossa fresca (tonda o lunga), un porro e del basilico fresco.

Ingredienti:

• 225 g di cipolla rossa fresca, tagliata a dadini
• un porro medio, la parte bianca e verde chiaro (utilizzare la parte verde scuro come ingrediente per brodo)
• 450 g di broccoli (del tipo preferito)
• 700 g  di zucchine
• olio d'oliva
• un litro di brodo di pollo leggero o vegetale fatto in casa
• acqua
  
• 12 foglioline di basilico
• sale e pepe nero macinato fresco a piacere

Tagliare il porro a metà per lungo poi a fettine e sciacquare con cura. Lavare e tagliare i broccoli a cimette. Pelare il gambo, tagliarlo in quattro per lungo se molto grosso, poi tagliarlo a rondelle spesse. Lavare e affettare le zucchine.

Scaldare dell'olio d'oliva in una pentola capiente e aggiungere cipolla e porro. Mescolare e dopo un paio di minuti minuti, coprire e far cuocere per 8 minuti, mescolando di tanto in tanto per evitare che si attacchino al fondo.

Aggiungere broccoli, zucchine e brodo, poi acqua abbastanza per arrivare quasi a coprire le verdure, ma non del tutto: le verdure devono affiorare un po'. Coprire e portare ad ebollizione, poi cuocere a fuoco dolce fino a quando le verdure sono tenere. Controllare dopo 25 minuti. Quando le verdure sono cotte, togliere la pentola dal fuoco e aggiungere il basilico. Ridurre le verdure a purè con il minipimer. Data la natura acquosa delle zucchine, questa zuppa per me ha la consistenza giusta, ma potete certamente aggiungere acqua, se necessario, per ottenere una zuppa della consistenza desiderata. Regolare sale e pepe a seconda del vostro gusto.

Il risultato è una zuppa dal sapore delicato che potete gustare così o arricchire in vari modi: con formaggio (grattugiato o sbriciolato, a seconda del tipo scelto), cereali cotti (come orzo mondo o quinoa; quest'ultimo non è un vero cereale, ma viene utilizzato come tale), cipolle a pezzettini cotte con semi di papavero. Quest'ultima opzione è ritratta nella foto in alto: le cipolle erano avanzate da un'altra ricetta che spero di mostrare presto. Se non aggiungete cereali alla zuppa, servitela accompagnata da del buon pane, magari fatto in casa.

Questo è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 294 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Marta di Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare.

Questo post contiene il riepilogo dell'evento.

zuppa di zucca e carote

winter squash and carrot soup

I told you I still have some winter squashes in my storage room, so here is another great soup I made with them and with carrots, of which I bought a bunch, greens and all, from the Temescal farmers' market in Oakland, a relatively small market that has interesting vendors and, most importantly, runs year-round.

I actually made this soup twice. The first time (photo above), I used a butternut squash, but did not weigh any of the ingredients, which is not a problem until you want to share the recipe. I liked the soup a lot, so it was easy to decide to make it again and do so with the scales ready. For the second rendition, I picked a different squash and should have photographed it before roasting it, because it was really a sight. Fortunately, I found a good image on this page, where its name is also given: Black Futsu. Don't let its rough surface intimidate you: Black Futsu squash has a flavorful flesh under those ribs.

The flesh is golden color and has the rich taste of hazelnuts... The black fruit will turn a rich chestnut color in storage. It is a particularly long keeper (up to 8 months). This heirloom variety originally from Japan has a high yield, a unique appearance and an uncommon flavor.

Printer-friendly version of briciole's recipe for zuppa di zucca e carote

Ingredients:

• a winter squash of your choice, yielding 2.5 lbs cooked squash
• 3/4 lb carrots
• 4-5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• olive oil
  
• 6 oz. onion (cipolla), chopped
  
• 1 celery rib (leaves included, if present), chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (possibly from freshly toasted and ground seeds)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (chiodi digarofano)
  
• 3 cups homemade light chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 2.5-3 cups water, plus as needed to bring the soup to the desired consistency
• salt (sale) and freshly ground black pepper (pepe nero), to taste

Heat the oven to 375 F. Pierce the squash with a blade in a few places, place it on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat, and bake it for 15 minutes. This makes it easier to cut it in half. Let the squash cool slightly, cut it in half lengthwise and remove the seeds (a grapefruit spoon is my preferred tool for this task). Put the garlic cloves into the cavity of one of the two squash halves and place both halves on the silicone baking mat, cut side down. (I learned to bake garlic with squash this way from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.) Put back in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the carrots. I don't peel them, but simply scrub them well, scrape off the thin skin with a knife, then rinse them. Cut carrots into 1/4"-thick slices and spray a bit of olive oil on them. Take the baking sheet with the squash out of the oven and distribute the carrots on it, if there is space. Otherwise, use another baking sheet, but try to bake all the vegetables at the same time, for energy efficiency's sake. Take the carrots out of the oven after 30 minutes. At that time, check the squash and, if necessary, bake it longer, until you can easily pierce it with a knife. Let the squash cool and then scrape the flesh off the skin, again using a grapefruit spoon. Peel the garlic cloves and set them aside.

Warm up some olive oil in a soup pot and add onion and celery. After 3-4 minutes, cover the pot and let the vegetables cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add cumin, smoked paprika and cloves to onion and celery, stir, then add squash, carrots, stock, and water to cover the vegetables. Cover the pot, bring to a boil and cook for 25 minutes. Add the garlic cloves, then purée with an immersion blender. Add more water, if needed, to make the soup reach the desired consistency. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.

I have found that this soup profits from some rest, so I suggest you make it a few hours ahead, then reheat it. Serve with homemade bread and/or cheese crisps. The ones in the photo were made with my homemade Tilsit, which worked nicely.

To make the cheese crisps, heat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat. Take a tablespoon of grated cheese, like parmigiano-reggiano, and place it on the silicone baking mat. With a fingertip, spread cheese into a disk of about 3" diameter. Repeat a few times, making sure to leave at least one inch between the disks. Bake until the cheese melts, 3 to 4 minutes (check after 3 minutes and bake half or a minute longer, if necessary). Lift crisps delicately with a spatula and let cool. Serve with hot soup. I suggest establishing a per capita share in advance. In my experience, these crisps have a tendency to disappear faster than the speed of light.

As long as we are having one storm after another dumping rain on us, a hot soup is what I want for dinner.

This is my submission for the first edition of Creative Concoctions, an event created by Ivy of Kopiaste..to Greek Hospitality that will have two editions per month. This post contains the roundup of the event.

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 di zucca e carote

or launch the zuppa di zucca e carote 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.]

zuppa di cavolfiore e zucca "delicata"

roasted cauliflower and delicata squash soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Another soup? You bet! For two good reasons. First of all, it is cold (fa freddo). In case you are wondering why we are getting a freezing-cold snap at the end of February, here is the reason: because Simona has planted pea seedlings. I put off planting peas for three weeks, though we had nice weather and working in the garden would have been pleasant. When I finally gave in, thinking that the danger of frost was behind us, bam! the temperature has plummeted.

The second reason is that I have a certain fairly large amount of winter squashes (zucche) in my storage room that I need to use. In particular, I have several delicata squashes. I really like the flavor of this kind of winter squash, which stands well on its own (as in this recipe from some time ago) and also pairs well with other flavors.

Last Saturday, I bought some cauliflower, thinking I would make this tried-and-true recipe, but then decided to build upon a recent experience with a roasted vegetables soup and make a roasted cauliflower soup. Cauliflower and what else? was the question and the prompt answer was: delicata squash. I can't tell where the answer came from, but I decided to accept it anyway and act upon it. From this recipe, I got some suggestions for the aromatics, while from this recipe, I got the idea of using curry. I then added other elements I wanted and made the soup. I liked the result so much that I immediately made a second batch, which allowed me to refine a few details. Without further ado, here is the recipe.

Printer-friendly version of briciole's recipe for zuppa di cavolfiore e zucca "delicata"

• 17-18 oz. (500 g) cauliflower, cut into florets
• a delicata squash (1.5 lbs or 700 g), cut in half lengthwise, seeds and strings removed (a grapefruit spoon is my favorite tool to do this)
• 2 shallots (2 oz or 60 g), skin removed but left whole
• 3 cloves of garlic, left unpeeled
• olive oil
• 3 cups of homemade light chicken stock (or vegetable alternative)
• 2 cups of water
  
• 1 bay leaf (foglia di alloro)
  
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• fresh lime or lemon juice (optional)
  

Heat the oven to 375 F. Place the delicata squash, cut side down, on a small baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat. Wrap the garlic cloves in aluminum foil. Do the same with the each shallot (scalogno) and place the foil wraps next to the squash. Spray a baking pan with olive oil and distribute the cauliflower florets in it. Spray some more olive oil on the cauliflower and stir to coat. Hopefully you'll be able to fit both the baking sheet and the baking pan in your oven, so you can do all your baking at once. Stir the cauliflower after 10 minutes of baking and then again 5 minutes later. Make sure the cauliflower bakes evenly. Keep an eye on it and remove the pan from the oven when it is ready (about 30 minutes). Garlic and shallots will be ready after 20 minutes. The squash will take about 30 minutes. Let everything cool slightly, so you can handle the vegetables without worry.

Put the cauliflower, peeled garlic cloves, sliced shallots and the flesh of the delicata squash in a soup pot. (The grapefruit spoon that has helped you clean the squash will also be of assistance in scraping the flesh from the skin.) Add the curry powder, bay leaf and thyme, and the liquids. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until the cauliflower is very tender. Remove the bay leaf. Purée using an immersion blender if possible. If you use a food processor, purée in batches and use extreme care. Add more water, if needed, to make the soup reach the desired consistency. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Reheat the soup and serve hot, by itself or accompanied by cooked hulless barley or another cooked grain you like (possibly whole), or a slice of homemade bread, toasted. After plating, I squeezed a bit of lime juice in my bowl and mixed well before diving into the soup. Adjust the quantity of juice based on personal taste. Optionally top the soup with some sliced almonds toasted briefly in a dry skillet.

This is my contribution to edition #272 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 me, 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:

zuppa di cavolfiore e zucca "delicata"

or launch the zuppa di cavolfiore e zucca "delicata" 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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Per i lettori italiani

Un'altra zuppa? Ebbene si' e per due buoni motivi. Prima di tutto fa freddo. E il motivo per cui è arrivata un'ondata di freddo è che ho piantato i piselli. Ho rimandato per tre settimane, nonostante il tempo fosse bello e quindi indicato per lavorare nell'orticello. Quando finalmente mi sono decisa, pensando che il pericolo di gelate fosse passato, la temperatura è precipitata.

Il secondo motivo è che ho una certa notevole quantità di zucche e devo usarle, alcune di esse della varietà "delicata" (che è diversa dalla zucca "delica" che ho visto in Italia). Questo tipo di zucca mi piace molto perché si accompagna bene con altri sapori ma può anche cavarsela da sola, come in questa ricetta di qualche tempo fa). Se non trovate la zucca delicata, potete utilizzare un altro tipo di zucca.

Sabato scorso ho comprato del cavolfiore, pensando di utilizzarlo in questa ricetta, ma poi ho pensato di continuare sulla stessa vena di un recente esperimento con zuppa a base di verdure arrosto e ho deciso di fare una zuppa di cavolfiore arrosto. Cavolfiore e che altro? mi sono chiesta e mi sono subito riposta: zucca "delicata." Da questa ricetta ho derivato alcuni suggerimenti per aromatizzare la zuppa, mentre da questa ricetta, ho preso l'idea di utilizzare la polvere di curry. Ho aggiunto alcuni elemente che desideravo e ho preparato la zuppa. Mi è piaciuta così tanto che l'ho rifatta subito, il che mi ha aiutata a precisare alcuni dettagli. Ecco la ricetta:

• 1 o 2 cime di cavolfiore (500 g) tagliato a pezzi
  
• una zucca "delicata" (700 g) tagliata nel senso della lunghezza e pulita [vedi Nota sotto]
  
• 2 scalogni (60 g) interi, sbucciati
  
• 3 spicchi d'aglio non spellati
  
• olio d'oliva
• 700 ml di brodo di pollo leggero fatto in casa (o brodo vegetale)
• 500 ml d'acqua
  
• una foglia d'alloro
• 1 cucchiaino (5 ml) di foglioline di timo fresco
• 1/2 cucchiaino (2,5 ml) di polvere di curry
  
• sale e pepe macinato fresco a piacere
• succo di limetta o di limone fresco (facoltativo)
  

Nota: la zucca "delicata" è relativamente piccola e la polpa non è molto spessa. Se utilizzate un'altra zucca, preparatela per il forno e arrostitela in base al tipo e della grandezza.

Scaldare il forno a 190 C. Porre la zucca con la parte tagliata in basso su una lastra da forno piuttosto piccola coperta da un tappetino di silicone per forno. Avvolgere gli spicchi d'aglio in un pezzo di alluminio. Fare lo stesso con ognuno degli scalogni e porre i pacchettini di alluminio accanto alla zucca. Oliare una teglia e distribuire i pezzi di cavolfiore. Spero che riusciate e mettere nel forno sia la teglia che la lastra in modo da poter fare la cottura al forno in modo efficiente. Mescolare il cavolfiore dopo 10 minuti e poi ancora dopo altri 5. Assicuratevi che il cavolfiore arrostisca in modo uniforme. Controllatelo spesso e tiratelo fuori dal forno quando è pronto (30 minuti circa). Scalogni e aglio saranno pronti dopo 20 minuti, la zucca dopo circa 30 minuti (questo dato varia a seconda del tipo di zucca). Far intiepidire leggermente le verdure.

Mettere il cavolfiore, gli spicchi d'aglio sbuciati, gli scalogni affettati e la polpa della zucca in una pentola capiente (un cucchiaino da pompelmo è utilissimo sia per pulire la zucca che per rimuovere la polpe dalla buccia dopo la cottura). Aggiungere curry, alloro, timo e i liquidi. Portare a bollore e cuocere per 30 minuti o finché il cavolfiore è molto morbido. Togliere la foglia d'alloro. Ridurre le verdure a purè con il minipimer. Aggiungere acqua, se necessario, per ottenere una zuppa della consistenza desiderata. Aggiustare sale e pepe.

Riscaldare la zuppa e servirla da sola o accompagnata da orzo nudo cotto o altra granaglia cotta, o una fetta di pane fatto in casa tostata. Dopo aver versato la zuppa nel piatto, io ho spremuto un po' di succo di limetta sulla mia porzione e ho mescolato bene prima di tuffarmi nella zuppa. Potete anche distribuire sulla zuppa delle mandorle a fettine tostate in una padella (senza olio).

Questo è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 272 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di Briggis recept och ideer, e ospitata questa settimana da Simona di briciole (che poi sarei io).

Questo post contiene il riepilogo dell'evento e informazioni sull'edizione corrente.

zuppa di verdure miste

vegetable medley soup (a.k.a. "vegetables you have in the fridge" soup)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Before owning an immersion blender, I rarely made soup. My first attempt at using the food processor to purée a soup ended in a spill of hot liquid that I did not want to encore. Enter the immersion blender, and I now make soup at least once a week. In winter, it's more like twice a week. I have a nice supply of homemade stock, mostly chicken, but also vegetable. I make chicken stock according to Julia Child's recipe every time I roast a chicken and have discarded bones, skin, gizzard, neck, etc., so preparing soup is mostly a matter of deciding what vegetables to use. I am whittling down my stash of winter squashes (zucche) by roasting them and making soup, but then there is my vegetable crisper, which sometimes ends up containing one of this and another one of that and the medley just screams SOUP. So soup it is.

Yesterday's survey yielded a variety of vegetables that by dinner time had become the soup in the photo. The recipe below is an example of variation on a theme, in the sense that, while certain ingredients are fairly fixed (onion, celery, carrot), others depend on what's available. Usually the result of this mix-and-match is really good (though difficult to replicate exactly).

A few days ago, as I was looking for a soup recipe that used kale, I skimmed a recipe on Simply Recipes that put into my mind the idea of roasting vegetables prior to using them to make a soup. Having a bunch of root vegetables seemed like the perfect time to realize such an idea.

Printer-friendly version of briciole's recipe for zuppa di verdure miste

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots (not small)
• a parsnip
• a large leek (porro), white and light green portion (keep the dark green leaves to make vegetable stock)
• a yacon
• a celery root (or half, if it is gigantic like the one I had)
• olive oil
• 6-8 oz cipollini onion or other sweet onion (I used 3/4 of a very large cipollini onion)
• 1 large or 2 small celery ribs (including leaves, if present)
• 1 teaspoon groud cumin (possibly from freshly toasted and ground seeds)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 cups homemade chicken or vegetable stock
• water as needed to bring the soup to desired consistency
• 10 leaves of baby chard (bietola novella)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Wash carefully, peel as needed, and cut into chunks the first five vegetables in the list above (the leek into one-inch slices). Spray with olive oil and toss lightly. Spread the vegetables on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat and roast for 40 minutes at 375 F, stirring them twice during the baking period.

In the meantime, warm up some olive oil in a soup pot and add onion and celery, chopped. After 3-4 minutes, cover the pot and let the vegetables cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Cut away the stem and a bit of the center rib from the chard leaves and chop them. Slice the leaves into ribbons and set aside.

A word on the onion I used. I got the "cipollini" onion in the photo from my mostly-fruit CSA, Neukom Family Farm. The name "cipollini onion" as applied to the representatives of the category in the photo brings a smile to my Italian face. Cipolline (which turned into "cipollini" in English) means small cipolle, i.e., small onions, while the onions above easily weigh half a pound and often more. Name aside, these onions are excellent in flavor and keep very well, so I am partial to them.

Back to the soup pot: add cumin and paprika to onion and celery, stir, then add the roasted vegetables, chard stems, stock and water to cover everything. Cover, bring to a boil and cook until the vegetables are soft, half an hour, possibly more. Purée with an immersion blender. Add more water, if needed, to make the soup reach the desired consistency. Add the chard ribbons to the soup, and cook for another 5 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.

Serve hot by itself or accompanied by cooked hulless barley or another cooked grain you like, or a slice of homemade bread. You can top the soup with freshly grated or crumbled cheese (the one in the photo above is my homemade gouda), chopped toasted walnuts or toasted sliced almonds.

This is my contribution to edition #270 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 from 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:

zuppa di verdure miste

or launch the zuppa di verdure miste 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]

Per i lettori italiani

Prima di acquistare il minipimer, raramente preparavo zuppe. Adesso ne faccio una alla settimana, e d'inverno anche due. Ho una scorta di brodo di pollo e anche vegetale. Preparo del brodo di pollo secondo la ricetta di Julia Child ogni volta che faccio il pollo arrosto e che ho gli avanzi (ossa, pelle, collo, ecc.). Quindi poi preparare una zuppa diventa un discorso di scelta delle verdure da utilizzare. Sto pian piano riducendo la mia scorta di zucche che arrostisco e poi trasformo in zuppe, ma c'è anche il cassetto delle verdure del frigorifero che alle volte contiene varie verdure e l'insieme chiede chiaramente di essere trasformato in una zuppa: e zuppa sia.

La ricognizione che ho fatto ieri ha dato come risultato una serie di verdure che entro l'ora di cena sono diventate gli ingredienti della zuppa nella foto. La ricetta è un esempio di variazione sul tema, nel senso che mentre certi ingredienti sono piuttosto fissi (cipolla, sedano, carota), mentre altri dipendono da ciò che ho sotto mano. Di solito il risultato di questo connubio non pianificato è ottimo, anche se difficile da bissare.

Qualche giorno fa, mentre cercavo una ricetta per una zuppa che utilizzasse il cavolo verde, ho dato un'occhiata a questa ricetta su Simply Recipes che mi ha messo in testa l'idea di arrostire le verdure prima di utilizzarle in una zuppa. Avere un po' di radici da cuocere mi è sembrata un'occasione perfetta per mettere in pratica l'idea.

Ingredienti:

• 2 carote (non piccole)
• una pastinaca
• un grosso porro, la parte bianca e verde chiaro (tenete da parte le foglie scure per fare il brodo vegetale)
• un yacón (radice delle Ande peruviane)
• un sedano rapa (o mezzo, se e gigantesco come quello che avevo io)
• olio d'oliva
• 200 g di cipolla, possibilmente dolce
• una costa di sedano o 2 se sono piccole, foglie comprese
• 1 cucchiaino (5 ml) di cumino in polvere (possibilmente da semi appena tostati e macinati)
• 1 cucchiaino (5 ml) di paprika affumicata
• mezzo litro di brodo di pollo leggero o vegetale fatto in casa
• acqua quanto ne necessita per portare la zuppa alla consistenza desiderata
• 10 foglie di bietola novella
• sale e pepe nero macinato fresco a piacere

Lavare bene, pelare se necessario e tagliare a pezzi le prime 5 verdure della lista degli ingredienti. Tagliare il porro a fette di 2.5 cm. Spruzzare con olio d'oliva e mescolare, poi distribuire su una lastra da forno coperta con un tappetino di silicone per forno e cuocere a 190 C per 40 minuti. Mescolare le verdure due volte durante la cottura.

Nel frattempo, scaldare dell'olio d'oliva in una pentola capiente e aggiungere cipolla e sedano tagliati a pezzettini. Dopo 3-4 minuti, coprire e far cuocere per 8 minuti, mescolando di tanto in tanto per evitare che si attacchino al fondo. Separare le coste dalle foglie di bietola e tagliarle a pezzetti. Tagliare le foglie a strisce e mettere da parte.

Le cipolle nella foto vengono chiamate "cipollini onion," nome che a me suona buffo anche perché le cipolle in questione, di produzione locale, non sono affatto piccole. Nome a parte, queste cipolle sono ottime e si matengono bene, per cui le consumo volentieri.

Tornando alla zuppa: aggiungere cumino e paprika a cipolla e sedano, mescolare e poi aggiungere le verdure tolte dal forno, le coste, il brodo e abbastanza acqua da coprire bene il tutto. Coprire, portare a bollore e cuocere fino a quando le verdure sono morbide, mezzz'ora o più se necessario. Ridurre le verdure a purè con il minipimer. Aggiungere acqua, se necessario, per ottenere una zuppa della consistenza desiderata. Aggiungere le foglie di bietola e cuocere per altri 5 minuti. Aggiustare sale e pepe a piacere.

Servire ben calda da sola o con orzo mondo cotto o altra granaglia o una fetta di pane fatto in casa. Si può aggiungere del formaggio grattugiato o sbriciolato (quello nella foto in alto e il mio gouda fatto in casa) oppure noci tostate e sminuzzate o mandorle a filetti tostate.

Questo è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 270 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di Briggis recept och ideer, e ospitata questa settimana da Cinzia di Cindystar.

Questo post contiene il riepilogo dell'evento e indicazioni sull'edizione corrente.

zuppa di fagiolina del Trasimeno

cowpea of Lake Trasimeno soup

Fagiolina del Lago Trasimeno, or, commonly, fagiolina del Trasimeno, is one of the Slow Food presidia in Italy. I first talked about this special legume from Umbria, my home region, in this post. From the Slow Food page on fagiolina:

È un fagiolo con forma ovale e minuscola e può essere di vari colori: dal crema al nero passando per il salmone e per tutte le tonalità del marrone, anche screziato. In bocca è tenero, burroso e particolarmente saporito.

This tiny bean,... exists in colors ranging from ivory white to salmon pink to brown to black. Soft, buttery and flavourful,...

Growing fagiolina is a long, hard and all-manual process. Together with roveja, fagiolina del Trasimeno is a precious product from my home region that not long ago ran the risk of disappearing. Where roveja has a kind of simple, rustic beauty, fagiolina is rather dainty, with a smooth skin of pastel color (when not elegant black)¹. The two legumes remind me of the two main characters of The Aristocats (Gli aristogatti): roveja (on the left in the photo below) is Thomas O'Malley (Romeo, "er mejo der Colosseo," as he says in the Italian version of the movie, declaring in both words and accent that he is from Roma²), and fagiolina (on the right) is Duchess (Duchessa).

Following the Italian tradition, I made lenticchie di Castelluccio for New Year's Day (for being such a small region, Umbria certainly produces some important legumi) and I thought about sharing that recipe, but then I got sidetracked by the idea of adapting the recipe for Vegetarian Cassoulet to use fagiolina. My enthusiasm for the latter recipe was described in a recent post, where I talked about the three renditions of it that I made.

The thought that the delicate flavor of fagiolina would go well with that of the vegetables and aromatics called for by the recipe set in motion the fourth realization. Fagiolina does not need to be soaked before being cooked, and I decided to cook it with the vegetables, so I increased the amount of liquid with the idea of turning the dish into a soup. To make all this clear, here is the list of ingredients I used:

• one long leek (white and pale green parts only), corresponding to one and a half leeks of more normal length, cut in half lengthwise, washed well and sliced into 1/8" half moons
• 8 oz baby carrots, sliced no thicker than 1/4"
• one and a half celery ribs, cut lengthwise into thirds and chopped rather finely [don't forget that fagiolina is a tiny legume]
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• olive oil
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 2 parsley sprigs
• a small bay leaf
• a scant 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup fagiolina del Trasimeno, rinsed
• 1 quart liquid: about 3.5 cups of homemade vegetable stock (recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison, made with the addition of corn cobs: when I roast corn to make this soup, I set aside the cobs and add them to the pot when I made vegetable stock, as I learned from my friend Christine of Christine Cooks) and the rest water [Updated³]

I followed the instructions given in the original recipe, with these changes:

• I cooked the vegetables 10 minutes before adding the fagiolina
• I covered the pot
• I cooked until the fagiolina was ready (which was more than the 30 minutes specified in the original recipe)
  
• I did not mash the fagiolina
• I omitted the garlic crumbs

I ate the soup as is, while my husband's portion included a serving of toasted and cooked hulless oats (in the photo, you can see the oats before being added to the soup). As usual with me, the soup was rather thick, a feature that can be adjusted by adding water to reach the desired density. I really liked the result: the vegetable medley complements well the flavor and texture of fagiolina, a legume that is indeed "tenero, burroso e particolarmente saporito" (soft, buttery and flavorful).

¹ The fagiolina I have used so far was ivory in color, but I have a package of fagiolina of varied colors that I will use in a future recipe.

³I had neglected to specify that the stock was diluted a bit, and added it after publishing the post: apologies to the early readers.

This is my submission for My Legume Love Affair 31, 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 would be me). This post contains links to the two-part roundup of the event.

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 di fagiolina del Trasimeno

or launch the zuppa di fagiolina del Trasimeno 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.]

² I hope you'll enjoy watching the video: I have written down the first couple of sentences and the translation.

 

Pe' arrivacce qui da Roma ho fatto l'autostop, e in Francia è già 'n ber pezzo che ce sto. Ma pure da emigrato, mica so' cambiato: io so' Romeo, er mejo der Colosseo.
To get here from Rome I hitched a hike, and I have been in France for a while, but even as an emigrant, I haven't changed: I am Romeo, the best of the Colosseum.

macco di fave

fava bean purée

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

In a recent post, I wrote about cooking fave secche (dried fava beans) for the first time. For my second experience, I decided to realize a dish from Calabria (a region in southern Italy), whose recipe I had seen on the Accademia Italiana della Cucina site a while back: macco di fave (fava bean purée). The English version of the recipe is available in the book by the Academy called La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy.

I soaked one cup of dried fava beans in plenty of water overnight (16 hours or so), then drained and removed the skin. The photo above shows the dried beans before and after the soaking and skin-removal process (right and left, respectively). A longer soaking may be needed, depending on the fava beans, so that you can easily remove the skin. Hence, you may want to allocate 24 hours to this step. The original recipe calls for the fava beans only to be soaked. I don't like the skin, so I take the extra step of removing it. Also, it seems to me that in order to end up with a purée, the skin should be removed from the fava beans. Finally, in the recipe for macco di fave from Sicily, the fava beans are peeled after being soaked.

The original recipe for macco di fave calls for 500 g of dried fava beans. One cup is a third of that quantity. These are the ingredients I used:

• one cup of fava beans, soaked for 16 hours (or as needed), skin removed
• 3 leaves of fresh basil (basilico), rather large, finely slivered
• a tiny dried hot chili pepper (peperoncino rosso), left whole
• half a tablespoon of tomato paste (concentrato di pomodoro)
• olive oil
• grated homemade blue-veined cheese to taste (the original recipe calls for grated pecorino)
• sea salt

I consider myself a minimalist in the kitchen, and this recipe appealed to me for its simplicity which does not come at the expense of flavor. In case you have never tasted dried fava beans, they are quite flavorful. And the peperoncino adds some heat to the macco. This is the procedure I followed. Note that the original recipe calls for cooking the fava beans in a pentola di terracotta (terracotta pot). I wish I could follow this traditional cooking method. Since I don't own such cooking vessel, I used a stainless steel saucepan.

• Put the fava beans in a saucepan with 3 cups of cold water, the basil, chili pepper, tomato paste and a generous pinch of salt. (The recipe does provide the exact amount of water, so I estimated and was happy with my guess.)
• Bring to a boil and simmer, covered. Once the fava beans have softened (after about 20 minutes), start stirring with a spoon and mashing the fava beans against the side of the pan with the spoon until the fava beans are reduced to a purée. This is what makes preparing this dish fun. I repeated the stirring + smashing routine every five minutes or so, making sure that the soup was always simmering. It took my macco an hour to reach the consistency I like, though I think this time may vary, so adjust it as needed. The texture was not smooth: small fragments of fava beans make the macco rustic and quite pleasant.
• Taste the macco and adjust salt as needed.
• I have always done the previous steps a few hours ahead, and reheated the macco close to serving time. I think the resting period has a beneficial effect on the taste and texture of the final dish.
• Remove the peperoncino.
• Ladle in bowls, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with the cheese. My homemade blue-veined cheese, with its pungent flavor, worked well in this soup.
• Serve immediately.

The Academy recipe adds that macco is served as a soup over toasted slices of country-style bread (pane casereccio), something I did not do, but I can see trying in the future.

This is my submission for My Legume Love Affair 28, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Divya of Dil Se.. This post contains the roundup of the event.

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:

macco di fave

or launch the macco di fave 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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fava beans, Italian recipe, soup

Per i lettori italiani

In un post recente, ho detto di aver cotto le fave secche per la prima volta. Per la mia seconda esperienza ho deciso di realizzare un piatto tradizionale calabrese, la cui ricetta avevo visto sul sito dell'Accademia Italiana della Cucina: macco di fave.

Ho tenuto in ammollo le fave secche in abbondante acqua per 16 ore, poi le ho scolate e decorticate. La foto qui sopra mostra le fave secche prima (a destra) e dopo (a sinistra) il trattamento. Il lungo periodo di ammollo può essere necessario, a seconda delle fave secche, per poter rimuovere facilmente la buccia, perciò mettete in conto 24 ore per la preparazione.

La ricetta originale indica soltanto di mettere le fave in ammollo. A me non piace la buccia delle fave e quindi aggiungo il passaggio della decorticatura. Inoltre, penso che per ottenere un purè le fave vadano decorticate. Infine, nella ricetta per il macco di fave siciliano le fave vengono spellate dopo essere state lasciate in ammollo.

La ricetta originale del macco di fave utilizza 500 g di fave secche. Io ho usato un terzo di tale quantità. Questi sono gli ingredienti della mia versione:

• 165 g fave secche tenute in ammollo per 16 ore (o quanto necessario) e decorticate
• 3 foglie di basilico fresco, piuttosto grosse, tagliate a striscioline fini
• un peperoncino rosso piccolo intero
  
• mezzo cucchiaio di concentrato di pomodoro
• olio d'oliva
  
• formaggio erborinato (tipo gorgonzola) fatto in casa grattugiato, a piacere (la ricetta originale prevede pecorino grattugiato)
• sale fino
  

Mi considero una minimalista in cucina e questa ricetta mi ha attratto per la sua semplicità che non sacrifica il sapore. Se non avete mai assaggiato le fave secche, sappiate che hanno un sapore intenso. E il peperoncino rende il macco piccantino. Questa è la procedura che ho seguito. La ricetta originale dice di cuocere le fave in una pentola di terracotta. Mi piacerebbe poter utilizzare questo metodo tradizionale di cottura, ma dal momento che non ho una pentola di terracotta, ne ho usata una di acciaio.

• Mettere le fave decorticate in una pentola con 700 ml di acqua fredda, il basilico, il peperoncino, il concentrato di pomodoro e un generoso pizzico di sale. (La ricetta originale non fornisce la quantità precisa di acqua, quindi ho usato una stima e sono contenta del risultato.)
• Portare a bollore e cuocere le fave a fuoco dolce, coperte. Quando si sono ammorbidite (dopo circa 20 minuti), cominciare a mescolare con un cucchiaio di legno e a schiacciare le fave contro la parete della pentola fino a quando sono ridotte ad un purè. Questa è la parte divertente della preparazione di questo piatto. Ripetere la routine "mescolare + schiacciare" ogni cinque minuti, mantenendo il macco sempre ad un leggero bollore. Dopo un'ora, il mio macco ha la consistenza che mi piace, ma il tempo necessario può variare. Il macco non è omogeneo: piccoli frammenti di fave lo rendono rustico e piacevole al palato.
• Assaggiare il macco e correggere il sale a seconda del gusto.
• Ho sempre eseguito i passaggi qui sopra in anticipo e poi riscaldato il macco prima di servirlo. Ritengo che il periodo di riposo abbia un effetto positivo sia sul sapore che sulla consistenza del macco.
  
• Togliere il peperoncino.
• Versare in ciotole, aggiungere un filo d'olio e cospargere del formaggio. Il mio formaggio erborinato (tipo gorgonzola), dal sapore un po' pungente si abbina bene al macco. Il pecorino naturalmente ci sta benissimo.
  
• Servire immediatamente.

La ricetta originale specifica che il macco viene servito come una zuppa sopra a delle fettine di pane casereccio tostate: io non ho seguito questa indicazione, ma lo farò in futuro.

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. V come Vibo Valentia è ospitata da Sabrina e Luca di Sapori diVini.

Questa pagina contiene la lista delle ricetto contribuite all'evento e uno slide show delle foto.

minestra di fave e orzo

fava bean and barley soup

Last Sunday, for a dinner with friends, I prepared three soups. One of them was the result of my first attempt at cooking dried fava beans (fave secche).

While I am very familiar with fresh fava beans (fave fresche), and prepare them often when they are in season, I had never had the chance to meet the dried kind up close and personal.

When I saw dried fava beans at the farmers' market, I knew the time had come for me to experiment with them. Melanie and Kevin, the young couple behind Shakefork Community Farm (the grain CSA of which I am a shareholder) had the fava beans for sale at their booth. Melanie mentioned that she had prepared a soup with fava beans and their hulless barley (orzo nudo, literally, naked barley), so I went home with a suggestion that sounded very appealing.

Since I learned from Melanie and Kevin to toast grains before cooking them, I have established a routine to cook barley: I rinse half a cup of barley, then put it in a skillet and warm up over medium heat, shaking the skillet to prevent the barley from getting scorched. After a short while, the popping starts. I keep shaking the skillet until the popping subsides (not all the groats will pop). I let the barley cool briefly then put it in a saucepan with 1.5 cups of water, bring to a boil and cook, covered, until tender (42-45 minutes). I prepare barley this way independently of having a recipe in mind for using it, since even simply cooked as described, it makes a nice side dish or breakfast cereal.

I soaked one cup of dried fava beans in plenty of water overnight (16 hours or so), then drained and removed the skin. (A longer soaking may be needed, depending on the beans, so you may want to allocate 24 hours to this step.) I have seen recipes that use whole fava beans, but I don't like the skin and so I take the extra step of removing it. This is usually easy and I accomplish it by twisting each bean to break the skin. Sometimes I use my thumbnail to break the skin and then twist.

Here is the list of the ingredients I used for the soup:

• half a cup of hulless barley, rinsed, toasted, cooked in 1.5 cups of water until tender and drained (see above for details)
• one cup of fava beans, soaked overnight or longer, as needed, skin removed (ditto)
• half of a smallish onion and one small shallot, finely chopped
• olive oil
• two cloves of garlic (due spicchi d'aglio), minced
• a cup of my homemade chicken stock
• a cup of water plus more as needed
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• two tablespoons of fresh parsley (prezzemolo), finely chopped (from my herb garden)
• a teaspoon of fresh dill (aneto), finely chopped (ditto)

And here it the procedure I used to prepare the soup:

• Warm up a bit of olive oil in a saucepan and then add onion, shallot and garlic
• Cook for a few minutes, then add fava beans, stock and water
• Bring to a boil and cook, covered, for half an hour
• Stir and start mashing the fava beans with a wooden spoon
• Continue cooking, adding hot water if needed. At regular intervals, stir and mash fava beans.
• Within 10 minutes, the fava beans should be cooked and the mashing will have created a purée with the pieces of fava beans providing some texture
• Add barley and continue cooking for 5 minutes
• Add salt and pepper, to taste
• Add parsley and dill (but feel free to omit the latter, if you are not a dill lover or don't have fresh dill available)
• Stir, let sit for a minute or two, then serve

I made a rather dense soup, which became denser after spending a night in the fridge. Use water as needed to dilute the soup to your taste. The small portion in the photo at the top is from the leftover soup: I added to it some water while warming it up.

I liked the soup (it was actually the favorite soup of one of our guests). I will make it again, probably adjusting the recipe, as I test some variations on the basic theme. It feels quite appropriate for winter dinners.

A bit more about barley before I conclude.

Hulless (or hull-less) barley is a type of barley in which the tough inedible outer hull adheres losely to the kernel, so that when this barley is harvested, the outer hull usually falls off. Because hulless barley requires minimal cleaning, most of the brand and endosperm is left intact and the germ is present.

Hulled barley is barley that has been minimally processed to remove only the tough inedible outer hull.

Either type of barley is whole grain (integrale) and therefore a healthy choice.

This is my submission for My Legume Love Affair 27, 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.

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

minestra di fave e orzo

or launch the minestra di fave e orzo 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.]