briciole

crema di fave e scapi florali d'aglio

fava bean and garlic scape spread

a creamy shade of green

 For the current edition of Cook the Books, we are reading The United States of Arugula by David Kamp (2006). I don't think I can add much to the many reviews the book has received since its publication. It is undoubtedly an important book, very interesting and pleasant to read. Kamp's book paints a complete and complex picture that helps the reader understand how certain aspects of the food world in the US evolved to be the way they are now.

My perspective in reading the book is that of an outsider-insider: I am an Italian who moved to the San Francisco Bay Area (theater of a number of the developments narrated in the book) as an adult (18 years ago), with well-established food roots. I learned not only to cook but to enjoy doing so, and, as a result, I eat out only very rarely. Finally, I don't watch television. From this special perspective, the story told in the book is fascinating, and also puzzling. I am very much Italian in my approach to food and totally immune from the obsession with French cuisine depicted in the book. Such obsession puzzles me.

Kamp dedicates some thoughtful paragraphs to Italian cuisine. You can read an example here. This excerpt brought to my mind two things. First, the 1996 movie Big Night, which shows very nicely the tension between Italian regional cuisine and Americans' perception of it influenced by the Italian-American community. Then, an episode from my previous life. Before moving to the US, one summer, I worked at a Club Med resort in Morocco. The guests came from France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, the UK. One evening, the dining room was divided into two sections: in one, guests would be served a French menu, in the other, an Italian menu. At dinner time, things did not quite go as expected: almost everybody wanted to go into one section — and it was not the one where French food would be served. As Marcella Hazan says in the passage referenced above with regards to Italian food, "it's food that you eat with pleasure... You don't have to analyze it, you just enjoy that it's so."

The recipe that follows is connected to another page of the book, where Ms. Betty Fussell's comment on food hype is reported, within the context of an assessment of Alice Waters' contribution to the discussion on food ways. (You can read the page here.) These Fussell's words made me smile: "little tiny Italian fava-bean grower down the road." I am actually happy that nowadays I can find fresh fava beans at the farmers' market (and fava greens too), a food that is quite common in Italy and that I ate often as a kid.

The other element of the recipe is garlic scapes. The scape is the elegant leafless "stem from which the seed head of the garlic bulb is formed" (source). Garlic scapes are a relatively recent entry in my kitchen: they have gained in popularity in recent years and are now easily found at farmers' market, appearing at the same time as fava beans, a coincidence that I interpreted as a suggestion.

Most recipes I have seen use scapes to make a variation of pesto, or as a side dish, roasted. My spread tastes of fresh fava beans, of aromatic garlic scapes and of pungent fiore sardo cheese. In this small dish, I bring together my Italian heritage and my experience with interesting ingredients I find in Californian farmers' markets. More than an exact recipe, this is an invitation to play with the main ingredients. It is also a variation on the classic Italian combination of fava beans and pecorino cheese.

Note: Savory has a flavor reminiscent of thyme, with mint and pepper tones. I have a bush of winter savory (santoreggia montana) in my herb garden, and I like to experiment with it. If you don't have it, try using one or two leaves of fresh mint (menta).

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 lb. fresh fava beans in their pod (about 1 1/4 cup shelled)
• 2 1/2 oz. [70 g] garlic scapes
• 1 teaspoon fresh winter savory, optional (see note above)
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated fiore sardo
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Fine sea salt, to taste

Shell fava beans and blanch them for one minute, drain them and plunge them into a bowl of cold water. Drain them again, then remove the skin from the beans to bring their bright green core to light. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Cut thinner portion of garlic scapes (above the bulge). Spread all the scapes onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat and sprinkle with olive oil and a bit of sea salt. Bake for 12 minutes, then remove the thinner pieces. Bake the rest for another 3-4 minutes. Let cool slightly, then coarsely chop scapes. (This seems complicated, but the top of the scapes ends up charred and I am trying to avoid that. If it still happens, snap off the charred portion and discard it before proceeding with the recipe.)

Put fava beans and scapes in the food processor and pulse to chop. Add herbs and process some more, then add the cheese and process briefly. While pulsing, dribble the oil into the feeding tube, then the lemon juice. Finally, sprinkle a bit of salt and process to a smooth paste by pulsing for several seconds at a time.

I have found that it is better to allow the ingredients to influence each other for a bit before changing the balance, so let the spread rest for 20 minutes or so, then taste and adjust seasoning (salt, lemon juice). Refrigerate until ready to use and take out of the refrigerator in advance, so that the spread in not cold when you serve it.

In the top photo, I am using a grissino as a vehicle for some of the spread.

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

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:

crema di fave e scapi florali d'aglio

or launch the crema di fave e scapi florali d'aglio 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, garlic scape

 

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.]

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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.]

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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.

intervista a Marisa Churchill

interview with Marisa Churchill

oatmeal-raisin cookies from Sweet & Skinny

Prepare a cup of tea or coffee, grab a cookie (besides oatmeal and raisins, the cookies in the photo have pieces of chocolate and of walnuts), make yourself comfortable, and read on.

On March 24, I attended the Women's PowerStrategy Conference in Marin County, CA. What I have to tell about that day won't fit into one post, so I'll start by talking about meeting Marisa Churchill, pastry chef and author of the dessert cookbook Sweet & Skinny, 100 recipes for enjoying life's sweeter side without tipping the scales. Readers of this blog know that my recipes tend to be light on both sugar and fat. That's the way I like to eat. Listening to, and then conversing with a pastry chef that challenged herself to create 100 light desserts that are generous in flavor and satisfaction, was a special treat.

Before meeting Marisa in person, I read about her career as pastry chef, her Greek heritage, and her passion for swimming. And before sitting down for a one-to-one conversation with her, I listened to her lively presentation at the conference. Marisa organized her talk around the main ingredients of desserts: butter, eggs, sugar, chocolate, cream, flour, oil. For each ingredient, she discussed lighter alternatives that do the job, provide nutritional value and/or satisfy the requirements of people with special dietary needs. An example Marisa referenced in her presentation is her Chocolate-Buttermilk Cake, in which a finely shredded red beet disappears into the batter in terms of texture leaving behind its sweetness, while creamy buttermilk and yogurt enrich the cake and keep it light. Other examples I found particularly interesting are: a lighter version of whipped cream that uses gelatin, the use of crushed pineapple as sweetener (for example, in the macaroons that conference participants tasted during lunch), and browned butter.

Marisa told the story of a particular tough challenge she faced in creating a light version of kourabiethes, traditional Greek butter cookies. When Marisa's grandmother was a young woman, the king of Greece visited her town. For the occasion, she prepared a batch of kourabiethes. Upon tasting them, the king declared them the best he'd ever eaten. In thinking how she could win the challenge, Marisa had the idea of using browned butter, which is more intensely flavored and of which therefore she could use less. Pasta with browned butter and mizythra cheese is a dish her grandmother used to prepare for her and the flavorful memory put her on the right track.

solidified browned butter

As soon as I got home that day, I made a small batch of browned butter and used some to prepare scones (more details when I write a post about them). I hereby declare that I am a convert. Marisa explains how to make browned butter and other "sweet foundations" in the first chapter of "Sweet & Skinny", which then goes on to cover, among other topics, American classics, sweet treats, and Holiday favorites.

For Marisa, creating the recipes for the book was a nice challenge at a point in her career when she was looking for one. She worked in her own kitchen to develop and perfect all the recipes, some of them taking longer than expected to obtain the desired balance of lightness without sacrificing flavor and texture (for example, this PB & J cookies). Besides the ones already referenced, two more recipes are available on this page.

My conversation with Marisa flowed easily and I can see how we could have continued chatting for a long time, as you'd expect if you bring together Greek and Italian blood over the topic of food.

I know I have readers in Greece, so I want to let them know that Marisa has been featured in the press and on television there, as you can see on her website's home page. 

A few words about the cookies in the top photo. The originals are called Oatmeal-Sour Cherry Cookies (page 47) and are included in the chapter dedicated to Americal classics. The alternative use of raisins is included in the recipe, while the use of finely chopped chocolate instead of chocolate chips is my idea. The book does not show a photo of the cookies as they came out of Marisa's oven, so I don't know how my rendition fares next to them. I hope Marisa will be satisfied. During our conversation, we talked about the use of flax meal and water as egg substitute, something with which I have just started to experiment and which I used in this recipe.

Oops! I'd better bake more cookies: those are all gone.

FTC disclosure: I have purchased the 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.

frità an bagna

frittata strips with parsley sauce

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

my "frità an bagna"

Continuing our tour of the 20 regions of Italy organized by Trattoria MuVarA, we arrive in Piemonte (Piedmont), whose capital, Torino (Turin) was also the first capital of the newly united Italian state. It is difficult to do full justice to the many contributions Piemonte has made to Italian gastronomy. A random sample would include gianduia (hazelnut chocolate), Alba truffles (tartufi), several varieties of rice, bagna caoda, cheeses (for example, toma piemontese and bra), grissini (breadsticks) to name just a few highlights. And of course, we cannot forget the wines (Barbaresco, Barolo, Nebbiolo, etc.).

At the Parco del Valentino in Turin

This is a photo from my first visit to Torino, with my parents and brother. It was early December, cold and foggy. It was my first experience of the fog (nebbia) and it made a big impression on me. The city was padded with it: sounds were muffled and objects were faded. I think the photo, shot by my father at the Parco del Valentino, gives an idea of the atmosphere created by the fog. I didn't know at the time that some years later, I would move to Milan and would get very familiar with the thick fog typical of the Po Valley.

A couple of years after that first visit, I was in Torino again with my classmates and had another interesting experience: at the Museo egizio (Egyptian Museum) I saw the face of a mummy, unwrapped. My third and most recent visit was a short one, for a wedding.

None of the visits allowed me time to explore the culinary scene, so once again, for my contribution to the tour, I browsed the recipe section of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina website. Given my partiality for frittata, it is not surprising that I was drawn to a recipe called frità an bagna, which I believe means frittata in sauce in dialect. The English version of the recipe is available in the book by the Academy called La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy. In it, the recipe name is stewed frittata strips, but I made it in a way that it is not really stewed. The book indicates that the recipe is from Vercelli, a city in the heart of rice region.

A sample of my exuberant parsley

Another element of the recipe that appealed to me was the use of a substantial quantity of prezzemolo (parsley). What you see in the photo is only a portion of the parsley I have available in my little herb garden. I planted some seeds and a seedling a few years ago and by letting one plant go to seeds every year, I ensure a constant supply of parsley throughout the year.

I have never eaten frità an bagna in Piemonte, so I don't know how my rendition compares to the traditional dish. However, I can tell you that I liked it and have already made it twice. My rendition differs from the original recipe in various ways: for example, I cooked the onion a bit before adding the parsley, used tapioca starch instead of flour (this makes the recipe gluten free), used water instead of milk in the frittata, and omitted the cooking of the frittata strips in the sauce for 10 minutes before serving. I just could not bring myself to further cook the frittata.

frittata cut into strips

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for frità an bagna

Ingredients:

• a medium onion, chopped
• olive oil
• 3 1/2 oz. [100 g] flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• one cup [240 ml] broth (I used my homemade chicken broth)
• 1 tablespoon [15 ml] tapioca starch
• 2 tablespoons [30 ml] tomato purée sauce (I used the tomato sauce described in this post)
• 6 eggs (I use pastured eggs)
• 3 tablespoons [45 ml] water
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  
• sea salt and freshly milled pepper, to taste

Note on the parsley: my parsley is of the variety gigante d'Italia. The stalks are long and fairly thick. I weighed the parsley after removing the thick main stalk, which I set aside to add to various other ingredients to make chicken stock. With the precious help of my mezzaluna, chopping the parsley (divided into two batches) was a breeze.

mezzaluna at work on half of the parsley

Warm up some olive oil in a saucepan, add the onion, stir to coat and cook on gentle heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Add the chopped parsley and stir. Cook for 2-3 minutes. In the meantime, warm up the broth, add the tapioca starch and stir to dissolve and finally stir in the tomato sauce. Pour the liquid into the saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook until the onion is soft. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

In the meantime, spray a large skillet with olive oil and warm up. I used my largest skillet, whose diameter is 12 inches [30.5 cm]. A slightly wider skillet would have worked as well, since the idea is to make a rather thin frittata. Break the eggs in a bowl and whisk them lightly with a fork until just blended. Add the water, then a few pinches of salt and whisk briefly. Finally, add the cheese and give the eggs a final quick whisk to incorporate it.

Turn on the broiler. (If your oven allows it, choose the "low" setting.) Pour the eggs slowly into the skillet. Cook over low heat until the eggs are set. After the edge is set, run a spatula under it and shake the frittata gently to ensure the bottom does not stick to the pan.

Place the skillet in the oven, leaving the door ajar, for a couple of minutes. The frittata will puff up a bit. Take the skillet out of the oven (don't forget that the handle is hot) and let rest of a couple of minutes, then slide the frittata onto a cutting board. Roll the frittata and slice it into strips no more than 1/2 inch thick. Put the strips in the saucepan with the sauce ans stir delicately. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

This is my submission for the fourth 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. D come Domodossola is hosted by Stefania of CookingStefy.

This post contains the list of contributions: a very nice menu!

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

frità an bagna

or launch the frità an bagna 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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frittata, onion, parsley, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

la mia version della "frità an bagna"

Continuiamo il tour delle 20 regione italiane organizzato da Trattoria MuVarA e arriviamo in Piemonte. Scusate, ma non posso fare a meno di pensare alla pubblicità del Digestivo Antonetto e a Nicola Arigliano che diceva: "Gruppo vacanze Piemonte, si parte!" E noi partiamo.

Al Parco del Valentino (Torino)

Questa è una foto della mia prima visita a Torino, con i miei genitori e mio fratello. Era l'inizio di Dicembre, faceva molto freddo e c'era la nebbia. Per me fu la prima esperienza della nebbia e mi ricordo bene la strana sensazione dei rumori ovattati e di edifici, alberi, semafori appannati. Credo che la foto scattata da mio padre al Parco del Valentino, renda bene l'idea dell'atmosfera. A quel tempo non immaginavo che qualche anno dopo mi sarei trasferita a Milano e di nebbia ne avrei vista tanta.

Un paio d'anni dopo quella prima visita, sono tornata a Milano con la scuola ed ebbi un'altra esperienza particolare: al Museo egizio vidi il viso di una mummia che era stata sbendata. La mia terza visita avvenne in occasione di un matrimonio.

Nessuna delle visite mi lasciarono tempo di esplorare la scena gastronomica e quindi per il mio contributo al tour ancora una volta ho cercato tra le ricette del sito dell'Accademia Italiana della Cucina. Data la mia parzialità per la frittata, non sorprende che sia stata attirata da un piatto che si chiama frità an bagna (credo che significhi frittata in salsa). La raccolta delle ricette del sito tradotte in inglese (La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy) indica che il piatto è tipico di Vercelli.

Un po' del mio prezzemolo "gigante d'Italia"

Un altro elemento della ricetta che mi ha attirato è l'utilizzo in essa di una sostanziale quantità di prezzemolo. Quella che vedete sulla foto è una parte del prezzemolo che cresce nel mio orticello. Qualche anno fa piantai dei semi e una piantina e ogni anno lascio che una pianta fiorisca sparga i semi: in questo modo raccolto il prezzemolo tutto l'anno.

Non ho mai mangiato la frità an bagna in Piemonte, quindi non ho idea di come la mia realizzazione sia a paragone del piatto tradizionale: se qualcuno di voi conosce questo piatto, lasciatemi un commento con le informazioni che avete. Posso comunque dirvi che la frità an bagna mi è piaciuta molto e infatti l'ho preparata due volte nel giro di pochi giorni.

La mia versione differisce da quella originale in alcuni punti. Per esempio, ho cotto la cipolla un po' prima di aggiungere il prezzemolo, ho usato l'amido di tapioca invece della farina (quindi la ricetta è priva di glutine), ho usato l'acqua invece del latte nella preparazione della frittata e non ho cotto le striscie di frittata nella salsa per 10 minuti prima di servirla (perché l'idea di cuocere a lungo la frittata non mi convince).

fettuccine di frittata

Ingredienti:

• una cipolla media tritata
• olio d'oliva
• 100 g prezzemolo tritato
• 240 ml brodo (io ho usato il mio brodo di pollo fatto in casa)
• 1 cucchiaio [15 ml] amido di tapioca
• 30 ml salsa di pomodoro (io ho usato quella descritta in questo post)
• 6 uova codice 0
• 45 ml acqua
• 2 cucchiai Parmigiano-Reggiano macinato fresco
  
• sale fino e pepe nero macinato fresco, q.b.

Il mio prezzemolo è del tipo gigante d'Italia. Gli steli sono  lunghi e piuttosto grossi. Ho pesato il prezzemolo dopo aver rimosso lo stelo centrale, che ho messo da parte per utilizzare, insieme ad altri ingredienti, per fare il brodo di pollo. Con l'aiuto prezioso della mia mezzaluna, tritare il prezzemolo, diviso in due mandate, è stato facile e veloce.

mezzaluna all'opera su meta del prezzemolo

Scaldare un po' d'olio in una pentola, aggiungere la cipolla e mescolare. Cuocere a fuoco leggero per 5-7 minuti, mescolando spesso. Aggiungere il prezzemolo e mescolare. Cuocere per 2-3 minuti. Nel frattempo, scaldare il brodo, sciogliervi l'amido di tapioca e infine aggiungere la salsa di pomodoro. Versare il liquido nella pentola, portare a lieve bollore e cuocere fino a quando la cipolla sia tenera. Aggiustare sale e pepe a seconda del gusto.

Nel frattempo, oliare bene una padella larga (30,5 cm) e scaldarla. Una padella un po' più larga va bene lo stesso, dal momento che l'idea e quella di fare una frittata piuttosto fina. Rompere le uova in una ciotola e sbatterle leggermente. Aggiungere l'acqua e un paio di pizzichi di sale e incorporare. Infine, aggiungere il formaggio e sbattere leggermente per incorporare.

Accendere la parte alta del forno. (Se il vostro forno lo permette, scegliere l'opzione a calore basso.) Versare lentamente le uova nella padella. Cuocere a fuoco dolce fino a quando le uova sono rapprese. Una volta che il bordo delle frittata si è rappreso, passare una spatolina sotto il bordo e scuotere la padella (delicatamente) per evitare che la frittata si attacchi.

Quando le uova si sono rapprese, mettere la padella nel forno, lasciando lo sportello socchiuso, per un paio di  minuti. Tirare fuori la padella (fare attenzione: il manico scotta) e far riposare un paio di minuti, poi far scivolare la frittata su un tagliere, arrotolarla e tagliarla strisce larghe circa 1 cm. Deporre le striscie di frittata nella pentola della salsa e mescolare delicatamente. Servire immediatamente o a temperatura ambiente.

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. D come Domodossola è ospitata da Stefania di CookingStefy.

Questo post contiene la lista dei contributi: che buon menu!

E mando questo piatto ricco di prezzemolo a Brii di briggishome che questa settimana ha ospitato l'edizione numero 328 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii stessa.

"spaghetti" al pomodoro

"spaghetti" with tomato sauce

"spaghetti" al pomodoro

Years ago, some time after I had moved to California, a colleague described to me a squash whose pulp, once cooked, looked like spaghetti. I remember that, as I was listening, I thought "Well, it's not April 1st, so this story unrelated to the time of year." I thought that it was a story like that of spaghetti growing on trees. In this case, spaghetti grew close to the ground. The background to the story was my curiosity about zucca (pumpkin, winter squash), a food that had never appeared on the table when I was growing up and that I was slowly learning to know.

When later I saw some melon-like fruit labeled "spaghetti squash" at the grocery store, I had to receonsider my position. I bought one of the squashes and verified that indeed, once cooked, the pulp of this squash separates in strands that remind one of broken spaghetti.

A short detour. Learning to wrap spaghetti around a fork takes a bit of practice, so young kids have their portion cut into short strands that can be more easily handled. However, it becomes a point of pride to be able to eat spaghetti properly, and once that happens, having an adult cut your spaghetti is an affront. While I have forgotten the details of my evolution on the spaghetti-eating path, I preserve the negative gut-feeling reaction to the sight of someone cutting spaghetti. There was one dish for which my mother broke spaghetti into short strands: cauliflower soup (minestra di cavolfiore). However, the breakage in this case occurred prior to cooking.

baked spaghetti squash

Back to spaghetti squash, I like that it offers a chance to prepare squash in different ways, namely to dress it as if it were pasta. Due to its thick skin, spaghetti squash stores well. The one in the photo has spent several months in my storage space without problems. I must admit that my technique for removing the pulp from the skin needs refinement: I could not get strands longer than a couple of inches, which means my plate of "spaghetti" is not likely to fool many people. (And considering my feelings about broken spaghetti, having a bowl of it did not make me particularly proud of myself.)

But whoever is fooled, once they take the first forkful to their mouth, will hear me squeal: "Pesce d'Aprile!" All right, that in theory would happen only if the date were April 1st, as explained in this post. But over at Very Good Recipes, April 1st will stretch for the whole month of April, thanks to the April Fool Challenge. I am one of the judges, so my post does not take part in the challenge, but is meant to illustrate what we are looking for in the entries submitted for it.

The "spaghetti" in the top photo were dressed with a simple tomato sauce (sugo di pomodoro). Last summer, I made several batched of strained roasted tomatoes and froze them in one- and two-cup sealable bags. When I want to make some tomato sauce, I grab one of the two-cup bags, thaw it and the sauce is ready in a short time.

Ingredients:

• a spaghetti squash
• 2 cups strained roasted tomatoes, thawed if frozen
• olive oil
• a shallot, minced
• leaves of a sprig of thyme
• a small garlic clove, minced
• sea salt, to taste
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Cut squash in half lengthwise, remove seeds and threads (a grapefruit spoon is an excellent tool for this task), place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes or until pulp is cooked. Let cool briefly, then with a fork, remove the pulp in strands and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle a bit of salt and stir. Note that spaghetti squash can also be cooked in a microwave or boiled. I favor the oven because it imparts a nice flavor to the squash and dries out some of the water it contains.

In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7-8 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste.

Place some of the "spaghetti" in each bowl, distribute some tomato sauce over it, then sprinkle some cheese and serve immediately.

When you eat the first forkful, you'll notice that this spaghetti has a different texture from pasta and the taste is different as well. It's probably better to compare spaghetti squash with other types of squashes. The strands maintain a certain amount of bite, which allows the visual illusion. The flavor is quite mild, so choose some condiment or a nice sauce to go with it — as in the case of pasta, come to think about it. And as in the case of pasta, I recommend not to overdo with sauce, cheese or whatever else you are adding.

All the details of the challenge are explained on this page, so I won't repeat them here. The page also has the list of judges and the entries submitted so far, starting with those from the judges. Take a look at what's on the page, so you can get some ideas to get your creativity going. You have until Monday, April 30th to submit your entry according to the specifications laid out on the page referenced above. We are looking forward to reading about interesting variations on the theme of "fooling" someone at the table.

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

"spaghetti" al pomodoro

or launch the "spaghetti" 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.]

April Fool Challenge, spaghetti squash, tomato sauce

pesce d'Aprile

April Fool's trick

April Fool Challenge on Very Good Recipes

This month, I have once again the honor, together with six other bloggers, of being a judge in a challenge that has a theme suited to today, April Fool's Day. All the details of the challenge are explained on this page, so I won't repeat them here. The page also has the list of judges. You have until Monday, April 30th to submit your entry according to the specifications laid out on the page referenced above. We are looking forward to reading about interesting variations on the theme of "fooling" someone at the table. As a judge, I won't participate, but I will soon present a recipe to complement the challenge.

As you can see from the title of this post, in Italy we don't have a special name for the day — we call it simply primo Aprile, April 1st — but for what happens during the day: pesce d'Aprile is a trick played upon someone. The exclamation Pesce d'Aprile! is how the person learns that what happened to him/her is a joke.  

The traditional pesce d'Aprile is a paper cutout of a fish that is attached with some tape to the shoulders of someone, who remains unaware until other people's laughter (risate) make him/her suspect something's afoot.

It's been a long time since I last participated in the merry pranks of April Fool's Day, so I am glad to be involved in a food-themed version of it. My contribution will be up soon. In the meantime, think about a way of making your guests believe they will be eating something, while the dish is made of something completely different.

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

pesce d'Aprile

 or launch the pesce d'Aprile 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.]

April Fool Challenge

minestra d'orzo

barley soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

barley soup

The second region we are visiting as part of the Italian tour recently started in Valle d'Aosta, is Trentino Alto-Adige. This time, I cannot rely on personal memories to say something, because I have been to Trentino Alto-Adige only once, many years ago and have no photos to share.

I am also not knowledgeable about the cuisine of this region beyond a dish I described twice on the blog (here and here): canederli, or knödel, which are gnocchi made with pane raffermo (bread that is a day or two old). I therefore consulted the tome La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy for enlightenment and inspiration. There, I found two recipes for barley soup, one from Trentino and one from Alto-Adige. I have hull-less barley (which is whole grain) from my grain CSA and my husband likes it a lot, so it was an easy choice. My rendition takes some ingredients from the recipes to make a rather minimalist soup. The result was nice and considering that I used ingredients I normally have available (for example, the herbs grow in my little garden), this is a soup that can be easily made whenever I feel like.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup hulll-less barley, rinsed well [the original recipes use pearl barley]
• 2 cups (homemade) chicken broth, or vegetarian option
• 3 cups water, or as needed
• olive oil
  
• 1/2 large onion (6 oz. / 170 g), finely chopped
• 1 celery ribbed, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 potato, peeled and diced small (optional, see below)
• 1 small sprig rosemary (2 inches long)
• 1 sage leaf (salvia)
• 1 small sprig of fresh marjoram (maggiorana)
• sea salt and freshly milled pepper, to taste
• 1 cup cooked canario or white beans
• 1 tablespoon minced parsley (optional, see below)
• freshly grated Montasio (or other hard cheese of choice), to taste

Warm up a skillet over medium heat. Toast the barley in the skillet, shaking the skillet or stirring the barley with a wooden spoon to prevent it from getting scorched. After a short while, the popping starts. Keep shaking the skillet or stirring the barley until the popping subsides (not all the groats will pop).

Pour broth, water and barley in a soup pot. Bring to a boil and cook, covered, for half an hour. In the meantime, warm up an oiled skillet and place onion, celery and carrot in it. Cook on medium-low for about ten minutes. Empty skilled into the pot and add the three aromatic herbs, plus the potato, if using. Add water, if needed to obtain a soup of the desired consistency. Bring back to a boil and cook, covered, for half an hour or until barley and vegetables are soft. Remove sage leaf and the two sprigs. Add beans and parsley (if using) and cook for another couple of minutes until the beans are heated. Serve hot with grated cheese sprinkled on each bowl.

The recipes in the cookbook include potatoes, but I decided to forgo them and instead I enriched the soup with beans I had just cooked. You can certainly use both. The recipes also include parsley, which I decided to use, but adding it at the end. I then forgot all about it until after I had taken the photo. I added it to the soup still in the pot.

After having a bowl for lunch, my husband asked for another bowl for dinner. However, I didn't try to take a photo in artificial light, so the soup in the photo above is the parsley-less version. Both are excellent.

Addendum. The question regarding hulled barkey from tigerfish (see comment) prompted me to add the following notes, which first appeared in the post on fava bean and barley soup.

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 the second 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. B come Bolzano is hosted by Brii of briggishome.

And I am sending this hearty soup to 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 d'orzo

or launch the minestra d'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.]

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soup, barley, beans, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

minestra d'orzo

La seconda regione che visitiamo nel giro d'Italia che abbiamo cominciato in Valle d'Aosta è il Trentino Alto-Adige. Stavolta non ho ne' foto ne' memorie da condividere: sono stata solo una volta in Trentino e non ho visto praticamente nulla. Insomma, ci devo tornare. Sono stata anche allo Stelvio a sciare un'estate di molti anni fa, ma siamo saliti dal versante lombardo.

Sono anche piuttosto ignorante per quanto riguarda la cucina di tale regione, al di la dei canederli, or knödel, dei quali ho parlato in precedenza (qui e qui). Pertanto, per il mio contributo all'evento, ho consultato il librone La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy (versione per il pubblico americano delle ricette che si trovano sul sito dell'Accademia italiana della cucina) per trovare ispirazione. Nel libro ho trovato due ricette per la minestra d'orzo una del Trentino e una dell'Alto-Adige. La scelta è stata immediata, dal momento che ho dell'orzo mondo che ottengo come parte della mia cassettina dei cereali e a mio marito piace molto. Questo tipo di orzo, a differenza di quello perlato, è integrale.

Per la mia versione di questo piatto ho preso diversi ingredienti dalle due ricette e ho preparato una minestra piuttosto minimalista. Il risultato è buono e considerando che gli ingredienti che ho usato sono di solito a mia disposizione (per esempio, le erbe crescono nel mio orticello), questa è una minestra che posso facilmente rifare quando voglio.

Ingredienti:

• 100 g orzo integrale (orzo mondo), sciacquato con cura [originale: orzo perlato]
• 500 ml di brodo di pollo o vegetale fatto in casa (se possibile)
• 700 ml acqua, o quanto necessario or as needed
• olio d'oliva
• mezza cipolla grossa (170 g) tagliata a pezzi piccoli
• una costa di sedano tagliata a pezzi piccoli
• una carota tagliata a pezzi piuttosto piccoli
• una patata pelata e tagliata a dadini (facoltativa, vedi sotto)
• un rametto di rosmarino (5 cm)
• una foglia di salvia
• un rametto di maggiorana
• sale fino e pepe nero macinato fresco
• 250 ml di fagioli cotti (per es., cannellini)
• un cucchiaio di prezzemolo tritato (facoltativo, vedi sotto)
• Montasio grattugiato fresco (o altro formaggio a scelta), a piacere

Scaldare una padella su fuoco medio e versarci l'orzo. Scuotere la padella o muovere l'orzo con un cucchiaio di legno per evitare che i chicchi brucino. Dopo un po', col calore i chicchi cominceranno a scoppiettare. Continuare a muovere la padella o l'orzo fino a quando lo scoppiettio diminuisce (non tutti i chicchi fanno "pop").

Versare brodo, acqua e orzo in una pentola da minestra. Portare a bollore e cuocere, coperta, per mezz'ora. Nel frattempo, scaldare una padella con un po' d'olio e aggiungere cipolla, sedano e carota. Cuocere a fuoco medio-basso per circa 10 minuti. Versare il contenuto della padella nella pentola e aggiungere le tre erbe aromatiche e la patata, se utilizzata. Aggiungere acqua, se necessario, per ottenere una minestra della consistenza desiderata. Riportare a bollore e cuocere, coperta, per mezz'ora o fino a quando orzo e verdure sono morbidi. Togliere la salvia e i due rametti. Aggiungere fagioli e prezzemolo (se utilizzato) e cuocere per un paio di minuti fino a quando i fagioli siano ben caldi. Servire la minestra molto calda cosparsa di formaggio grattugiato.

Entrambe le ricette originali comprendono le patate, ma io ho deciso di non metterle e invece ho arricchito la minestra con dei fagioli canario che avevo appena cotto. Se volete, potete certamente usare sia i fagioli che le patate. Le ricette utilizzano anche il prezzemolo, che io avevo in programma di aggiungere all fine, poi me ne sono dimenticata fino a dopo aver scattato la foto quindi l'ho aggiunto alla minestra che era ancora nella pentola.

Dopo averne mangiato una porzione a pranzo, mio marito ne ha chiesta un'altra a cena, ma non ho provato a fare una foto con la luce artificiale, quindi la foto in alto è della versone senza prezzemolo. Sono buone entrambe.

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. B come Bolzano è ospitata da Brii di briggishome.

Questo post contiene la lista dei contributi e uno slide show gustosissimo.

rondini e cardellini

swallows and goldfinches

Tree Swallows by Holly Hashimoto

A short while ago, I wrote a post titled fatto a mano con amore (handmade with love), where I described an initiative by TypePad to connect bloggers involved in making things with their hands.

In the post, I mentioned Molly, an artist and teacher in Seattle, whose blog (subtitled Artist's Journal) includes pages showing her beautiful illustrations, bird and landscape paintings, and prints. After "meeting" online, Molly and I corresponded and organized a little exchange: I sent her one of my handmade journals and she sent me one of her prints and a card. Neither knew the content of the package until she opened it: we gave each other a nice surprise.

You can see the journal I sent Molly and read how she "inaugurated" it in this post.

The print I received from Molly will be framed, but I took a photo of it before it is put under glass. In Molly's own words:

Tree Swallows is a woodblock print... I printed on one of my favorite printmaking papers: Magnani Pescia blue — I love that color, and used water-soluble inks. I carved two woodblocks, one for each color. I saw those swallows perching at Union Bay Natural Area in Seattle...

Indeed, the blue color of the paper is really nice.

The scientific name of the Tree Swallow is Tachycineta bicolor. In Italian, the bird (uccello) is called rondine arboricola americana (or rondine arboricola bicolore).

There is a popular saying in Italian: una rondine non fa primavera, literally "one swallow does not make a spring," meaning that one instance of an event (such as the arrival of a single bird) does not necessarily indicate a trend. I have read that in English there is the similar saying: "one swallow does not a summer make." Molly's print has three swallows, and in any case, looking at the little birds gives me a feeling of spring regardless of the number.

A couple of quick notes: When we talk about rondine in Italy, we refer to rondine comune, Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica). And La rondine is an opera by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini.

The card Molly sent me (a reproduction of a relief print she made) also has birds on it: cardellini (Goldfinches).

And while swallow has a connection to opera, goldfinch has a connection to painting: Raffaello's Madonna del Cardellino.

I have been following Molly's blog and looking at hers and her students' work since we've met. I am already inspired and we'll see where this will lead me.

In the meantime, outside the kitchen, I am working on another artist's book, and my friends Christine of Christine Cooks and her husband got a preview of it a few days ago. More details will follow.

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

rondini e cardellini

 or launch the rondini e cardellini 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.]

trota al vino rosso

trout in red wine

 [cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

trout in red wine

With this post, I am starting an exploration of traditional dishes from the various regions of Italy in the company of other bloggers. We start from the north-west corner of the country, a small region called Valle d'Aosta (Aosta Valley), whose capital is Aosta.

I visited Aosta Valley twice, once with my high school class and more recently, with my husband. We stayed a few days in Courmayer, at the foot of Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc), and one day we took the funivia (cable car) to the Aiguille du Midi (you can then go down to Chamonix, on the French side, but we didn't do that). Below are a few images I took that day (the originals are slides).

 

 

 

Images from the Auguille du Midi

It was an amazing experience, especially the last portion, traversed inside a cozy egg-shaped car that stopped at regular intervals leaving you suspended in the deep silence of the mountains. This page shows the cable car route and this page has more photos of the spectacular trip.

To find a recipe representative of Aosta Valley, I turned to the Accademia della Cucina Italiana site and chose to prepare my rendition of the trota al vino rosso di Saint-Pierre. I have recently baked trout several times, so I was interested in trying a different recipe for a fish (pesce) I have always liked. I adapted the original recipe to use one trout instead of four, though the trout I bought weighed one pound, so it was fairly large. The English version of the recipe is available in the book by the Academy called La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy. I did not have the wine called for, so I used red wine from Sonoma County (California). Also, I did not have time to prepare the recipe again before the deadline for the event, so I am adding a note pertaining plans for the future.

Ingredients:

• a trout, cleaned  [see Note 1 below]
• olive oil
• a small onion, minced
• half a large carrot, finely chopped
• a couple of sage leaves (foglie di salvia), thinly sliced
• the needles of a small rosemary sprig (rametto di rosmarino) (about 2 inches), minced
• 1/2 cup leftover roasted potatoes, diced (optional) [see Note 2 below]
• a cup of red wine, slightly warmed
• sea salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste

Note 1: the trout I bought weighed 1 lb and did not fit well in the largest skillet I had. The next time I make this dish, I will get two smaller trout (3/4 lb or so each) and double the amount of the other ingredients.

Note 2: I had some leftover roasted potatoes, cut into bit-sized pieces and decided to add them to the other vegetables, after dicing them. This ingredient is not in the original recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Rinse trout and pat dry. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper inside and outside. Warm up olive oil in a skillet large enough to contain the trout. Choose a skillet that can go in the oven. Add onion, carrot and herbs, stir well and cook until the vegetables are soft, stirring often. Add the potatoes and stir, then add the trout. When it begins to brown, pour the wine over it. Turn up the heat to medium and cook for five minutes, then place the skillet into the oven to complete the cooking (about 15 minutes). The trout is ready when the flesh flakes easily with a fork.

Remove skin, debone the trout and serve with the vegetables.

This is my submission for the first 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. A come Aosta is hosted by Mony of Gata da plar.

This post contains the list of contributions to the event.

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

trota al vino rosso

or launch the trota al vino rosso 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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trout, red wine, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

trota al vino rosso

Con questo post, comincio un'esplorazione di piatti tradizionali delle regioni italiane in allegra compagnia (vedi sotto). Partiamo dalla Valle d'Aosta e il suo capoluogo, Aosta.

Sono stata in Valle d'Aosta due volte, in gita con il liceo e più recentemente con mio marito. Abbiamo alloggiato a Courmayer, ai piedi del Monte Bianco e un giorno abbiamo preso la funivia per l'Aiguille du Midi. Qui sotto ci sono alcune immagini della salita (le originali sono diapositive).

 

 

 

Imagini dall'Auguille du Midi

È un'esperienza incredibile, specialmente l'ultimo tratto che si fa in piccole cabine che si fermano ad intervalli regolari lasciandoti in sospeso nel silenzio profondo delle montagne. Questa pagina mostra il tragitto della funivia e questa pagina mostra delle foto del tragitto.

Per trovare una ricetta tradizionale della Valle d'Aosta ho consultato il sito dell'Accademia della Cucina Italiana e ho scelto di preparare una versione personale della trota al vino rosso di Saint-Pierre. Ho adattato la ricetta originale per una trota, che comunque pesava quasi mezzo chilo. Non avendo a disposizione il vino di Saint-Pierre, ho usato un rosso di Sonoma County (California). Non ho tempo di rifare la ricetta prima della scadenza dell'evento, quindi ho aggiunto una nota riguardante il progetto per la prossima volta.

Ingredienti:

• una trota, pulita  [vedi Nota 1]
• olio d'oliva
• una cipolla piccola tritata
• mezza carota grossa tagliata a dadini piccoli
• un paio di foglie di salvia tagliate sottili
• gli aghi tritati di un rametto di rosmarino (lungo 5 cm)
• patate arrosto avanzate tagliate a dadini (facoltative) [vedi Nota 2]
• 240 ml di vino rosso leggermente scaldato
• sale fino e pepe nero macinato fresco, a piacere

Nota 1: la trota che ho comprato pesava mezzo chilo e non entrava bene nella padella più larga che ho. La prossima volta che preparo questa ricetta, utilizzerò due trote più piccole (massimo 350 g l'una) e raddoppierò la quantità degli altri ingredienti.

Nota 2: Avevo poche patate arrosto (più o meno una patata tagliata a dadi) e ho deciso di aggiungerle, dopo aver tagliato i pezzi a dadini. Questo ingrediente non è compreso nella ricetta originale, ma ci sta bene.

Scaldare il forno a 180 C. Sciacquare la trota e asciugarla. Scaldare l'olio in una padella grande abbastanza da contenere la trota e che poi può andare in forno. Aggiungere cipolla, carota ed erbe aromatiche e mescolare bene. Cuocere fino a quando le verdure sono tenere, mescolando spesso. Aggungere le patate e mescolare, poi adagiare la trota nella padella. Quando è dorata, versarci sopra il vino. Cuocere a fuoco medio per cinque minuti e poi passare in forno per terminare la cottura (15 minuti circa). La trota è pronta quando la carne di sfalda facilmente.

Togliere la pelle, deliscare e servire la trota con le verdurine.

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. A come Aosta è ospitata da Mony di Gata da plar.

Questo post contiene la lista dei contributi: che buon menu!