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Cooking Italian.
First you need to think like an
Italian cook. Don't worry about the recipe; consider instead what do I have
fresh today in the garden. The essence of good Italian cooking is to use fresh,
first quality ingredients (that is what our seeds grow) and cook them simply.
Other than fresh ingredients, you need a good quality olive oil. Buy olive oil
that is (1) cold pressed (2) extra virgin (3) first press. Other items to use
are a good quality imported pasta; a good quality parmigiano-reggiano cheese (or
other good grating cheeses but not the stuff you buy pre-grated in the
supermarket); if you can find it, pancetta (kind of an Italian bacon, but
unsmoked). Other than that, you do not need anything fancy. If you are looking
for a cookbook to inspire, try Faith Willinger, Red, White & Greens, the
Italian way with vegetables, Harper, 1996. If you have cable TV, check out Molto
Mario on the FoodTV Network. His techniques are simple and typify the essence of
good simple Italian cooking.
Greens.
(Spinach, Kale, chard, endive, chicory, etc). There are two basic
ways of cooking greens if you are going to eat them as a side dish. The first,
which works best for sweet tender greens like spinach and liscia verde da taglio
chard, is to (1) wash them and tear into smaller pieces (2) set them in a
colander to drain. Mince a clove of garlic. Slowly cook (do not brown) the
garlic in a tablespoon or two of olive oil; when it has changed color, add the
greens & mix well. Add some salt & pepper if you wish. Cover and braise
on slow heat until done (10-15 minutes or so). The vegetables come out almost
creamy. Divine. The second technique works well for all vegetables. Wash them
well, drop them in a pan of boiling water. Cook them until almost done; cooking
time varies, so taste them to see. When almost done, take them out of the water,
run cold water over them to stop the cooking and squeeze them dry. Reserve some
of the cooking water. When greens are cool, cut them or tear them into smaller
pieces. You can later either:
1. Serve them at room temperature with just a drizzle of good olive
oil and perhaps a little bit of lemon juice.
2. Mince a clove or so of garlic. Cook it briefly in some olive oil. Add a
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional). Add greens. Add some of the water. Cook
on med-high heat for 3-4 minutes until the water is mostly evaporated and the
flavors all amalgamated.
3. Take them from the water and drain as above but save all the water. Bring
water back to a boil. Add ½ finely diced peeled potato and some pasta (use a
short pasta like penne, orecchiette or farfalle) and cook until @ ¾ done.
Reserve a cup of cooking water & drain the pasta. Cook some garlic in olive
oil as above, add the red pepper flakes (if desired), salt & pepper if
desired), the greens cook to meld the flavors. Add @ ½ cup of the reserved
water. Turn the heat to high, bring to a boil, & add the pasta. Toss
everything for a few minutes until most of the water has evaporated & the
pasta finished cooking. You will be left with a bit of creamy sauce (the reason
for the ½ potato). Add some good grated cheese and enjoy.
Radicchio/Chicory/Endive/Escarole. Chicory and
endive are great in salad, but they are equally excellent cooked. Italians
frequently cook their radicchio or endive. You
can cook them in soups, with borlotto beans, or simply by themselves as in the
recipe for Radicchio di Treviso in Frittura. You need (1) flour mixed with a
pinch of salt; (2) two or three beaten eggs (3) breadcrumbs (4) olive oil. Clean
the radicchio and remove some of the outer leaves. Cut it into quarters. Dry
each quarter as much as possible. Dust or coat with flour. Then dip in the
beaten egg and then the bread crumbs. Put in the pan and fry until golden grown.
Remove & drain a bit on a paper towel, then serve. You can do this with any
radicchio (chicory) or even endives. You do not need to use one with a firm
head.
Zucchini. Everyone
wonders what to do with zucchini. Well, if you grow our Striato d'Italia or
other zucchini varieties, you won't have to wonder how to get rid of them. They
taste good, so they go quickly. Secondly, you treat them like an Italian. Eat
lots of the zucchini flowers (prevent a zuke); pick them when small, no more
than five inches and they are nice even smaller. For the bigger ones (up to 8
inches or so), go to # 3 below.
1. For the flowers, simply pick them when they are open, remove the
stamens inside the flower, dip them in beaten egg, dredge them in some flour,
then fry them in olive oil. You can also stuff them and then fry them.
2. For small zucchini, simply split them in half, marinate them an hour or
two in some olive oil & minced garlic, grill them lightly.
3. For the bigger ones, do them as my mother did. Slice them on a diagonal @
1/8 inch thick. Dip them in beaten egg, then seasoned flour. Fry in some olive
oil until crisp but not burned. Add some salt & pepper. Serve at room
temperature.
French beans. Pick the
beans when no thicker than a pencil. Cut off the tips if you want. Boil them
until almost done (not long; five minutes or so). Remove from pan and chill by
running cold water on them. Let them dry a bit. Grate some bread crumbs. (Use
good bread that has gone stale, not supermarket crumbs). Cook a clove of minced
garlic in a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Add beans & mix well. Add bread
crumbs. Turn up heat some & cook until crumbs are toasted. Add salt &
pepper if desired. Use boby bianco green and brittle beurre yellow for a nice
color contrast in this recipe
Peperonata.
This is usually made with yellow and red peppers and cooked slowly. There are as
many variations of this recipe as there are cooks in Italy, but all work. Garlic
is optional. You need 2 large yellow peppers (Giallo d'Asti), 2-3 red peppers
such as Corno di Toro, a red onion, a zucchini, 4-5 peeled San Marzano tomatoes (drop
them in boiling water for 3-5 seconds, remove them from the water, cut off the
stem end, and slip off the skin), a minced clove of garlic, a T or two of broth
or water, and salt & pepper if desired. Cut the peppers up into coarse
chunks. Slice the onion and 'soften' in a pan with a T or two of olive oil. Add
the peppers, zucchini, garlic & broth and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes.
Chop the tomatoes roughly and add them. Simmer for another 20 minutes until
everything is thick & shiny. For an even richer peperonata, remove from
heat, let cool some, then stir in a beaten egg (you want it cool enough so that
the egg does not cook).
Orecchiette e Cima di Rape.
This is a classic from Puglia in the south of Italy. Cook about 1 lb cima di
rape in slightly salted water. When almost done, remove & cool under running
water, then drain in a colander. Save the water to cook your orecchiette until @
¾ done. Drain. Mince a clove of garlic & sauté briefly in 2 T or so olive
oil. Roughly cut up 2-3 anchovies add them along with a pinch of red pepper
flakes and cook for a few minutes more. Chop the cima di rape and add it to the
pan, mixing it well. Add the drained pasta & a little bit of the water. Cook
until most of the water is evaporated. Revove from the head, add some grated cheese and serve. If you
do not have cima di rape (perhaps because it is the middle of August), use chard
or kale or the side shoots from our Calabria broccoli. Still mighty good.
Bruschetta with tomato &
arugula. Grilled bread, rubbed with garlic & drizzled with olive
oil and topped with something fresh is a perfect example of simple Italian food.
First, you need some good bread-chewy, dense Tuscan bread cut @ ½ inch thick (a
good country French type will work, but do not use supermarket Italian bread).
If possible grill it on a gas or charcoal grill until the surface is a light
golden brown, yet still soft inside. You can also use a toaster, your broiler,
or even a gas stove. Rub it with a peeled clove of garlic on both sides and
drizzle with olive oil (I use a Misto sprayer which works fine and cuts down on
the oil.) For a topping, peel 2-3 tomatoes (Cuor di bue or Costuluto Fiorintino) and dice them; add a
handful or two of arugula (cultivated or wild) roughly chopped), salt &
pepper and let sit for a bit. Put on the bread. There are infinite variations.
My wife's favorite is to peel and chop 2-3 large tomatoes and put in a bowl.
Finely mince a small onion, a clove garlic and add to the bowl. Tear up a dozen
or so genovese basil leaves and add. Add a T or two olive oil, a T of good
balsamic vinegar and salt & pepper. Let it sit at room temperature an hour
or so (if you can wait that long). Top the bread with this. Another variation is
simply to use thick slices of tomatoes, a few leaves of lettuce leaf basil, and
some salt & pepper. Even better is some lettuce leaf basil, fresh mozzarella
cheese & salt & pepper. I could go on & on. Use whatever is ready &
fresh.
Squash soup.
Simple, satisfying & delicious. Peel a pound or two of winter squash (Marina
di Chioggia, Padana, Lunga di Napoli) and cut in 1-2" chunks. Peel and dice a couple of
potatoes. In a heavy pan, sauté a large onion roughly chopped, 2-3 carrots
diced & 2-3 stalks of celery. Add the potatoes & squash. Add a quart or
so water (or stock if you have it, or half stock, half water) and cook until the
squash is soft. Add more water or stock if necessary. Put everything in a
blender and mix it long enough to puree the squash & potatoes, but to leave
the carrots still a little chunky. The soup tastes like you made it with cream.
Roasted winter vegetables.
Peel some carrots & cut them into uniform pieces (leave them @ 1-2 inches
long). Cut up 2-3 potatoes (leave the skin on). Peel & cut up some winter
squash (1" chunks perhaps). Quarter 2-3 onions (or if you have any nice
cippolino left, just add them whole. Put everything in a bowl. Mince a handful
or rosemary & the leaves from 2-3 sage leaves. Add to bowl along with a few
T olive oil, mix everything. Put in a roasting pan (try and keep everything one
layer deep). Roast at 350 until the vegetables are soft in the middle and crisp
on the outside.
Cabbage with fennel seed.
This is amazingly simple and unbelievably tasty. You need good cabbage, however.
A savoy like our Verza di Verona is perfect. Slice a large onion or two and cook
slowly in a T or so of olive oil. Cut a cabbage in half & remove the core.
Slice the ½ cabbage thinly, then slice into strips. Add to pan and sauté a
bit. Add a teaspoon of fennel seed and a cup or so of chicken broth. Cook on
medium heat until most of the liquid evaporates. Turn down the heat, cover & cook
until tender. If a lot of liquid remains, turn up the heat and cook quickly
until most of it evaporates.
Frittata. Again, there are as
many variations as there are cooks in Italy. However, there are a couple of
general rules. The eggs are there to bind together whatever other ingredients
you choose to use; you are not making an omelet. Use lots of vegetables. Certain vegetables (peas, chard,
zucchini & spinach) do especially well in a frittata. Basil & parsley
combine well with these ingredients. This variation is typical. Dice a small
zucchini or two in fairly small pieces and sauté it lightly in some olive oil
in a nonstick omelet pan. Add some thinly sliced onion if you want. Remove and
place in a bowl. Add some chopped chard leaves. Toss in some roughly torn basil
or chopped parsley. Add 2 beaten eggs and mix well. Put back in omelet pan and
cook on low to medium heat until bottom is cooked. Loosen with a spatula, put a
plate over the top of the pan, flip the pan & plate, then slide the frittata
back in the pan. Finish cooking. Eat then or let it cool & slice into wedges
or squares. Use whatever happens to be fresh in the garden when you have a yen
for a frittata. Squash blossoms are nice, so are beans; spinach is wonderful,
etc.
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