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Louis Evangelista’s Pasta e Fagioli (“Beans and Macaroni”)

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August 22, 2018

I completed my residency in psychiatry in June 1981.  Although I was part of the 1980 graduating class in medical school, I didn’t finish until 1981.  The added year allowed me to get a master’s degree in anthropology as well as to complete all my coursework, field work, and dissertation defense for a PhD.  I didn’t finish writing my PhD dissertation and, unfortunately, didn’t get a PhD.  (The reason I didn’t finish writing my dissertation is a long story better suited for another day.)

I started a private practice in Philadelphia as soon as I finished my residency, forming a partnership with Gene d’Aquili.  Our office was at 2400 Chestnut Street.  It was an apartment building but was conveniently located to the University of Pennsylvania and the management was happy to allow us to rent one of the apartments for use as an office.

In quick succession, Wolf Rieger, another psychiatrist from Penn and one of my previous instructors, did the same thing right down the hall from us.

Mark Vuolo, another resident in my group opened his practice a few floors up from us.

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It was a congenial group.

Starting a private practice takes a while so I, like most newly-minted psychiatrists, took on a part-time job.  I was a hired by the Lenape Valley Foundation (LVF) in Bucks County, north of Philadelphia.  LVF provided the bulk of the psychiatric services in Bucks County.  The Foundation provided the community mental health center for the county, ran the psychiatric inpatient unit at the hospital in Doylestown, provided psychiatric services to the Bucks County Correctional Facility, consulted at area nursing homes, and ran a psychiatric partial hospital, among other things.

Part of my responsibility was to be the psychiatrist at the partial hospital.  A partial hospital is a program that operates during the day, with patients going home for the night.  It can serve as a bridge from the hospital to less intensive treatment or it can provide supportive services in an ongoing manner for individuals who need more care than can be provided in an office-based psychiatric practice.

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Each day, a group of patients and a staff member made lunch for everyone.  In psychiatric parlance, this would be an “activity of daily living” (ADL) and would be considered a therapeutic activity.  The older adults usually made comforting, grandmotherly food.  Louis Evangelista, the Music and Movement Therapist, often had his group make Italian food.

By regulation, I, as the psychiatrist, was required to be onsite a specified number of hours per week based on the number of patients.  After a few months, once I knew all the long-term patients and had a good system in place to evaluate the new ones, I had time on my hands so I took on one of the ADL groups.  It was probably the only time a partial hospital had a psychiatrist teaching patients how to cook!

Louis made a killer pasta e fagioli.  He learned it from his Sicilian grandfather.  When I left the Lenape Valley Foundation and the partial hospital, it was the meal I requested for my last day.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

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 Louis Evangelista's Pasta e Fagioli
Canned red kidney beans work well in this recipe but if you want even more flavor, start by cooking dry beans. If you do, I suggest using my recipe for Cannellini alla Toscana, substituting red kidney beans. A link to the recipe is in the Notes section, below. A little olive oil added at the end will improve both the flavor and the mouth-feel of the sauce.
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Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Bring four quarts of water seasoned with 1/3 cup of salt to a boil.
  2. Meanwhile, gently heat the beans and their liquid in a small pot.
  3. Separate the leaves of the escarole.
  4. In a sauté pan large enough to hold everything, heat the olive oil.
  5. Add the garlic to the oil and sauté over medium-low heat until brown. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will impart a bitter taste.
  6. When the garlic is brown, discard it and remove the oil from the heat.
  7. When the water comes to a boil, add the escarole leaves, return to a boil, and cook until wilted, approximately 1 minute.
  8. Lift the escarole out of the water and toss with the oil in the skillet.
  10. Cook the spaghetti in the same water used to cook the escarole until it is almost al dente. It should still be just a bit crunchy on the inside.
  11. Add the warmed beans to the sauté pan with the escarole and keep warm on low heat.
  12. When the pasta is ready, reserve one cup of the pasta-cooking water.
  13. Drain the pasta and add to the beans and escarole.
  14. Season with black pepper to taste.
  15. Cook over medium to medium-low heat until the spaghetti is just al dente, adding the reserved pasta cooking water as needed.
  16. There should be enough liquid left to create a glossy sauce.
  17. Off the heat, add the grated cheese and a few glugs of olive oil if you wish (I do!)
  18. Taste and adjust salt.
  19. Serve immediately with grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese on the side.
Recipe Notes

If you want to start with dried beans, use my recipe for Cannellini alla Toscana.

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Recipes

Risotto with Zucchini

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August 15, 2018

One of the glories of summer produce is zucchini.

We eat our fill of fried zucchini blossoms but also zucchini itself in many ways, among them sautéed in olive oil with aromatics and herbs, made into a frittata, boiled and dressed with olive oil, stuffed with ricotta and mint, cooked in a light tomato sauce, made into calabacitas, and most definitely, used in risotto.

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Although there are exceptions, such as Risotto Friulano and Risotto alla Milanese, most risotti that I make contain vegetables.  As far as actually cooking the rice goes, the technique doesn’t vary.

Fried zucchini blossoms are a much-loved summertime treat in our house

Aromatics (shallot, onion and/or garlic, depending on the risotto) are sautéed in olive oil.  The rice is added and cooked slightly.  A bit of wine is added and cooked away then the liquid (almost always broth but I make a killer champagne risotto and I also have a risotto recipe that uses carrot juice) is added in small amounts and cooked off before more is added.  Cheese and a bit of butter are stirred in at the end.

What varies for me is how the vegetables are prepared and when they are added.

Some vegetables are cooked in advance then added to the rice when it is nearly done.  I do this, for example with the mushrooms for Risotto ai Funghi (Mushroom Risotto).  Other vegetables are put in at the very end and cooked briefly.  This method works best for vegetables that don’t really require cooking to be edible.  Believe it or not, really good summer corn fits into this category as do frozen peas.  The third method is to sauté the vegetable in the olive oil before the rice is added.  This is the method I use for Butternut Squash Risotto.

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It is also possible to add the vegetables part-way through cooking the rice though I rarely use this method because it is not possible to guarantee the vegetables will be cooked properly when the rice is done.

Despite the difference in texture, zucchini can be added at the beginning as with butternut squash.  The final texture is different, with the butternut squash being cooked but still holding its shape completely while the zucchini will soften much more but will still be recognizable.

Once you get the hang of cooking the rice for risotto, you can turn any vegetable into a risotto by just considering which of the cooking techniques to use.

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 Risotto with Zucchini
Broth for risotto should be light in flavor, not a heavy stock. The broth should add the barest amount of background flavor but allow the other ingredients in the risotto to shine. Risotto uses a lot of broth. It is important that the broth have minimal salt so as not become overly salty. I never salt my homemade broth for this reason. If it seems that you will run out of broth before the risotto has finished cooking, put some water on to heat. It is important that all liquid added to the risotto, other than the initial addition of wine, be at a simmer.
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Course Rice and Other Grains
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Rice and Other Grains
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Bring the broth to a bare simmer.
  2. Meanwhile, peel the zucchini then slice into ½-inch thick rounds.
  4. In a heavy-bottomed three-to-four-quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat.
  5. Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil, stirring frequently, until the onion becomes translucent.
  6. Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the zucchini and ½ teaspoon of salt.
  7. Sauté the zucchini until the greenish color changes to a slightly less vibrant shade and the edges of the zucchini rounds become just a little less sharp, approximately 5-7 minutes.
  8. Add a few grindings of black pepper.
  9. Add the rice and stir until coated with oil.
  10. Sauté several minutes until the outer edges of the rice grains become translucent while the center remains white, approximately 5 minutes.
  11. Add the wine. Stir frequently, but not constantly, until the wine has totally evaporated. You will begin to see some starch leaching out of the rice. More and more of the starch will leach out as you cook the rice. This is what will make a creamy sauce, not a large quantity of butter, cheese or cream.
  12. When the wine has evaporated, add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth. Stir thoroughly, paying particular attention to loosening any spots where the starch seems to be sticking to the bottom of the pan. You don’t want to brown (or worse yet, burn) the starch.
  13. Stir frequently, but not constantly, until the broth has evaporated.
  14. If the broth is unsalted, as I recommend, add 1 ½ teaspoons of salt to the rice as you begin to add the broth. If the broth contains salt, do not add salt until the end.
  15. Keep repeating the process with ½ cup of simmering broth each time: cooking, stirring, and loosening any spots that are sticking until each addition of broth evaporates. The heat should stay as close as possible to medium high. The moderate boiling of the liquid will coax starch out of the rice to create the creaminess that is the hallmark of a good risotto.
  16. Begin tasting for doneness after approximately 3 cups of simmering broth have been added. When the rice is al dente, firm but not crunchy in the center, add another ½ cup of simmering broth, stir, and remove the rice from the heat.
  17. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan cheese, butter, parsley, if using, and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Taste and adjust salt.
  19. In two or three small additions, add as much of the broth as the risotto will absorb without becoming watery. Stir thoroughly.
  20. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes

With risotto, the goal is to have rice grains that are still al dente (but not crunchy) in the middle surrounded by a creamy liquid. An Italian risotto should be creamy from the starch in the rice, augmented with a very modest amount of butter and cheese. Risotto served in America is often overly rich from butter, cheese, and sometimes cream.

Risotto rice is a short grain rice that cooks slowly, making it much easier to achieve an al dente texture because it takes a while to actually overcook it. The three types of rice for risotto are Arborio, Carnaroli, and Vialone Nano. Arborio is the easiest one to find though the other two are more forgiving than Arborio when it comes to overcooking.

I recommend buying good quality rice imported from Italy. It really isn’t priced that differently from domestic. Do not wash the rice.

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Nanacy Rajapakse’s Sri Lankan Dhal

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June 29, 2018

Who knew dhal could be so complicated?

I discovered dhal in college.  This was mostly during my junior year which provided an amazing, non-stop culinary experience as I lived in the International Residence Project at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dhal refers both to the main ingredient and to the preparation.  Let’s deal with the main ingredient for a bit.

I’ve typically thought of dhal as a synonym for the word “pulse” which, in common, everyday American English, we rarely use.  A pulse is the dried seed of a legume.  Think lentil, dried beans, chickpeas, and so forth.

So far so good.

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Usually, but not always, a dried legume only becomes dhal if it is split.  So, split red lentils (used in this dish) would be dhal but the whole ones would not.  In Indian cookery the word “gram” refers to the whole legume that, if split, would be “dhal.”

According to the Wikipedia entry on legumes, the “term ‘pulse,’ as used by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is reserved for crops harvested solely for the dry seed.  This excludes green beans and green peas, which are considered vegetable crops.”  Peruse any Indian cookbook however, and you’ll see the term dhal applied to dried split peas just as readily as it is to lentils, which are only harvested to be used dried (unlike peas).  So much for the distinction that the crop only be used for the dry seed.

I suppose one shouldn’t be surprised.  The names of different foods vary from region to region and usage is not necessarily consistent.

Split red lentils, referred to as Mysore dhal or a variant of the spelling

While there might be disagreements, need I say confusion, about what constitutes dhal, the dried (and maybe split) legume, the preparation of the dish itself is pretty straightforward.

To turn dhal into dhal, you boil it with flavoring ingredients such as aromatics and herbs and spices.  The resultant dish can have the consistency of porridge or soup or anything in between but it is clearly, and unmistakably, dhal.

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My initial introduction to dhal was Indian.  Channa dhal, a smaller relative of the chickpea (called channa in Hindi) looks pretty much like yellow split peas, which, by the way, are a very good substitute for channa dhal.  My introduction to dhal made from channa dhal (I know, it’s confusing) came initially from Maharaja, the first Indian restaurant in Philadelphia (circa 1972).  The restaurant was actually owned by the aunt of someone with whom I now work.  Small world.  Someone who, by the way, actually asked ME for some Indian recipes!!!

The introduction to dhal deepened after I met Ray Hugh at the end of sophomore year when we were introduced as roommates-to-be in the International Residence Project for our junior year at Penn.  We roomed together over the preceding summer.  We both cooked.  Ray is from Guyana and his cooking reflects the country’s ethnic heritage:  Indian, Chinese, African and Amerindian.

Ray made channa dhal.

Frank and I having a seafood-based meal with Nanacy Rajapakse (far right) in Sri Lanka, 2004

When I actually got into the International Residence Project at the beginning of junior year and tasted Nanacy Rajapakse’s Sri Lankan cooking, I was hooked.  It’s similar to Indian but actually more aromatic and possibly more delicately spiced, though often quite firey hot (which is a totally different characteristic from the non-chile herbs and spices that go into a dish).  For dhal, Sri Lankans typically use the small split red lentils called Mysore or Masoor dhal.  They cook up quickly.  The final consistency is more like porridge than soup.

Over the coming months, I’m going to post a number of Sri Lankan dishes.  If you’re culturally adventurous you might want to give them a try.  At the end of the series you’ll be able to pull together an entire meal that would satisfy anyone from Sri Lanka!

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 Nanacy Rajapakes's Sri Lankan Dhal
You can use more or less coconut milk to taste. I suggest ½ to 1 cup for this amount of dhal. An alternate way to serve this is to omit the coconut milk but add enough water to make a thick coarse puree. Top with some thinly sliced onions and cracked red pepper that have been fried in a little ghee or oil until crispy. Canned coconut milk varies tremendously in quality. Look for a brand that has few (or no) ingredients other than coconut and water. My go-to brand is Aroy-D. See the Notes section below. Dhal can be made ahead and refrigerated, tightly covered. Reheat gently before serving.
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Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Sides
Cuisine Sri Lankan
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Passive Time 3 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Sides
Cuisine Sri Lankan
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Passive Time 3 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Wash and drain the dhal. Cover with cold water and soak for approximately three hours at room temperature. Refrigerate if it will soak longer.
  2. When ready to cook the dhal, drain and rinse again.
  3. Add fresh water to cover the dhal by approximately ½ inch.
  4. Add all the other ingredients except the coconut milk
  5. Simmer, partially covered, till soft, approximately 20-30 minutes.
  6. Most of the water should be absorbed by this point. If not, boil quickly uncovered to evaporate the excess.
  7. Add coconut milk and salt to taste.
  8. Simmer gently until slightly thickened. Taste and adjust salt.
Recipe Notes

Aroy-D is an excellent choice if you are going to purchase, and not make, coconut milk.

Copyright © 2018 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Recipes

Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

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May 23, 2018

It is amazing how the culinary landscape of America has changed since I started cooking.  That was brought home to me in a very real way when I was getting ready to cook a multi-course Asian meal for Lunar New Year a few months ago.

In the early 1970s supermarkets carried only the barest minimum of “ethnic” ingredients.  I was attending the University of Pennsylvania and lived in West Philadelphia at the time.

For most Asian ingredients I would go to Philadelphia’s Chinatown.

For Japanese ingredients, I would go to a small Japanese-owned market in West Philly, a few blocks from the western edge of the main University campus.  I don’t remember a specific source for Indian or South Asian ingredients but I was able to cobble together what I needed from an array of stores.

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There were also a few Asian stores in the Ninth Street Market.  Ninth Street is/was often referred to as the “Italian Market,” a name that was not in favor with locals at the time.  There was one store run by a Korean couple on Ninth Street where I could source an array of Asian ingredients.  It’s also where I went when I once needed a large quantity of fresh ginger root to make West Indian Ginger Beer.  After a few shopping trips where I bought enough ginger to supply a Chinese Restaurant for a week, one of the owners asked me, every time I went to the store, if I needed ginger!

When I got serious about cooking, starting junior year in college, I made weekly trips to Ninth Street and to the Pathmark Supermarket in suburban Broomall, PA.  Shopping in West Philly was an experience.  Except for the University, West Philadelphia, at the time, was an impoverished area.

I learned quickly how supermarkets adjust what they stock to the clientele.  Many items that I could easily find in a suburban supermarket were not readily available in West Philadelphia.  What was stocked was often of lesser quality, too.  Meat is a good example.  Some cuts were simply not available in the inner city and the quality of what was available was often inferior.

On the other hand, I could easily find some items in West Philly that were hard to come by in suburban markets in the 1970s.  Smoked ham hocks, pig tails, and turkey necks are good examples.

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A background flavor note in many West Indian dishes is smoked meat; and I cooked a lot of West Indian food in college.  Most often I would use ham hocks, but some recipes specify other cuts.  I remember a peanut soup that I made that called for smoked pig tail.  Sourcing it was a breeze in West Philly.

Mainstream supermarkets now carry a much larger variety of “ethnic” ingredients, including fresh produce, than was the case in the 1970s.  I can even find smoked ham hocks and turkey necks in supermarkets in Santa Fe, though smoked pig tails are still hard to come by.  But if a whole pig’s head is needed, say, for example, to make head cheese, it is readily available in Hispanic markets.

While the array of food stuffs has improved dramatically since I started cooking.  Some things have deteriorated.

I had an incredible butcher on Ninth Street.  I’ve never been able to replace the personal service, quality, and variety of what I could get there.  I was just 19 when I started going to Ninth Street regularly.  When I needed goat for Jamaican Curried Goat, the butcher not only had the goat but cubed it to my specifications while I watched.

Down the block was a shop that sold poultry.  I once needed a Guinea Hen for dinner.  I selected the one I wanted from the pen.  She was taken in the back, and came back cleaned and wrapped in butcher paper.

Shopping for this year’s Lunar New Year Dinner was an education.  While I could get many basic ingredients in the supermarket, unlike the situation in the 1970s, I was unable to shop in a major city.  This put me at a distinct disadvantage for more esoteric ingredients.  Nonetheless, one can now make a respectable Chinese meal from ingredients available in the supermarket.  This is an amazing change from 45 years ago!

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 Chinese Hot and Sour Soup
Make a rich chicken stock for this soup without any extraneous flavoring ingredients, though adding a few slices of ginger, to be strained out afterward, are welcome. If you have a ham bone or a piece of smoked ham, by all means add it. Though Westerners rarely seem to make stock from pork bones, you can add some when making the stock for a traditional Chinese touch.
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Course Soups and Stews
Cuisine Chinese
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Soups and Stews
Cuisine Chinese
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Cover the mushrooms with hot water.
  2. Allow to soak for approximately 15 minutes, until soft.
  3. Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil.
  4. When the mushrooms are softened, squeeze out excess water and remove the tough stem. Slice the mushroom caps into strips ¼ inch wide.
  5. Combine the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and hot sauce.
  6. Add the vinegar mixture to the boiling stock. Boil 1 minute.
  7. Add salt to taste.
  8. Combine cornstarch and water. Mix thoroughly.
  9. Add cornstarch mixture to the boiling soup.
  10. After boiling 1 minute, add scallions, bean curd and mushrooms.
  11. Reduce heat and simmer 1-2 minutes.
  12. Add sesame oil.
  13. Gently beat the eggs with salt to taste.
  14. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs into the simmering soup while stirring gently.
  15. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Recipes

Guyanese Curried Chickpeas (Channa Masala)

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April 30, 2018

The largest ethnic group in Guyana is comprised of those of (East) Indian descent.  When I was there in the 1970s and 1980s, Indians represented just over half of the population.  As of the 2002 census, those of Indian descent represent just over 43 percent of the population.

Other demographic groups in Guyana include those of African, Chinese, Western European, and mixed descent.  Amerindians are now a very small percentage of the population.

The cuisine of Guyana reflects its multicultural population.  Curry is very popular as is roti, Indian-style flatbread.  Chinese-style fried rice is a restaurant staple.  A typical Sunday dish is Portuguese-derived garlic pork.  British-style baked goods are popular, especially black cake around Christmastime.

The Guyana Supreme Court building (CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=475676)

A quick internet search demonstrated to me that the restaurant scene in Guyana has changed dramatically since my visits there.  In the 70s and 80s, restaurants were, for the most part, very basic affairs.  There were just a few that rose above “basic” but even they were challenged to produce really good food because of the limitation on imported foodstuffs.

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Food prepared at home was generally of a better quality, and certainly displayed more variety, than what was available in restaurants “back then.”  And, while in any given household there may be more foods reflective of the particular demographics of that household, popular dishes like curry, fried rice, garlic pork, and black cake are prepared in pretty much every household.  They have really become Guyanese dishes, regardless of their ethnic origins.

My last trip to Guyana was in early 1981.  I finished medical school around the end of January and went to Guyana to work on the psychiatric unit at the public hospital in Georgetown, the capital, before beginning my internship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in mid-June.  At that time there was one psychiatrist who worked for the government of Guyana and one psychiatrist in private practice.  The government psychiatrist, who lived a significant distance from Georgetown, was also responsible for overseeing the long-term psychiatric unit in Fort Canje, now referred to as the National Psychiatric Hospital.

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The day I arrived at the public hospital in Georgetown, the psychiatrist was a no-show.  He then made it clear that he had no intention of coming to the hospital for the duration of my stay.  At the age of 26, just having finished medical school and not having done an internship, let alone a residency, I became the de-facto psychiatrist for the public hospital!

The Guyana Parliament Building (CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=475699)

The psychiatric unit consisted of four rooms (plus two bathrooms) on the upper floor above the morgue.  The psychiatrist’s office (my office) was the entry point to the unit.  Behind the office was a very small nurses’ station.  There were two large wards, one on each side of the nurses’ station.  Each has eleven beds and no privacy.  One ward was for men and one for women.  Though we only had 22 beds, our census was often double that.  There was no option to add beds so patients often slept two to a bed.

In general, male patients were attended to by male nurses and female patients by female nurses.

There was also a very, very busy outpatient clinic staffed by myself and three social workers.

The male nurses started including me in some of their evening social gatherings.  I remember a few held at the home of one of the nurses who was of Indian descent.  We basically sat around talking, drinking rum, and eating.  My love of spicy Indian food was met with amazement.  The fact that I could eat incendiary atchar was sort of beyond belief.

Whenever these gatherings happened, it was just us guys.  Wives and girlfriends stayed away, even the wife of whomever was hosting the party (even though she would have prepared most if not all the food!).

When I was in Guyana, pre-mixed curry powder was the norm in cooking.  This recipe reflects that tendency.  When I made Indian food frequently, I would keep one or two types of homemade curry powders on hand as a quick solution to a weeknight meal.  For this recipe, feel free to use a good quality commercial curry powder.

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 Guyanese Curried Chickpeas
Two cans of chickpeas can be used instead of the 3 to 3 ½ cups of home cooked beans but home-cooked are so good, and so much better. If using canned chickpeas, taste the canning liquid to decide whether to use it or discard it and rinse the chickpeas. The curry should be basically dry at the end so do not put in too much liquid at the beginning. Although not strictly Guyanese, adding a tablespoon or so of minced ginger with the garlic is a welcome taste treat.
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Rating: 4.5
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Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Mains, Sides, Vegetarian
Cuisine West Indian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Mains, Sides, Vegetarian
Cuisine West Indian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Votes: 8
Rating: 4.5
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Instructions
  1. Sauté the onion in butter until translucent.
  3. Add the garlic and minced hot pepper.
  4. Continue sautéeing until the onion is golden and the garlic is fragrant.
  5. Add the curry powder.
  6. Sauté 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until the raw smell is gone.
  7. Add the liquid.
  8. Bring to a boil and simmer approximately 20 minutes to develop flavor.
  9. Add the chickpeas.
  10. Simmer 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. The chickpeas should be almost dry by the end.
  11. Adjust salt and pepper while cooking.
  12. Off the heat and stir in the lime juice and serve
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Piselli in Umido (Peas in Tomato Sauce)

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April 11, 2018

Italians have knack for combining a modest array of vegetables into an almost endless cannon of dishes, each of which is distinctive, even if the interrelationships of the various parts are obvious.

This dish of peas cooked in tomato sauce is from my husband’s paternal grandmother, Amerina Pieri.

I learned to make this from my mother-in-law, Marisa, Amerina’s daughter-in-law.

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Everyone who makes it adds his or her own signature.  Mine is not exactly like my mother-in-law’s and I’m sure hers is not just like Zia (Aunt) Ida’s, Amerina’s daughter.

Interestingly, Nonni (as we all called her) used canned peas.  In talking with my father-in-law (who grew up eating this) and my mother-in-law, they were pretty sure Nonni would not have used canned peas in Italy unless she possibly canned them herself.  Somehow canned peas became the norm in America.

Amerina Pieri (aka Nonni or Nonni’merina) Christmas 2005

And, while canned peas produce a pretty good dish, I prefer something a little fresher.  Because really good fresh peas are available for only a few weeks a year at the Farmers Market in Santa Fe, I usually use frozen peas.

If the frozen peas haven’t been in your freezer so long that they start to dry out and freeze into a block they are superior to “fresh” peas except during the few weeks a year when they are really locally-grown and truly fresh.

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My mother-in-law usually uses canned tomato sauce when making this, as did Nonni (at least when she made it on this side of the Atlantic Ocean!).

I use tomato paste and water.  If you read the ingredient lists on cans of tomato sauce that you can buy in the United States, you will find that most are made from tomato paste and water, so why not just do it yourself?  Those few brands of tomato sauce that are not made from diluted tomato paste are a little too sour for my taste.  I would opt for a good-quality tomato puree instead.

My favorite brand of domestically produced tomato paste

Tomato paste has a richer flavor than tomato sauce or tomato puree.  I attribute this to the extra cooking that is needed to concentrate the tomatoes.  Those little cans provide the foundation of a taste that could otherwise only be achieved with hours of simmering.

Homemade tomato puree would be another good option if you want a fresher, more summery taste.  Here’s where you can find my recipe.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

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 Piselli in Umido (Peas in Tomato Sauce)
Fresh or canned peas can be used in place of frozen. Fresh peas will take longer to cook. The canned peas should be cooked briefly to avoid overcooking. I like to rinse off frozen vegetables to remove any ice crystals on the exterior. I find the ice crystals can carry a “freezer” taste.
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Course Sides, Vegetables
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 75 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Sides, Vegetables
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 75 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Sauté the onion, garlic, sage, parsley and ½ teaspoon of salt in the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan till the onion is translucent.
  3. Add the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until it evaporates.
  5. Add the tomato paste and sauté until it becomes slightly darker, 3-4 minutes.
  7. Add the water, sugar, bay leaf, rosemary, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Simmer, partially covered, until thickened, approximately 45 minutes.
  9. Adjust seasoning.
  10. Rinse the frozen peas under cool water to remove any ice crystals.
  11. Add the frozen peas to the sauce.
  12. Simmer approximately 15 minutes, adjusting seasoning once again, if needed.
Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Spaghetti with Tuna Sauce

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January 17, 2018

Tomatoes…and tuna…not clams or squid…as a sauce for pasta…quite a challenge for me as a young adult!

Although pasta (spaghetti, really) with red sauce and clams or squid was in my wheelhouse as an adolescent, the idea of a red sauce with tuna was, most definitely, not!

My undergraduate advisor, and later my business partner when I set up my psychiatric practice in Philadelphia, Gene d’Aquili, was a first-generation American of Italian and French descent.  I frequently cooked at his home in Berwyn on Philadelphia’s Main Line.  (If you read the obituary link above, you will notice a comment about a sign that read “Fantasyland.”  I was the person who had that sign painted after years of Gene referring to his estate by that name.  I had the sign painted in Guyana on a trip when I was doing research for my doctoral dissertation and ended up on the Guyana Airways float for the Mashramani parade but that’s a whole other story!)

The 1981 Guyana Airways Mashramani float. I was supposed to represent one of the Canadian pilots.

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Gene’s father’s family was from Rome.  Gene’s grandparents emigrated to the United States with their four children, Gene’s father Guido, and Guido’s three sisters, very early in the 20th century.  One of the sisters died not long after coming to the United States.  The other two, Auntie Helen and Auntie Louise, are the reasons I now drink bourbon (Auntie Louise) and know a lot about traditional Roman cuisine (Auntie Helen).

The family home is now part of the American Embassy in Rome.  There are several buildings that are part of the American Embassy but I believe the palazzo pictured below was the one the d’Aquili family owned before coming to the United States.

One of the American Embassy buildings in Rome that I believe was the d’Aquili palazzo.

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Gene’s father, Guido, was a fine artist of the New Hope School.  In a previous post, I included some pictures of some of the Old King Cole murals that he painted for a private club in Trenton, NJ.  Those murals ended up in the dining room of the carriage house I rented on the d’Aquili estate in Berwyn, PA when I was in medical school.

One of Gene’s ancestors was Antoniazzo Romano, a famous artist of the 15th century.  His father’s artistic bent is part of a long family tradition.

The Annunciation by Antoniazzo Romano

For one dinner at “Fantasyland,” really known as “Salus House,” Gene and his wife, Mary Lou, wanted to serve spaghetti with tuna sauce; a classically Italian dish but completely unknown to me at the time.

I winged it based on his description.  It was basically a simple tomato sauce (what we as Americans might call Marinara but what Italians would call Pomodoro) with tuna simmered into it.

It was good, and although many years went by before I made it again, it stuck in my memory.

I’ve tweaked the recipe over the years but it really hasn’t varied much from my initial foray into making spaghetti with tuna sauce based on Gene’s description.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

 

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 Spaghetti with Tuna Sauce
Although mushrooms are not strictly traditional, their presence is not really noticeable and I think they add a bit of savoriness to the sauce. You can omit them if you wish. It is important to use good quality tuna to avoid any “tinny” taste. Italian Tonno is ideal but a good American brand will work fine. The small amount of sugar is intended to counteract the sourness that some canned tomatoes can have. Adjust up or down to your taste. The presence of the sugar should not be detectable, however.
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Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Coarsely chop the carrot, celery, onion, mushrooms, garlic, and parsley.
  7. In a food processor finely mince the chopped vegetables.
  9. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
  10. Add the minced vegetables and sauté on medium high heat, stirring often, until golden.
  12. Add the red pepper and sauté a minute or two more.
  13. Add the wine and quickly evaporate, stirring often.
  14. Add the basil and oregano. Stir well.
  15. Add the tomato puree, water, sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons salt and black pepper to taste.
  16. Simmer uncovered approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  17. Add the tuna and simmer 10 minutes more.
  18. Adjust seasoning.
  19. This makes enough to generously sauce one pound of spaghetti.
Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Cannellini and Fennel Soup

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January 3, 2018

A few years ago I was at a party and struck up an interesting conversation with a couple of guys originally from the East Coast.  One of the guys was of Italian heritage and the conversation turned to food, naturally!

He described a soup he grew up eating that included fennel stalks as well as the bulb.

It caught my interest because I’d not encountered a recipe that used the stalks before; some of the fronds, yes, but not the stalks.  It always seems like such a waste to me to throw them out as they contain so much flavor.

But they’re tough!

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In this soup, the stalks are pureed in a food processor and added to the diced bulb and some cannellini beans.

Fennel bulb and stalks. For most preparations only the white bulb is used. This soup uses the stalks, too.

It is wonderfully flavorful, completely vegetarian, and comes together in a snap.

If you have some of my Cannellini alla Toscana lurking in your freezer, by all means use them in the soup.  If not, canned cannellini will work just fine.

As for the guys who gave me the recipe, I can’t find anyone who knows who they might be.  I’ve talked to the hosts of the party and they’re stumped.  I always like to include a personal interest story along with each recipe and I’ve truly exhausted what I know about this particular version of this soup.

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From my research, however, I can tell you that this appears to be a popular soup in Italy given the number of recipe variations I was able to turn up written in Italian.  Most contain meat, such as speck, and other vegetables, such as carrots and celery.  One even contains seaweed!  None of the recipes is quite as simple as this one…and I love the simplicity.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

 

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 Cannellini and Fennel Soup
This is one of the very few recipes I have seen that uses the stalks of the fennel plant, not just the bulb. Adding the stalks and fronds really intensifies the fennel flavor. You can substitute 4 cans (approximately 15 ounces each) of cannellini beans in place of the home-cooked beans. See the notes section, below, for a link to the Cannellini alla Toscana recipe. You can easily cut this recipe in half.
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Course Soups and Stews
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Soups and Stews
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Cut the stalks and fronds off the fennel.
  2. Coarsely chop the stalks.
  3. Grind the chopped stalks and fronds in a food processor. Reserve.
  4. Dice the fennel bulbs.
  5. Mince the garlic.
  6. Sauté the garlic in the olive oil until fragrant.
  7. Add the diced fennel. Season with salt. Sauté approximately 5 minutes.
  8. Add the wine. Cover the pot and cook until the fennel begins to soften.
  9. Add the cooking liquid from the cannellini (but not the beans) adding water if necessary to cover the fennel. Simmer until the fennel is almost completely cooked.
  10. Add the cannellini. Simmer 10 minutes.
  11. Add the ground fennel stalks and fronds and salt and pepper to taste.
  13. Season with salt and pepper.
  14. Simmer for 15 minutes, until fennel is tender but not mushy.
  15. Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
Recipe Notes

Here’s where you can find the recipe for Cannellini alla Toscana.

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Slow-Cooked Pork Roast with Sauerkraut and Sausage

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December 29, 2017

I grew up in Johnstown, PA. The town was founded by a Swiss German immigrant, Joseph Schantz in 1800. Over the years, in various documents, recorders anglicized his last name, most commonly rendering it “Johns,” a name the family ultimately adopted. The name of the town was ultimately changed from Schantzstadt to Johnstown.

Johnstown Panorama (Photo by Greg Hume)

I can’t say there was much of a noticeable German influence when I was growing up in the 1950s to 1970s, except for one: New Year’s Day dinner.

Regardless of one’s ethnic background, the most common dinner on New Year’s Day was “Pork and Sauerkraut.” It was commonly acknowledged that this was a nod to Johnstown’s German heritage. And, much like black-eyed peas in the South, was viewed as a way to bring good luck to the coming year.

As you might expect, recipes for pork and sauerkraut vary. Sauerkraut and a large cut of pork are, obviously, essential. Sausages of some sort are common, as are dumplings.

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The recipe that I use is close to what my mother made except that I enhance the seasonings in the sauerkraut along more Germanic lines, with onion, carrot, apple, and juniper berries. My mother’s was more basic and similar to the way the Slovak side of my family prepared sauerkraut. My cousin Angie, of Italian heritage, added a brown gravy to hers, which also has Germanic roots.

The Inclined Plane goes from downtown Johnstown to the suburb of Westmont (Photo by Greg Hume)

Long and slow cooking is essential as much for pull-apart-tender pork as it is to mellow out the sauerkraut. Among Central and Eastern Europeans, sauerkraut tends to be cooked for several hours to tenderize it and tame its sour bite.

Kielbasa was a favorite sausage in our house and was always included in pork and sauerkraut. It was always locally made and never procured from large national meatpackers. Often times, other sausages, such as bockwurst or bratwurst, would also be added. But kielbasa was king in pork and sauerkraut and, in the sausage pantheon, second only to hot Italian sausage in our house.

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The kielbasa that we ate on a regular basis was made from pork, or pork and beef, but venison kielbasa was common too. The first day of deer-hunting season was a public school holiday. You can imagine the importance of venison.

Some of the hunters would have their venison (or some of it, at least) turned into kielbasa, flavored with garlic and smoked. I remember on several occasions going with my father to have work done on the car in late December. The service station had a big platter of meats, cheeses, and pickles laid out for customers to nibble on. Among the offerings was venison kielbasa made from a deer that the owner of the service station had shot.

One of my resolutions for the new year is to find a small, artisanal purveyor of kielbasa that’s as good as what I remember from childhood.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen the post on Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, it will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

 

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 Slow-Cooked Pork Roast with Sauerkraut and Sausage
Saueraut from the refrigerated section of the market is usually of better quality than canned, especially if the sauerkraut is from an artisinal producer. Draining the sauerkraut and rinsing it well under cool water will produce a more mellow taste. If you want dumplings with this (and who wouldn't?), remove the meat from the pan and keep warm while cooking dumplings on top of the sauerkraut on the stovetop. See the notes section below for my recipe for dumplings.
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Course Mains, Meats
Cuisine German
Prep Time 20 m
Cook Time 6 1/2 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Mains, Meats
Cuisine German
Prep Time 20 m
Cook Time 6 1/2 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Cut the cloves of garlic, top to bottom, into approximately 4-6 slivers each.
  2. Pierce the pork around the outside about 1 inch deep with the tip of a sharp knife.
  3. Insert slivers of garlic into the slits
  4. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper.
  5. Brown the pork in a heavy Dutch oven using the oil.
  6. Add white wine, cover tightly, and transfer to oven at 350°F.
  7. After one hour, reduce heat to 225°F.
  8. Slice the onions in half top-to-bottom then cut crosswise into thin slices.
  9. Shred the carrot on the tear-drop side of a box grater.
  10. Cut the apple into small dice.
  11. After the pork has been cooking for a total of about 3 hours, drain and rinse the sauerkraut.
  12. Slowly sauté the onion in the butter or bacon fat until caramelized, approximately 20 minutes.
  13. Add the shredded carrot and diced apple and sauté until heated through.
  14. Add sauerkraut, juniper berries, caraway seeds, bay leaf, and black pepper to taste.
  15. Add water and bring to a boil.
  16. Add the boiling sauerkraut to the pork after the pork has cooked for a total of four hours (1 hour at 350°F plus 3 hours at 225°F).
  17. An hour later nestle the kielbasa and other sausage into the sauerkraut.
  18. Continue to cook, covered, until the pork is fall-off-the-bone tender. Approximately 1-2 more hours.
  19. Remove the pork and sausages.
  20. Skim fat from the top of the sauerkraut.
  21. Put the Dutch oven on the stove and cook dumplings on top of the sauerkraut if desired.
  22. Meanwhile, pull the pork into big chunks. Keep the pork and sausages warm.
  23. Serve the sauerkraut in a separate bowl, or use it to surround the pork and sausages.
Recipe Notes

This is where you can find my recipe for dumplings.

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Salsa Friulana d’Ivana (Ivana’s Friulan Tomato Sauce)

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November 17, 2017

My mother-in-law grew up in the town of Treppo Grande in the Italian province of Friuli. Friuli is in northeastern Italy. It is the major portion of the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

Her father and two uncles lived with their families in three houses that wrapped around a courtyard. Her grandmother lived in the same complex. The extended family included numerous cousins.

Another uncle moved to the United States with his wife and their son early on.  Two more children were born to them in the US.

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At the age of 12, shortly after the end of World War II my mother-in-law, her brother (our Uncle Ray), and mother came to the States. Her father had been in the US working with the intention of bringing over the family but then the war broke out and the family could not be reunited until it ended.

One set of cousins stayed in Treppo Grande.  Another set of cousins moved to France.

In 1990 the “cousins,” as the US contingent called themselves, hatched a plan to organize a group trip to their hometown of Treppo Grande and to Digoin, France where the other set of “courtyard cousins” lived.

Naturally, planning for the trip required many “meetings” among the cousins; meetings that were fueled with copious amounts of food and alcohol interspersed with a little “business!”

The trip happened in August 1991. My husband and I went along with the “cousins” and their spouses.

The “United States” cousins and three of four spouses in Treppo Grande along with Carolina Fabbro, a friend of my mother-in-law’s mother.  She died a few years ago at more than 100 years of age.

We first met up in Paris for a day or two and did some sightseeing.

Afterwards, we were picked up in a small bus that had been arranged by Olvino, one of the original “courtyard cousins” who lived in Digoin. As I recall, the driver only spoke French. Among us we spoke English, Italian, Friulan (the language of Friuli), and a smattering of Spanish and German, but no French. Thankfully the driver knew where he was going and, for all other needs, we managed to communicate in some rudimentary, but effective, manner.

Interesting to me was that the vehicle had graph paper that kept a running record of the bus’s speed. Apparently the driver could be asked to produce the graph paper by the police and could be fined if it showed that he had exceeded the speed limit. Can you imagine that happening in the United States???

I was also fascinated when we stopped for lunch. The driver had a glass of wine. I will repeat that.  This professional bus driver had a glass of wine with lunch then got behind the wheel. Apparently, he was legally permitted to have one, just one, glass of wine and still drive.

Admittedly, one glass of wine is not going to get anyone’s blood alcohol level close to a level that produces intoxication but it pointed out that 1) the French are highly (overly?) regulated and 2) Europeans have a more relaxed approach to alcohol (probably to life in general, actually!).

I had a similar experience in 1994 when I did several consulting gigs in Europe. I frequently had lunch with physicians from the hospitals where I was consulting. Everyone (yes, everyone) had a glass of wine or beer with lunch and then went back to the hospital to work.

But I digress.

We spent several fun days in Digoin, where the local cousins had rented out a small hall, with a kitchen, because none of them had a house big enough to host all of us, and all of them, for meals.

There must have been six banquet tables shaped into a “U” around which we all sat. The crowd included not only those of us from the States, but the cousins who lived in Digoin along with their significant others, their children, and their children’s significant others.

Conversations frequently included four languages. The “cousins” typically spoke Friulan with each other. From there, the conversation would get translated into Italian, English, and French so that everyone could understand anything of interest to the group.

I don’t remember what we ate for dinner the first night except for the pasta which was sauced with a red sauce made by Ivana, Olvino’s wife.

I was transported by that sauce.

Tomato sauces in Friuli are different from the rest of Italy in that they have noticeable amounts of “warm” spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.  My mother-in-law makes a sauce similar to the one that Ivana makes but there are differences. For example, hers includes only beef. Today’s recipe, however, is a tribute to Ivana.

This is my interpretation of Ivana’s recipe. Since the original recipe contained a list of ingredients but no quantities, I had to figure out what worked.

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 Salsa Friulana d'Ivana (Ivana's Friulan Tomato Sauce)
There should be a little bit of red-tinged oil floating on top of the sauce to improve the mouthfeel of the pasta—just a little. If you cannot find lean ground pork, you may want to grind your own. An actual meat grinder will work better than a food processor but if you’re using a food processor be careful not to grind the meat too finely. For the beef, I suggest using 93% lean. This recipe makes enough sauce for approximately 4 pounds of pasta. Extra sauce freezes well.
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Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Servings
cups
Ingredients
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Rating: 0
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Instructions
  1. If using canned tomatoes rather than crushed tomatoes or tomato puree, pass the tomatoes through a food mill and reserve.
  3. Grind the pork if you cannot get ground pork in your market.
  5. Grind the garlic, onion, and parsley in a food processor. If you used a food processor for the pork, there is no need to clean it. Alternatively, chop them very, very finely by hand.
  7. Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed Dutch oven.
  8. Add the garlic-onion-parsley mixture. Sauté until the raw smell is gone.
  10. Add the ground beef and pork and sauté on high heat until the meat is browned.
  13. Add the tomato puree or crushed tomatoes.
  14. Add all remaining ingredients.
  15. Sage
  16. Rosemary
  17. Basil
  18. Bay leaves
  19. Cinnamon
  20. Cloves
  21. Nutmeg
  23. Simmer gently, partially covered, stirring frequently for approximately 2 ½ hours.
  24. Adjust salt and pepper during cooking.
  25. Toss approximately 1/4 of the sauce with one pound of cooked pasta.
Recipe Notes

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