March 11, 2020

I grew up eating exactly one type of tomato sauce for pasta: my mother’s long-simmered, Italian-American-but-based-on-Southern-Italian (Calabrese, to be exact) ragù.

OK, OK, I sometimes ate Aunt Margie’s or Aunt Mamie’s version of the same sauce but we’re talking very minor variations on a theme.

My mother made pasta other ways than with ragù, most commonly with beans as in pasta e fagioli.  But if we were going to eat pasta for pasta’s sake, not mixed with beans or in soup, it was ALWAYS served with her ragù.

When I went away to university at the age of 17 this is one of the first things that I learned to cook.  Well, sort of.  There’s a bit of a learning curve but even my first attempt was respectable.

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I now make scores of tomato-based sauces on a regular basis but I keep going back to three of them over and over:

1.   My mother’s ragù.
2.   Ragù alla Bolognese.
3.  Ragù del macellaio (the butcher’s ragù).

There are so many childhood memories attached to my mother’s ragù that I can’t imagine a time when it wouldn’t be my favorite.

As far as I’m concerned, Ragù alla Bolognese is the gold standard for those tomato-based pasta sauces made with ground meat.  (My mother’s ragù, on the other hand, is made with large pieces of pork.  Other meats can be added but the pork is always there.)

Ragù del macellaio is very good but, as you might expect for a sauce linked to a butcher, it is made with an array of meats—pretty much anything you have.  I always end up with odds and ends of meat in my freezer, a bit of beef, a bit of pork, some sausage, a piece of chicken, some pancetta, and so forth.  I grind them all up and make the sauce.  The fact that it cooks, unattended, in a slow-cooker all day is an added bonus.

Just as there is an official Pesto alla Genovese recipe, there is an official Ragù alla Bolognese recipe that was codified in the 1980’s.  The ingredients go something like this:

• 300 grams ground beef, preferably thin flank aka skirt (finta cartella in Italian)
• 150 grams pancetta, minced
• 50 grams carrot, minced
• 50 grams celery, minced
• 50 grams onion, minced
• 30 grams triple-concentrated tomato paste
• 1/2 glass red or white wine
• 180 ml milk
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Every family in Bologna probably has a slightly different version.

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Some aspects of the recipe are notable.  There is no garlic.  There are no herbs.  The amount of tomato is quite modest.  Probably the biggest differences I see in credible recipes for Ragù alla Bolognese is whether or not to add milk or cream.  The official version clearly includes it but many otherwise solid recipes do not.

This is not a “tomatoey” sauce.  It’s really ground meat held together with a bit of tomato “binder.”

The version that I make most often varies somewhat from the official one.  I add a hint of garlic and more tomato.  I don’t typically use pancetta though it’s a great addition.  I never add milk or cream.

So, I’ve done it, I’ve laid down a gauntlet.  I’m advocating a recipe that’s not the official one.  I can tell you, however, that it’s darn good.

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

Ragù alla Bolognese

I make garlic oil and keep it in a squeeze bottle by the stove. It comes in really handy for cooking and for flavoring finished dishes. You can use plain extra-virgin olive oil if you wish. In fact, that would be more traditional than garlic. For added flavor, sauté 150 grams of minced pancetta in the olive oil until the fat is rendered. Remove the cooked pancetta. Brown the meat in the oil. Add the cooked pancetta to the meat just before adding the wine. Ragù alla Bolognese should be served with a wide long pasta such as mafalde or linguine.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Servings: 1 liters

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1 kg ground beef 15% fat (or half beef and half pork)
• 30 ml garlic oil
• 500 ml full-bodied red wine
• 60 g butter
• 60 g celery cut in brunoise (3 mm or 1/8 inch dice)
• 100 g carrot cut in brunoise (3 mm or 1/8 inch dice)
• 100 g onion cut in brunoise (3 mm or 1/8 inch dice)
• 3 kg canned San Marzano tomatoes passed through a food mill (3 x 35 oz cans)
• 1 bay leaf optional
• salt
• black pepper freshly ground

Method

 

1. Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed sauté pan. Add the celery, carrot, and onion.
   
2. Sauté the celery, carrot, and onion in the butter until soft without browning. Reserve.
   
3. Heat the garlic oil, or extra-virgin olive oil, in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Add the beef and pork, if using.
   
4. While the meat is cooking, break it up into small bits.
   
5. Sauté the beef and pork, if using, in the garlic oil until a lot of fond develops.
   
6. Add the wine and boil it all away, loosening the fond from the bottom of the pan.
   
7. Pass the canned tomatoes through a food mill.
   
8. Add the sautéed vegetables, the tomatoes that have been passed through a food mill, and bay leaf, if using.
   
9. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Simmer 3 to 4 hours partially covered, stirring frequently, until reduced by 50%.

Notes

Copyright © 2020 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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March 4, 2020

Italy is lavished with citrus, more so in Southern Italy than Northern Italy.  Even in Tuscany, though, families traditionally use a limonaia to winter-over lemon trees grown in pots.

Citrus fruits feature prominently in Italian cuisine, especially in Southern Italy.  Calabria is responsible for about 25% of the citrus fruit produced in Italy.

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A very short list of Italian foods that contain, or are made from citrus includes the famous limoncello liqueur and its orange-based cousin, arancello; panettone that is traditionally made with candied citron; lemon sorbetto (sorbet); an array of marmalades and jams; candied citrus peels of various types eaten as sweetmeats, sometimes coated in chocolate, as well as diced and incorporated into cakes; citrus salads, including an amazing Sicilian salad of oranges, fennel, onions and black olives; and the endless dishes where lemon juice is the basis of a pan sauce or salad dressing or, in lesser quantities, perks up other flavors without making itself known.

Bergamot, most of which (and certainly the highest quality) comes from Calabria, is the defining flavor of Earl Grey Tea.  It is also used in an array of cosmetics and fragrances.

Bergamot is also one of several citrus fruits used by Maestro Paolo Caridi to concoct the scrumptious citrus flavoring he uses in some of his pastries.  I’m itching to find a source of bergamot, which I understand grows in Palm Springs, California, to make a batch, having gotten his formula when I studied at the Italian Culinary Institute.

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Being surrounded with citrus at our home in Palm Springs, I try to find ways to use the bounty.  It took me a while to come up with an orange cake (torta alle arance) that was everything I though an orange cake should be: a moist, not to sweet cake with a sturdy crumb and a distinct orange flavor.

Torta all'Arancia (Orange Polenta Upside-Down Cake)

Instead of cutting the oranges in slices, you can supreme them if you prefer the look of sections rather than slices. If possible, use the metric measures for the best results.

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

Topping

• 160 grams dark brown sugar (¾ cup, packed)
• 115 grams unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (reserve the zest for the batter, see below)
• 3 medium oranges
• butter for greasing the cake pan

Cake and Assembly

• 185 grams all purpose flour (1 2/3 cups)
• 50 grams cornmeal (6 tablespoons)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 185 grams unsalted butter room temperature (13 tablespoons)
• 250 grams sugar (1 1/4 cups)
• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 200 ml sour cream (3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Grated zest of one orange

Method

 

Topping

1. Grease a 10-inch x 2-inch circular cake pan with butter.
2. Finely grate the zest of the three oranges without any of the white pith. A microplane grater work well. Reserve the zest and oranges separately.
3. Combine brown sugar, butter, white sugar, and orange juice in a small pan. Heat, stirring frequently till butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Raise heat and boil for 2 minutes, without stirring, until slightly thickened.
   
4. Remove caramel syrup from the heat. Stir in the zest of three oranges. Pour the caramel on the bottom of the prepared pan. Allow to set for approximately 5 minutes, until cool.
   
5. Meanwhile, slice the oranges approximately ¼ inch thick. Cut off all pith and rind. Remove the tough core from any slices that have it. Scissors work well for doing this.
6. After the caramel has cooled for about 5 minutes, arrange orange slices over the caramel without overlapping. Cut slices as needed to fill in the larger gaps between the full slices.
   

Cake and Assembly

1. Stir together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Reserve.
2. Beat the butter in an electric mixer until lightly creamed.
3. Add the white sugar, then beat at high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 4 minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium after each addition until the egg is combined.
   
5. Mix in sour cream then vanilla and orange zest.
6. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture a little at a time and mix until almost combined. Finish mixing by hand.
   
7. Spoon the batter over the orange slices in the prepared pa. Spread the batter and tap the pan to remove air bubbles.
   
8. Bake at 350°F until a cake tester comes out clean, 50-55 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
9. Using a knife, loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Invert onto a serving dish. Cool completely.
   

Notes

Copyright © 2020 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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February 14, 2020

Porchetta is roast pork, but it’s no ordinary roast pork.  In its most traditional form, it is made from a whole pig, well-seasoned, and slowly roasted.

Porchetta can be found throughout Italy at festivals and street fairs, such as the one in Bagni di Lucca that I attended this past August.

Though there is some debate, Porchetta probably originated in Lazio in Central Italy.  Lazio is the region where Rome is located.

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Seasonings vary with the region and often include some combination of garlic, rosemary, fennel, and black pepper.  Some regional variations include chopped entrails or liver in the mix.

Perhaps the most unusual version of Porchetta that I’ve encountered is made at the Italian Culinary Institute in Stalettì, Calabria.  It is seasoned with salt and a large amount of truffle puree!

Most of us are not going to roast an entire pig which raises the question of what cut or cuts to use.  This is especially important as much of the mouth-feel of porchetta derives from the combination of fatty and lean meat inherent in using an entire pig.

One solution, that makes for an elegant presentation, is to roll a slab of pork belly around a lean pork loin and tie it.  This strategy allows one to cut neat slices that contain both lean and fatty meat.

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Another solution is to use a cut of meat that inherently contains about 20% fat.  A pork shoulder fits the bill nicely.  The bone must be removed and the thickest parts of the meat butterflied before being seasoned and tied.  This cut of meat doesn’t create consistent slices as does the pork-belly-wrapped-around-a-pork-loin method.  It does, however, create supremely succulent meat, more so that the pork loin that’s encased in the pork belly.

I lean towards the “pulled pork” version of porchetta, so slices aren’t really important to me.  I always opt for the boneless shoulder method and pull the cooked meat apart in large chunks.  Given the chance, though, I’d like to try a whole pig.

Porchetta

The seasonings in this version of Porchetta closely adhere to what is used in central Italy. Be sure to spread the seasoning very evenly on the meat before rolling and tying.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 10 hours hrs

Total Time 11 hours hrs 2 minutes mins

Servings: 20 persons

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

For the initial seasoning

• 1 boneless pork shoulder butterflied, (approximately 7 pounds)
• 8.5 grams fennel seeds (3 ½ teaspoons)
• 40 grams garlic chopped (7-8 cloves)
• 32 grams Coarse sea salt (2 tablespoons)
• 9 grams black pepper freshly ground (1 ½ tablespoons)
• 5 1/2 grams fresh rosemary minced (3 ½ teaspoons)
• 6 grams red pepper crushed (3-4 small dried red chiles, crumbled)
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Final seasoning and cooking

• 2 1/2 grams fennel seeds (3/4 teaspoon)
• 10 grams garlic chopped (1-2 large cloves)
• 3 grams Coarse sea salt (½ teaspoon)
• 3 grams black pepper freshly ground (1 ½ teaspoons)
• 1 1/2 grams fresh rosemary minced (1 ½ teaspoons)
• 190 ml white wine (3/4 cup)

Method

 

For the initial seasoning

1. Crush fennel seeds in a mortar. Reserve.
   
2. Puree the garlic and olive oil in a small blender jar.
   
3. Add the crushed fennel seeds, salt, black pepper, rosemary, chile and enough olive oil to make a paste.
   
4. Rub the paste over what will be the inside of the roast once it is rolled and tied.
   
5. Roll up roast and tie with butcher’s twine.
   
6. Put the tied roast, fat side up and seam down, into a non-reactive roasting pan and cover with plastic wrap.
   
7. Put the cover on roasting pan (or cover tightly with aluminum foil) and refrigerate for 2 days.

Final seasoning and cooking

1. Remove the pork from refrigerator about 60-90 minutes before roasting.
2. Using a mortar and pestle, grind the fennel seeds.
3. Add garlic and salt to the fennel and crust into a paste.
4. Add black pepper and rosemary. Combine well.
5. Rub spice mixture over the top of the roast.
   
6. Pour the white wine into the bottom of the roasting pan.
7. Cover the pan and roast at 250°F, for 10 hours, occasionally basting with pan juices after about 5 hours.
8. Uncover the pan for the last hour of roasting. If necessary, but usually not, add a bit of water to the pan.
   
9. Remove the roast from the roasting pan and place it on a serving platter. Pull the roast into chunks.
   
10. Skim the fat from the pan drippings. Drizzle the pan drippings over the meat.

Notes

Copyright © 2020 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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January 22, 2020

The origins of both caponata and its name are unknown but that doesn’t keep some “authorities” from making definitive statements about both its origins and its name.  Other authors are more cautious about how they approach the topic.  There are many theories.  There are perhaps more theories about the origins of the dish and its name than there are versions of caponata itself, and that’s saying a lot.

What we do know is that caponata, as we now know it, is Sicilian though there are traditional Neapolitan versions as well.

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At its most basic caponata is a vegetable dish (though some versions include fish) with eggplant typically being the predominant ingredient (though there are other versions, such as one with artichokes) in a lightly sweet and sour sauce that usually contains some tomato product (fresh tomatoes or tomato sauce of some sort) and capers.

Beyond the basics, caponata has numerous traditional regional variations from different areas of Sicily.  There are also the endless variations introduced by individual cooks.

One could add or subtract celery, sweet peppers, zucchini, olives, pine nuts, almonds, and raisins (to name a few).

The eggplant can be fried, sautéed, or steamed (but almost always with the skin on).

Caponata can be served on a slice of toasted bread (crostino), as (part of) an antipasto, as a side dish (contorno), or as a main dish (secondo).  Though not traditional, I like tossing it with pasta.

I prefer caponata that is neither aggressively sweet nor sour and, while the vegetables should not be mushy, I don’t want to hear a crunch when I bite down.

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If I were drowning in home-grown tomatoes during harvest season, I’d probably work on perfecting a version that uses fresh tomatoes.  Since that’s not the case, my version uses tomato sauce.  The advantage is that I can make it year-round as the necessary vegetables are always available and of good quality.

Though it should not be frozen, caponata can be canned.  In fact, one of the demonstrations that I did for students at the Italian Culinary Institute this past September was how to can caponata.

Unlike Italy, where the best eggplants and peppers are available only “in season” that’s not true in the United States.  Rather than canning a large batch of caponata, I just make it whenever I want some.

I hope you enjoy this version of caponata.

If you want to get more into the fray about the origins of caponata or its name, or the different versions, you can look here, here, here, here, here, or here.

Caponata: A Taste of Sunny Sicily

There is a link to the recipe for Basic Tomato Sauce in the Notes section below. Any simple tomato sauce, or even tomato puree, could be substituted. If vegetable broth is not available water can be used. To my American readers, I apologize for the metric measures. You can convert to American measures by using the dropdown menu below. Turbinado and Demerara sugars are most similar to the “cane sugar” used in Italy. American light brown sugar would work in this recipe since the quantity is small. You can use either vinegar-packed or salt-packed capers.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings: 2 cups

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 350 g unpeeled eggplant cut in 1 cm (1/2 inch) cubes
• 90 g red bell pepper diced
• 90 g onion diced
• 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 180 ml vegetable broth
• salt to taste
• black pepper freshly ground to taste
• 4 teaspoons sugar preferably Turbinado or Demerara
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons capers rinsed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 180 ml Basic Tomato Sauce

Method

 

1. Sauté the peppers and onions in olive oil with a pinch of salt until the onions become translucent.
   
2. Add the eggplant and sauté until most, but not all, of the eggplant has become translucent.
   
3. Add the vegetable stock and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook until just tender, 5-10 minutes.
4. Remove cover. Quickly evaporate any remaining liquid.
   
5. Add sugar and vinegar. Cook over moderately high heat until almost dry.
6. Add the capers and pine nuts.
   
7. Add the tomato sauce. Simmer briefly to blend flavors, 5-10 minutes.
   
8. Adjust salt and pepper while cooking.
   
9. Refrigerate.
10. Bring to room temperature for serving.
    

Notes

The recipe for Basic Tomato Sauce can be found here.

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January 15, 2020

I will forever remember Ferragosto as the day the music died.

Ferragosto is celebrated on the fifteenth of August throughout Italy.  Originating during the Roman Empire, apparently in 18 BCE by Emperor Augustus, Ferragosto was originally held on August 1st.  Ultimately, the Catholic Church moved the date to August 15th to coincide with the Assumption, a “holy day of obligation,” thus imposing a secular holiday on a religious holy day.

Ferragosto is a day to feast.  It is also the day that the late-night revelry in the piazza of Bagni di Lucca comes to an end.

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Those of you who have been following my blog for a while know that I spent the month of August 2019 in Tuscany cooking with Great Aunt Fidalma.

I rented a charming little apartment overlooking the piazza in Bagni di Lucca, a town near the village of Benabbio where Aunt Fidalma lives.

The piazza becomes the locus of loud music (70’s disco, karaoke, Italian pop) late into the night (or early into the morning depending on your perspective) on the weekends in August as well as during several August festival days.

The music precludes sleep.  Even if one could find ear plugs sufficient to drown out the sound, the building, and thus the bed, vibrate to the bass.

Ferragosto, August 15th, is the end of the late-night music.

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Today, January 15th, marks five months since Ferragosto.  Pollo alla Romana (also known as pollo con i peperoni [chicken with sweet peppers]) is traditionally served on Ferragosto.  Given the five-month anniversary, today seems like an appropriate day to post the recipe.

As you might guess from the name, Pollo alla Romana is from the area around Rome.  It is a simple dish made with chicken, sweet peppers (traditionally red and yellow ones) and tomatoes.  It can be cooked in the morning and served at room temperature later in the day making it a perfect summer dish.

It has become one of my go-to dishes for entertaining when I don’t want a lot of last-minute fuss to distract from enjoying cocktails with my guests.  Made earlier in the day, the dish reheats beautifully in the time it takes to drink a bourbon.

Pollo alla Romana (Chicken with Sweet Peppers)

Traditionally this dish would be made with a cut-up chicken. I prefer to use just thighs as I think they take well to braising, which breasts don’t. You can use cut-up chicken parts if you prefer. When a dish says something should be fall-apart tender, I take that literally. It’s the way I grew up eating chicken cooked by my Italian-American mother. That means, for me, the chicken should braise in the liquid for at least 90 minutes if you’re close to sea level and longer if you're at a higher elevation. You can short-circuit that if you want but I think the texture of the dish will suffer.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 4-5 cloves garlic bruised
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 12 chicken thighs preferably skin-on and bone-in
• 3 red Bell peppers
• 3 yellow Bell peppers
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes in puree preferably Italian plum tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano plus more to taste
• salt
• black pepper freshly ground
• 3/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese freshly grated

Method

 

1. Pass the can of tomatoes through a food mill to remove seeds and hard bits of tomato. Reserve the tomato puree.
2. Slice the peppers into triangular pieces or thick strips.
   
3. Using a large heavy-bottomed sauté pan, sauté the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until medium brown. Discard the garlic.
   
4. Sauté the chicken in the garlic-flavored oil over high heat, starting skin side down to render additional fat from the skin, flipping twice, until well browned. Remove and reserve chicken.
   
5. Add the peppers to the oil and sauté briefly over high heat to put a light char on some of them. Remove and reserve peppers.
   
6. Add the wine to the sauté pan, bring to a boil, and scrape up all the brown bits.
   
7. After the wine evaporates, add the broth, tomato puree and oregano. Mix well.
   
8. Add the chicken, skin side down, along with any accumulated juices. Season with salt and pepper.
   
9. Simmer, partially covered, approximately 30 minutes (or, if you live at high altitude as I do, 60 minutes). Turn the chicken over. Remove and discard the skin (the skin adds lots of flavor as well as collagen to the sauce for a great mouth-feel so please use bone-in and skin-on thighs).
10. Add the peppers and continue to braise, partially covered, for approximately another hour until the chicken is literally fall-apart tender. During cooking, taste and adjust salt, pepper, and oregano.
    
11. Transfer the chicken and peppers to an oven-proof casserole.
    
12. If the sauce is not thick, boil quickly to reduce it. Pour the sauce over the chicken.
    
13. Sprinkle the top with Pecorino Romano cheese.
    
14. Bake at 350°F to brown the top, approximately 15-20 minutes.
    

Notes

Copyright © 2020 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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January 4, 2020

Growing up I didn’t like eggplant.  I didn’t much care for zucchini, either.  Or kale.

Things are a whole lot different now.

As an adult, I basically haven’t met a vegetable I don’t like, though, naturally, I like some more than others.

As with zucchini, eggplants seem to defy the season.  They’re available year-round and the quality is consistent.  Just look for firm, shiny ones with no soft spots or wrinkled skin and you’re basically guaranteed of getting a good eggplant.

Eggplant is a versatile vegetable.  It can be braised, baked, sautéed, fried and steamed … and probably cooked by any other method you can think of.

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Eggplant will sop up any flavor that you pair with it.  It will also sop up large amounts of oil so one needs to be cautious about frying large pieces of eggplant in abundant oil.  Thin slices of eggplant can be floured and fried to great advantage, however.

Years ago, eggplant could be bitter but that trait has basically been bred out of the modern varieties one commonly encounters.  The bitterness led cooks to salt and drain the eggplant to remove bitter juices.  While this is no longer strictly necessary for control of bitterness it is still a great technique to reduce moisture content which is useful for some preparations.

America’s Test Kitchen (the organization behind Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country) has developed a method for removing water from eggplant using the microwave.  I have lots of cooking equipment and have no qualms about using newer technology in place of older technology to simplify food prep.  However, I want the newer technology be a natural evolution from the older technology as a way to preserve (but improve) traditional food preparation.  For example, before food processors, one would “mush up” food as much as possible then put it through a sieve.  Food processors do a much better (and faster) job of “mushing,” sometimes to the point that the sieving step isn’t necessary.

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To me, that’s evolutionary.  It’s a more efficient way of getting to the same outcome but staying true to the traditional method.  Blasting eggplant in the microwave in place of salting it is not.

While I have great respect for the rigor of America’s Test Kitchen, some of their hacks and shortcuts really trouble me from the standpoint of maintaining and transmitting traditional foodways.  Using V-8 juice in minestrone in place of tomato is an example.

With salting, rather than microwaving, we’ll proceed to today’s recipe,  It’s a very straightforward baked eggplant with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.  Somehow it manages to be WAY more than the sum of its parts.  I urge you to try it, even if you think you don’t like eggplant.

Melanzane al Forno (Eggplant Baked with Parmesan Cheese)

Eggplant can absorb huge quantities of oil. This method of cooking limits the amount of oil the eggplant absorbs, making it lighter. The eggplant finishes its cooking in the oven, which eliminates last minute frying just before serving dinner. Individual portions can be made by cutting the eggplant into rounds that fit inside of small ramekins.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic bruised
• 2-3 medium eggplant approximately 1 pound each
• salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese or to taste
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, plus more for buttering the pan

Method

 

1. Peel the eggplant and cut crosswise into rounds ½ inch thick.
   
2. Liberally salt the eggplant slices on both slides and put them in a colander.
   
3. Set a weight on top of the egglant (such as a plate with a heavy can on top) and allow to drain for one hour.
   
4. Meanwhile, gently sauté the garlic in the olive oil on low heat until the garlic is golden brown.
5. Remove the oil from the heat. Discard the garlic and reserve the oil.
6. Rinse the eggplant. Blot dry.
   
7. Butter an ovenproof serving dish (or individual ramekins if making individual portions).
8. Coat the bottom of a large sauté pan with 1-2 tablespoons of the garlic-flavored oil. A non-stick pan works best but a well-seasoned ordinary sauté pan will work fine. When the oil is very hot add one layer of eggplant slices. Cook until nicely browned being careful not to burn the eggplant which will make it bitter.
   
9. When browned on one side turn the eggplant slices over. You may need to drizzle a little oil into the pan to keep the eggplant from sticking. The eggplant should still be firm in the center. It will complete its cooking in the oven.
10. When the second side is brown put the eggplant in a buttered ovenproof serving dish, preferably one with a cover.
11. Lightly salt the eggplant. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper to taste and some of the grated Parmigiano. Repeat layering eggplant, pepper and cheese until all the eggplant is used up.
12. Finish with grated Parmigiano. Drizzle with the melted butter.
    
13. Cover and bake at 350°F for approximately 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 10-15 minutes to brown the top.
    

Notes

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December 19, 2019

I try to cook seasonally.

That means no stone fruit or corn on the cob in the winter.  For the most part that means no tomatoes either, though I do make an exception for cherry and grape tomatoes which seem to taste about the same year-round and provide a burst of color and sweetness—if not a robust tomato taste—in the dead of winter.

Certain things defy the season.  Take zucchini.  Yes, they’re the quintessential summer crop (sometimes growing to the size of baseball bats in the hands of inattentive growers) but they show up all year-round, much like bananas do.

I know that means they get shipped from “somewhere else” when they’re not in season locally but, for the most part, they taste good all year (unlike, say, peaches which don’t usually taste good if not grown locally and in season).

There’s also a limit to the number of cold-season vegetables that one can eat through the winter.

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Part of the problem is solved by canning, preserving, and freezing and, if not your own or a friend’s, commercially available canned, preserved, and frozen produce.  Let’s face it, eating seasonally traditionally included consuming all those products that were “put up” when they were at the height of season.

Though some of us conserve produce, few of us do enough to meet our needs throughout the lean winter months.  I have no objection to using good quality commercially “conserved” foods.  What I don’t use are convenience or premade foods.

Though I enjoy and prefer to make my own tomato puree (passata), we don’t produce enough of our own tomatoes to make a year’s supply (and I haven’t been overly impressed with what’s available in the market in sufficient and affordable quantity to make up the difference).

I do what I can, however, for example making passata when our tomatoes are at their best; candying citrus peels from the trees in our neighborhood in Palm Springs in the winter; making cherry leaf aperitif in the fall; and, in those rare years when Santa Fe has an abundance of peaches and apricots, making jam.

I “conserve” other produce as well like making hot chile oil (“olio santo”) when we have enough peperoncini, making limoncello and arancello from oranges and lemons in Palm Springs, and putting fresh (like cherries) and dried (like prunes) fruits in various types of spirits.

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My prohibition on using “prepared foods,” though is pretty definite.  I’ll use good quality canned, peeled tomatoes from Italy but (unless my back is up against the wall as sometimes happens when I have limited shopping venues like when we’re on Fire Island) I don’t use canned commercial diced or crushed tomatoes or tomato puree.  My view, and, granted, it might be wrong, is that the best quality tomatoes go into the cans of “whole, peeled” tomatoes, not into the ones that are ground, diced, or pureed.

In a matter of minutes, a can of whole peeled tomatoes can be turned into any of the other products.  It also means that, other than tomato paste, I only need to stock up on one tomato product.  OK, OK, so I have two types of peeled, whole tomatoes.  Both are from Italy but one is San Marzano and the other is a plum tomato that’s not San Marzano.  I use the less expensive non-San-Marzano-but-still-Italian tomatoes when the dish I am making would be indistinguishable with either type.

In December, zucchini are a welcome addition to mealtime, a situation that is difficult to imagine during the fall harvest season when zucchini seem to be coming from all directions.

Zucchini in Umido

Pommarola, a simple tomato sauce made with tomatoes, basil and garlic is ideal in this dish. See the notes section for a link to my Basic Tomato Sauce. If pommarola, or a similar simple tomato sauce is not available, substitute good-quality tomato puree. If using puree, I suggest adding a few basil leaves, finely chopped. Niepita is difficult to obtain outside of Italy but if you want to try to find seeds, look for it using the southern Italian name of "Mentuccia Romana" rather than the Tuscan name of niepita. Though the flavor is different, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano is a good alternative.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Servings: 6 persons

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 4 medium zucchini
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh niepita or to taste
• 3/4 cup pommarola or other simple tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups water
• salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

 

1. Partially peel the zucchini, leaving alternating stripes of peel and no peel.
   
2. Cut the zucchini into largish pieces. You can do this by quartering them lengthwise and then cutting crosswise or by doing a rotating angular cut. You should have approximately 2 pounds of cut-up zucchini.
   
3. Sauté the garlic in olive oil until it begins to color.
   
4. Add zucchini. Season with salt, and pepper. Increase the heat to high and sauté until the garlic golden brown and the zucchini has turned from white to creamy in color, approximately 5 minutes.
   
5. Add the tomato sauce, water, niepita, and salt and pepper to taste.
   
6. Cook at a moderate boil, uncovered, until the sauce is thick and the zucchini is tender but not mushy. Adjust salt and pepper while cooking.
   

Notes

You can find my recipe for Basic Tomato Sauce here.

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December 13, 2019

Back at home, after spending five months in Italy this year expanding my culinary skills and repertoire, we settled on a technique to keep the process going.

Each month we randomly select a region of Italy by pulling a slip of paper out of a jar.  For a month, unless there is an overriding reason, I cook all our dinners using traditional recipes of that region.

The first region we selected was Piemonte (Piedmont).

Piemonte is in far northwestern Italy.  It borders France and the cuisine shows a definite French influence.

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Piemonte is one of the coldest regions of Italy.  Since the climate is not conducive to growing olives, animal fats, such as butter and lard are commonly used.  There are some dishes, however, that use olive oil based on historic trade between Piemonte and neighboring Liguria.

Piemontese foods tend to be hearty and rich, appropriate to the colder climate, especially in the mountainous areas.

Our month of eating the foods of Piemonte included:

1. Bagna Cauda (anchovy, butter and olive oil dip for vegetables)
2. Brasato di Manzo in Barolo (beef braised in barolo wine)
3. Budino Freddo Gianduia (chocolate hazelnut cakes… literally “pudding”)
4. Cipolline d’Ivrea (braised pearl onions with white wine and butter)
5. La Panissa (risotto made with borlotti beans and some sort of cured meat)
6. Patate ai Capperi (potatoes and capers)
7. Peperoni e Pomodori alla Bagna Cauda (sweet peppers and tomatoes with anchovies)
8. Polenta e Fontina in Torta (layers of sliced polenta and fontina cheese baked together)
9. Pollo con Acciughe e Peperoni Arostiti (chicken with anchovies and roasted peppers)
10. Pollo in Fricassea Bianca (chicken braised in milk)
11. Risotto al Gorgonzola (risotto with gorgonzola cheese)
12. Sancarlin (a cheese dip and/or sauce)
13. Spinaci alla Piemontese (spinach with anchovies and garlic)
14. Tajarin con Gorgonzola e Ricotta (long pasta with a sauce of ricotta and gorgonzola)
15. Tajarin e Zucchine (long pasta with zucchini, garlic, and Grana Padano cheese)

As you’ll note, these are almost all substantial dishes.  And it’s not as if I purposely chose dishes that were hearty.  Almost all of the cuisine of Piemonte shares this characteristic.

Piemonte is famous for truffles.  I avoided dishes with truffles as they were out of season the month I cooked Piemontese food.  Good ones are also very expensive.  Plus, I ate mountains of them while at the Italian Culinary Institute this year.

Piemonte is also known for hazelnuts and for the combination of hazelnuts and chocolate, the most famous brand of which is Nutella.  Note that the one Piemontese dessert that I made during the month (only one because I’m still working off the weight I gained over five months in Italy earlier this year!) is a combination of chocolate and hazelnuts which is generally known as gianduja or gianduia.

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Piemonte is one of the great wine-producing regions of Italy.  It is known for Barolo, Barbaresco, and Asti, among others.

Sancarlin (Piemontese dialect for San Carlo) is a spread or dip made from cheese.  It’s great as part of an antipasto with grissini (breadsticks), another Piemontese food.

Sancarlin is also excellent tossed with diced boiled potatoes and served as a contorno (side dish).  How many times can I say “hearty” in the same blog post?

If any of the Piemontese dishes that I mentioned above interests you, and you’d like me to post a recipe, just leave a note in the comment section below and I’ll schedule it.

Sancarlin: A Cheese Spread from Piemonte

Sancarlin is traditionally made with ricotta di pecora, sheep’s milk ricotta. It is nearly impossible to find sheep’s milk ricotta in the United States. You will get good results with a high-quality cow’s milk ricotta. Though not traditional, you can add an ounce or two of soft goat cheese to the recipe to increase the complexity of the dish. If you have access to sheep’s milk (which I don’t in northern New Mexico), and you feel ambitious, you can make your own ricotta! A link to my recipe is in the Notes section below. Adjust the amount of garlic and red pepper to taste. Serve with grissini, crostini, focaccia or tossed with boiled potatoes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Servings: 1 cup

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 8 ounces best quality ricotta preferably artisanal
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 dried hot red peppers preferably Italian
• salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

 

1. Finely mince the garlic and combine with the olive oil. You can do this by processing the garlic and oil in a small food processor.
   
2. If using the goat cheese, add it to the processor after the garlic has been minced and whiz to blend everything.
   
3. Finely crush the red peppers and blend with the garlic mixture.
   
4. Combine the garlic mixture with the ricotta and mix well.
   
5. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
   
6. Refrigerate, tightly covered, for two days before using for the best flavor.

Notes

If you want to make your own ricotta, you can find my recipe here.

Copyright © 2019 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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November 20, 2019

Spiedini means skewers.  By extension it also refers to food cooked on skewers.

There is evidence that humans cooked food on skewers as far back as 300,000 years ago in an area that is encompassed by present-day Germany.

It’s an ancient cooking method.  So, it’s not surprising that food cooked on skewers is found almost everywhere.

During my month of cooking in Tuscany with Zia Fidalma this past August, spiedini were on the lesson plan.

But first, there was the shopping.  Onions and peppers came from the weekly market in Bagni di Lucca.  Pork and sausage came from her favorite local butcher.  Pancetta tesa came from yet another vendor.  The pantry staples, including olive oil from her own olive grove, were on the ready at home.

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The sausage that Zia Fidalma used is Salsiccia Toscana, Tuscan Sausage.  It does NOT have fennel seed.  What it DOES have appeared to be a mystery, at least temporarily.

Butchers in Italy who make it say they don’t know because they buy the spice mix from a company.  Whether or not this is completely true is also unknown, to me at least.  Requests from friends and family in Tuscany also came up empty-handed.

A Google search, in Italian, turned up more useful information.  As expected, there is a range of ingredients.  Every recipe has salt and pepper.  Most have garlic (minced, chopped, or in one recipe, rubbed on one’s hands before one mixes the sausage!).  Many have a bit of wine, both white and red are called for.  I found one recipe that indicated that finely minced sage could be added if desired but NOT fennel!

So, basically, Tuscan sausage is very sparingly flavored with salt, pepper, garlic and maybe a bit of wine.

For a traditional Tuscan taste for these spiedini, purchase (or make) an “Italian” sausage without fennel and without red pepper or paprika.  (Note, there is no such thing as “Italian” sausage in Italy.  Like most foods in Italy, sausage is hyper-local and varies from region to region, province to province, and often town to town.)

Nobody is going to complain, however, if you use sausage with fennel seed as I had to do when I was unable to find sausage without fennel after trying four markets in Santa Fe.

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Pancetta tesa (sometimes called pancetta stesa) may be more difficult to find than the correct sausage, however.  Pancetta tesa is flat, not rolled.  It is better to use for spiedini because it is easier to cut into shapes that facilitate skewering.

While you might spend 30 to 45 minutes cutting up the meat and vegetables and threading them on a skewer, the cooking process is easy.  Feel free to experiment with the herbs, but I’ve called for the herbs that are most commonly used in Tuscan cooking.

Spiedini (Italian Skewered Meat and Vegetables)

If you want a more elegant look, take the time to cut the ingredients to the same size, approximately 1-inch squares. For a more homestyle appearance, as shown in the pictures, some variability is fine as long as none of the pieces is extremely large or small. The exact sequence of how to skewer ingredients is up to you but I have provided a suggestion that worked well with the quantity of ingredients I had.

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 3 links Tuscan-style sausage without fennel approximately 12 ounces
• 1 pound lean pork such as tenderloin or another cut that can be cooked quickly
• 36 pieces pancetta tesa approximately 1” x 1” x 3/16”
• 3 large bell peppers yellow and/or red and/or orange (not green)
• 1 large red onion
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 8-9 fresh sage leaves
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 5-6 juniper berries lightly crushed
• 2-3 sprigs oregano or marjoram or thyme
• 5-6 cloves garlic very coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil approximately
• salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

 

1. Cut each link of sausage into four pieces.
   
2. Cut the pork into 24 pieces.
   
3. Cut the pancetta tesa into 36 pieces
   
4. Cut each pepper into 12 pieces.
   
5. Separate the onion into layers and cut 36 pieces of onion about the same size as the pepper pieces
   
6. Thread the meat and vegetables onto 12 skewers in the following order: Pepper, Pancetta, Onion, Pork, Pepper, Pancetta, Onion, Sausage, Pepper, Pancetta, Onion, Pork.
7. On the bottom of a shallow roasting pan large enough to hold the skewers in a single layer, put the rosemary, sage, bay leaves, oregano, juniper berries and garlic.
   
8. Put the skewers on top. Season generously with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil.
   
9. Roast at 400°F until the meat is cooked, approximately 20 to 30 minutes, basting occasionally with the oil from the pan.
   
10. Arrange the skewers on a serving platter. Pour the oil over top being sure to add the cooked herbs and garlic. Serve immediately.

Notes

Copyright © 2019 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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November 7, 2019

I’m not much of a turkey person.

If it were up to me, I’d probably never make turkey, except for the fact that turkey is a GREAT excuse to make killer stuffing and gravy.

OK, OK, those of you who know me know that I’m enough of a traditionalist that I’d probably still make turkey on Thanksgiving, with or without stuffing and gravy, because it’s, well, traditional.

Turkey aside, though, I absolutely LOVE stuffing and I LOVE gravy.

After Thanksgiving, I carefully hide the leftover stuffing in the fridge and keep it all for myself.  There usually isn’t much leftover so I get maybe two days of snacking on cold stuffing.  And it has to be cold, not warm, with a bit of added salt because the taste of salt is dulled by the coldness of the stuffing.

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As for the gravy, when I was a kid, I liked gravy so much that I would stir enough into my mashed potatoes that they became runny and spread out over my plate!  I don’t do that anymore but I still love gravy.

I love gravy so much that I roast poultry specifically to make gravy then discard the poultry because I’ve browned it to a fare-thee-well to get a really flavorful gravy.  But I only do that once a year—on Thanksgiving—hence the name Thanksgiving gravy.

When I was growing up, my parents hosted Thanksgiving dinner.  My Aunt Margie and Uncle Joe hosted Christmas Eve dinner.

On Thanksgiving, while my mother and Aunt Margie were getting everything ready to bring to the table (everything included a full Italian meal with sausage, meatballs, lasagna, etcetera alongside a full traditional American Thanksgiving meal!) my Aunt Mamie would make gravy from the pan drippings.

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From my current vantage point, however, there is a very limited amount of gravy that can be made that way, otherwise it doesn’t have enough meaty goodness.  Though I have to say that Aunt Mamie did a great job of making gravy.  Hers was the one that I most often stirred into my mashed potatoes.

The search for lots of meaty-tasting gravy is what got me started on the path of roasting poultry a few days in advance simply to make a brown stock to use as the base for my gravy.

I guess, in reality, my gravy is more of a variation on French brown sauce (Sauce Espagnole) with added pan drippings than traditional American-style gravy but it packs the flavor that I expect from good gravy.

If there’s any leftover gravy, I warm it with some cream and sautéed mushrooms and then gently reheat leftover turkey in the sauce.

Thanksgiving Gravy

Roasting poultry to make a flavorful stock creates a gravy with an extra punch of flavor. Turkey wings and necks are ideal but chicken and Cornish hen work very well, too. Whatever poultry you use, cut it into lots of pieces to create more surface area for browning. I use a lot of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and I put all the rinds in a container in the freezer. I use one whenever I make stock or broth, as I do for the stock for this gravy. It is not necessary to peel the onions and garlic.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 11 hours hrs

Total Time 23 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 7 cups

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

Brown Stock

• 2 1/2 pounds turkey parts such as necks and wings (or chicken parts or Cornish hens)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil divided
• garlic powder to taste
• 2 carrots thinly sliced
• 3 stalks celery thinly sliced
• 2 onions sliced
• 4 cloves garlic sliced
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 10 cups water approximately
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dry
• 3 fresh sage leaves
• 5 sprigs of parsley leaves only
• 2 whole cloves
• Parmigiano Reggiano cheese rind if available
• 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Gravy

• Brown Stock see above
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup fat from top of brown stock
• 1/2 cup red wine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• drippings from roast turkey

Method

 

Brown Stock

1. Cut the turkey or other poultry into chunks. Put the cut-up turkey into a heavy roasting pan. Mix with ¼ cup of extra-virgin olive oil. Season generously with garlic powder and salt.
   
2. Roast the turkey at 425°F until dark brown, turning often, 1½ to 2 hours.
   
3. Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed stock pot, large enough to hold all the ingredients, sauté the carrots and celery in ¼ cup of extra-virgin olive oil over high heat.
   
4. 
5. As the carrots and celery begin to brown, add the onions and garlic.
   
6. Continue cooking, adjusting heat to medium if necessary, to create nicely browned vegetables and fond without burning.
   
7. When the vegetables are brown, add 1/2 cup of red wine and 1 cup of water to stop the cooking and set the pot aside until the turkey is ready.
8. When the turkey is brown, add it and any pan drippings to the stockpot with the vegetables.
9. Using some of the water, deglaze roasting pan and add the liquid to the stockpot. All these brown bits are important for flavor.
   
10. Add the bay leaf, rosemary, sage, parsley, whole cloves, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese rind, if using, black pepper, and enough water to cover generously. Bring to a simmer and simmer, partially covered for six hours, stirring occasionally.
    
11. Strain and refrigerate the stock. The stock may be made up to three days in advance.

Gravy

1. Skim the fat from the top of the stock. Heat the fat to cook off any water. Measure ¾ cup of melted fat and reserve. Add butter, if necessary, to make ¾ cup.
2. Gently boil the skimmed stock to reduce it to about six cups, if necessary.
3. Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, gently brown the flour in the fat from the stock.
   
4. 
5. Add the six cups of hot stock, approximately ¾ cup at a time, stirring well after each addition, to avoid lumps.
   
6. 
7. After all the stock has been added, bring to a simmer. Add the wine. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. (The drippings from the turkey can be fairly salty so the gravy should be under-salted until the final adjustment of seasoning.)
   
8. Simmer gently till thick, approximately 2 hours, stirring frequently. Set aside, covered, until the turkey is ready.
   
9. After removing the turkey from the oven, deglaze the roasting pan with water. Skim the fat from the deglazing liquid. Pour the defatted drippings into gravy and simmer briefly to achieve the desired consistency. Adjust seasoning.

Notes

Copyright © 2019 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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