briciole

torta salata "nella pentola" con pollo / chicken pot pie revisited

"antique" pot pie (partially cut)

This is my first experience with pot pies. As far as I know, we don't have a name for it in Italian: torta salata nella pentola is the literal translation (pentola is Italian for pot). For my rendition, I used a small soufflé dish.

This pot pie was inspired by Susan The Well-Seasoned Cook, who after Thanksgiving suggested to use leftover turkey to make a pot pie. There was no turkey on our table on Thanksgiving: I cooked other dishes, a story for another day. I called my pot pie "revisited" because I honestly wasn't very attracted by the concept of pot pie until Susan's suggestion made me revisit my attitude — and with good results!

But her suggestion immediately sparked the idea of turning leftovers into something new and appetizing. Here is what I used:

• leftover roast chicken (pollo arrosto), mostly breast, diced
• leftover zimino di fagioli
• some "alternative" puff pastry (pasta sfoglia "alternativa")

I basically assembled the ingredients and put the result in the oven.

zimino di fagioli

Leftover zimino di fagioli + leftover roast chicken =

= the pie filling

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Take a 4 1/2-inch soufflé dish and add leftover zimino di fagioli. Do not overfill the dish.

Add some leftover roast chicken, mostly breast, diced and stir it in.

Take 1/4 of  the amount made by the recipe for "alternative" puff pastry (about 3 oz. / 83 g), roll it and use it to cover the dish, sealing well around the edge. (While I have not tried making the recipe with regular puff pastry, I don't see why it would not work with it.)http://www.typepad.com/site/blogs/6a00d835508b1869e200d8351b280f53ef/post/6a00d835508b1869e2017c3411e8eb970b/edit?saved=e

Make some egg wash: Lightly beat one egg with a tablespoon of water. Apply some egg wash to the puff pastry surface and put the dish in the oven. Bake until the surface is nice and golden (25 minutes or so). Let rest a few minutes before serving. The recipe makes a big portion or two small ones.

I took a number of photos of both pot pies I made when I took them out of the oven, and none of them was good enough. The nicest photo was taken after I had made a small cut on the surface to reveal the filling.

I am submitting this post to the November edition of Monthly Mingle that has Pot Pies as theme. The event was created by Meeta of What's For Lunch, Honey? and is hosted this month by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

torta salata "nella pentola" con pollo

or launch the torta salata "nella pentola" con pollo audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

pot pie, beans, chard, mushrooms, chicken

zimino di fagioli / bean, mushroom and chard soup

comfort food for rough days

For the current edition of Cook the Books, we are reading Heartburn by Nora Ephron (1983). I had heard about the book, so I was glad to see it on the Club's list. The writing is witty and engaging, and as a reader, you really want to know how the story will unfold. It was easy to go from cover to cover, chuckling here and there, and cheering at the final scene, when a lime pie is sacrified on the altar of justice.

While I don't want to diminish in any way the importance of the book from a sociological perspective (it was published almost 30 years ago), as a reader, I was not left wanting for more. The shallowness of the characters makes them forgettable.

One aspect of the novel that I liked a lot is the way the recipes are woven into the text, part of the narrative of the protagonist, Rachel Samstat, who is a successful cookbook author. I wasn't particularly inspired to try any of the the recipes, though. In reading the story, I was more focused on thinking: what would I do if something like that happened to me? "That" means discovering that your husband is in love and having an affair with a woman you know, while you are pregnant with your second child and the first one is a toddler.

When I am upset, cooking in and of itself is helpful, in that it makes me focus on something other than whatever it is that is causing an emotional tornado. And I tend to cook dishes that are comforting to me, something hot and with lots of vegetables, often a soup. The recipe I am presenting here is a classic example. I had made it a few months ago once and even took a photo (see below), but forgot to write down the details. I really liked it, so I went back to it.

last spring's version

The inspiration for my zimino di fagioli came from a recipe called zimino di ceci that I read on the Accademia Italiana della Cucina site. The dish is traditional in Liguria and it is made with chickpeas (ceci). This version of the recipe by Clifford Wright includes an explanation of the name of the soup, which is sometimes called ceci in zimino.

speckled bayo beans

I like chickpeas, but I prefer to use beans (fagioli), because I have access to a variety of great organic beans of local production, like the speckled bayo on the photo, which are very good in soups.

The original recipe uses dried mushrooms (funghi secchi) and that's what I used the first time I made the dish. However, I am not a big fan of dried mushrooms, so when I took up the recipe again, I decided to use a mix of fresh mushrooms, including some locally grown oyster mushrooms. The photo below shows the mushrooms on their growing medium.

farmed oyster mushrooms

I recently signed up for a special winter CSA share. I will tell you more about this soon. For now, suffice to say that I have access to some gorgeous rainbow chard (bietola). In the balance of ingredients, with respect to the original recipe, I chose to give much more prominence to the chard and a bit more to the mushrooms.

it doesn't get any fresher than this

Ingredients:

• 3.5 oz / 1/2 cup / 100 g speckled bayo beans; alternatively, I would have used borlotti or canario [see below how to cook beans with aromatics]
• Olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped + half a leek, white and light green portion, cut into half moons and carefully rinsed (save the darker green portion to make broth or stock) [the original recipe calls for an onion, thinly sliced]
• A celery rib, finely chopped
• A garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 8 oz. / 225 g mixed fresh mushrooms: I used half oyster and half cremini, sliced
• 1 cup roasted strained tomatoes (thawed, since they were made last year and frozen) [the original recipe calls for 3-4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped]
• 10.5 oz. / 300 g rainbow chard, weighed after the long stalks are removed (save those and use them to make a gratin)
• Sea salt, to taste

How to cook dry beans
The way I cook beans for further use comes from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (Beans with Aromatics). After soaking half a cup of dry beans for several hours or overnight in enough water to cover them by about an inch (I use two cups), empty the whole bowl into a saucepan and add

• Half of a small onion (or a quarter of a medium one), halved
• A bay leaf
• A small clove of garlic, sliced
• A couple of sprigs of fresh parsley

Bring the water to a lively boil quickly, and keep it there for five minutes, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are ready. How long this takes depends on the type of beans and their freshness. Let them cool in their broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their cooking broth until ready to use.

How to cook the soup
Warm a bit of olive oil in another saucepan, then add shallot, leek and celery and stir well. Cook for a few minutes, then add the garlic.

After a couple more minutes, when the garlic smells fragrant, add the mushrooms and stir. Turn up the heat a bit. When the mushrooms start releasing water, stir well for a minute, then add the tomatoes and stir well.

Bring to a simmer, then add the beans, drained, and stir. Add the chard leaves, cut into ribbons 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) wide and stir. It is fine if the chard leaves have water clinging to them. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the chard is nice and tender, adding some or all of the bean cooking liquid to make a (rather dense) soup or, if you prefer, some water or vegetable broth.

Adjust salt and serve immediately.

Serving options:

1. The original recipe suggests serving the soup with croutons.
2. I have toasted a couple of small sliced of bread, put those on the bottom of a bowl and ladled the zimino on top (like in the photo on this page).
3. As you can see from the photo above, in my earlier rendition, I served the zimino with some freshly grated cheese sprinkled on the surface.
4. The last option is a suggestion for repurposing leftovers and it deserves a post of its own, so be patient for a couple of days and then you'll find out.

I am not sure Rachel Samstat would like my zimino di fagioli, since it is something quite different from the dishes she describes in the book. On the other hand, considering how much misery living in her "set" has caused, maybe she ought to consider a change of scenery and a change of cuisine.

This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Simona of briciole (that would be me). You can find the guidelines for participating in the event here, and here is the announcement. This post contains the roundup of the event.

I am also submitting this to My Legume Love Affair 53, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Simona of briciole (that would be me — again). This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

zimino di fagioli

or launch the zimino di fagioli audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

soup, beans, chard, mushrooms, Italian recipe

strascinati alla farina di castagne / chestnut flour strascinati

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

a really pretty pasta dish

Your eyes are not deceiving you, the handmade pasta in the photo is brown. It owes its unusual color to chestnut flour, which, however, when in its natural state, is off-white.

local chestnuts at the Arcata farmers' market

While I can purchase fresh chestnuts of local production, the chestnut flour I used to make the pasta comes from Italy.

The cookbook Pasta fatta in casa (homemade pasta) by Paola Loaldi contains a recipe for trofie di castagne, which uses a dough made with 50% chestnut flour, 50% 00 flour and water. I decided to make strascinati using the same proportion of chestnut flour, but adding to it all-purpose flour instead of 00. The dough has a different feel from others, given that chesnut flour is gluten free. 

You may recall that strascinati was the first type of eggless pasta I made, a few months ago, which started me on a path of pasta discovery that is still ongoing (in the most recent chapter of the adventure I made strozzapreti). If you are considering trying your hand at making eggless pasta, strascinati is the shape I recommend for your first attempt. Please, refer to the earlier post for details about the provenance and naming of this pasta shape. For this post, I made a short movie that shows my hands cutting the dough and shaping the pieces. Note that this time I used two fingers to shape the strascinati, instead of three.

 

The pasta sauce is a variation on the popular theme of burro e parmigiano (butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano). The addition of poppy seeds (semi di papavero) harvested from my little garden is based on a recipe quite unrelated to the one at hand, which I won't reveal yet, because it may well be my nest pasta adventure.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for strascinati alla farina di castagne

Ingredients:

• 50 g / 1.75 oz. chestnut flour
• 50 g / 1.75 oz. all-purpose flour
• A pinch of fine sea salt
• 55 g / 2 oz. lukewarm water (see Note below)
• 1/2 tablespoon (7 g) salted butter
• 1/2 tablespoon poppy seeds
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Note: to make the dough, I measured my usual 100 g flour and 50 g of water. In kneading the dough, I felt that it needed more water, so I added a teaspoon (5 ml).

Make a dough with the pasta ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let the dough rest, covered, for half an hour or so.

Roll the dough into a thick roll, then cut it into 5-6 pieces and shape each one into a roll about 3/8 inch (1 cm) in diameter. Cut each roll into approximately 1 1/4-inch (3 cm) long pieces, then use the three middle fingers, or the index and middle finger, to drag each small piece of pasta dough towards you. This movement thins the pasta and gives it a shell-like shape that will also carry the imprint of your fingers.

two-finger strascinati

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add some coarse salt, stir and then add the pasta. Bring water back to boiling. Since the pasta takes only a short time to cook, prepare the sauce. Put poppy seed in a mortar and crush them a bit with a pestle. A minute after the pasta started cooking, put butter in a small frying pan and melt over gentle heat. 

Cooking time is in the order of a few minutes. Taste a strascinato to make sure it's cooked (if needed, keep the pasta where it is until cooked). When the pasta is ready, turn off the heat, pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and then drain the pasta. Add pasta to the pan with the butter and sprinkle poppy seed on it. Toss to coat, then add some Parmigiano-Reggiano. Toss again, then serve immediately. The recipe makes two small portions.

This is my contribution to edition #361 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Brii of briggishome, organizer of the Italian edition of WHB.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

strascinati alla farina di castagne

or launch the strascinati alla farina di castagne audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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pasta, chestnut flour, Italian recipe

strascinati alla farina di castagne

un piatto di pasta davvero carino

Gli occhi non vi ingannano: la pasta nella foto è davvero marrone, colore dovuto alla farina di castagne, che comunque, allo stato naturale, è color bianco sporco.

castagne di produzione locale al mercato di Arcata

Trovo le castagne di produzione locale, ma la farina di castagne che ho usato per fare la pasta l'ho comprata in Italia e viene dalla Toscana.

Il libro Pasta fatta in casa di Paola Loaldi contiene la ricetta per le trofie di castagne, per la quale si usa un impasto composto di metà farina di castagne e metà farina 00 e acqua. Io ho deciso di fare gli strascinati usando la stessa proporzione di farina di castagne, ma aggiungendo farina "all-purpose" invece di 00. (La farina americana chiamata "all-purpose" ha un contenuto di proteine maggiore rispetto alla farina 00.) La farina di castagne è priva di glutine e quindi l'impasto ha una consistenza diversa da quella di altri impasti usati in precedenza per fare la pasta.

Gli strascinati sono il primo tipo di pasta senza uova che ho provato a fare, qualche mese fa, e che mi ha lanciato in un viaggio alla scoperta della pasta che è ancora in corso (il capitolo più recente è quello degli strozzapreti). Se pensate di provare a fare la pasta in casa, vi consiglio di cominciare con gli strascinati. Nel post precedente ho parlato del nome e della provenienza di questo tipo di pasta. Per questo post, ho girato un breve filmato dove si vedono le mie mani che tagliano e formano la pasta. Da notare che in questo caso ho usato due dita invece che tre per formare gli strascinati.

 

Il condimento per la pasta è una variazione sul tema burro e parmigiano. L'aggiunta di semi di papavero raccolti dal mio orticello è basata su una ricetta che ho letto per un tipo di pasta diverso e che spero di preparare nel prossimo futuro.

Ingredienti:

• 50 g farina di castagne
• 50 g farina 0
• un pizzico di sale
• 55 g acqua tiepida (vedere Nota sotto)
• 7 g burro salato (o burro normale)
• 1/2 cucchiaio semi di papavero
• Parmigiano-Reggiano grattugiato fresco
  

Nota: per fare l'impasto ho misurato, come al solito, 100 g di farina e 50 g d'acqua. Nell'impastare, ho sentito che mancava un po' d'acqua e ne ho aggiunta un cucchiaino (5 ml).

Preparate un impasto ben lavorato con le farine (alla quale avete aggiunto un pizzico di sale) e l'acqua. Coprire e far riposare per una mezz'ora. Formate un rotolo con la pasta e poi tagliatelo in 5-6 pezzi. Con ogni pezzo fate un rotolino spesso un cm e tagliatelo a pezzi lunghi circa 3-3,5 cm, poi usate le tre dita di mezzo oppure indice e medio per trascinare ogni pezzetto verso di voi. Questo movimento spiana la pasta e le dà una forma cava che porta l'impronta delle vostre dita.

strascinati formati con due dita

Cuocere la pasta. Dal momento che la pasta cuoce rapidamente, preparare il condimento non appena la si butta giù. Mettere i semi di papavero in un mortaio e pestarli un po'. Far fondere il burro in una padellina.

La cottura dura pochi minuti (assaggiare per accertarsi e, se necessario, prolungare la cottura). Scolare la pasta, versarla nella padellina del burro e spargere i semi di papavero. Mescolare bene, poi spargere del Parmigiano-Reggiano. Mescolare di nuovo e servire subito. Questa ricetta fa due porzioni piccole.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 361 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana dall'organizzatrice stessa.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

infiorescenza di prezzemolo con ospite / parsley flower head with guest

how did it get there and how is it going to come down?

It wasn't the snail that originally attracted me to the parsley flower head, but the water droplets. Upon getting close, I saw the acrobat guest.

I let one or two parsley plants go to seed, so I have a constant supply of parsley. Bees like them too and, as we can see, so do other critters.

This is my contribution to edition #60 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to light sepia.

This post contains the gallery of images submitted to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

colazione vista dall'alto / breakfast from above

I was at a conference most of last week and one morning, as I was walking towards the main conference room, I noticed the breakfast buffet below. I thought that a photo from where I was standing would offer an interesting perspective on food. I hope you agree.

This is my contribution to edition #59 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Akheela of Torviewtoronto.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to light sepia.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

strozzapreti / handmade strozzapreti

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

the moment of truth

Our tour of the 20 regions of Italy organized by Trattoria MuVarA is coming to an end. It feels like yesterday that we started from Aosta Valley. Then, every two weeks, we have been hopping around the Italian peninsula discovering interesting places and tasty dishes along the way. I have created a page that gathers the links to all the recipes I prepared during the tour. Our last stop is Emilia-Romagna, a region rich in history, culture, and culinary traditions, a region that includes renowned cities like Bologna, Parma, Ferrara, Modena, Ravenna, etc. I know that people around the world followed closely the news of the earthquake that shook Emilia this past spring. I think it is fitting that we end our tour with a visit to that region.

To celebrate Emilia-Romagna, I chose to explore yet another pasta shape: strozzapreti (bear with me, I am on a pasta roll) . I will tell you that in Italian strozzare means to strangle, to choke, and that preti means priests, and I will stop here. There is much speculation about the origin of the name of this pasta shape and you can read about it around the web, if you wish. None of the theories put forward to explain the rather sinister name of strozzapreti has a bearing on the making and eating of this type of pasta.

The one thing I want to remark upon is that the same name indicates different types of pasta, depending on the region. So strozzapreti in my region of Umbria (also called stringozzi) is a different type of pasta from the strozzapreti you see in this post. Remember that the so-called Italian cuisine is not a coherent whole, but rather the result of the aggregation of culinary traditions deeply rooted in the local history, culture, agricultural and industrial production, art, etc.

I browsed around the web to gather information on how to make strozzapreti. I asked Vanessa of Italy in SF, who hails from Romagna, about the use of 00 flour (farina 00). She confirmed such use and also told me that her grandmother adds to the dough one egg for 500 g of flour (a bit more than a pound). In this post by Sean of Punk Domestic, you can see images of pasta making with nonna Fernanda during a trip to Emilia-Romagna.

ready to be cut

To make strozzapreti, I roll the dough to 1.5 mm / 1/16-inch thickness, hence thicker than when I make tagliatelle. I then cut the rolled dough into strips about 1/2-inch / 1.25 cm wide. With the palm of my hands, I roll each strip and with my fingers I break it, as the short video below shows. Note that each recipe I read contains different measures for the width of the strips and the length of the strozzapreti. The measures I give are based on my experience and preferences.

The video includes an alternative way of shaping I have seen that is not traditional and less fun, but that can be adopted initially, if you feel intimidated by the need to master two actions: instead of using the fingers to cut each strozzaprete, you cut the strip of dough into 2 1/2-inch long pieces beforehand and concentrate on the rolling action. I hope the video clarifies my words.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for strozzapreti

Ingredients for the pasta:

• 3.5 oz. / 100 g Italian 00 flour, sifted (I use KAF Italian-style flour, but other brands are available)
• A scant tablespoon of blended egg (see Note below)
• Enough warm water to make a total liquid amount of 50 g / 1.75 oz.  (see Note below)
• A pinch of salt

Note. Adding one egg per 500 g of flour means that for 100 g of flour, which is what I usually recommend to start with, you need a fraction of an egg. You can get that by subtracting a scant tablespoon of mixed eggs when you make a frittata. Or you can use a tablespoon of leftover egg wash, which is what I did a couple of times. The amount needs not be precise, so don't worry if you have a little less: you'll simply use a bit more water.

Ingredients for the tomato sauce:

• Olive oil
• A shallot, minced
• Leaves of a sprig of thyme
• A small garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 2 cups strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, if frozen)
• Sea salt, to taste
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

Make a dough with the pasta ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let the dough rest, covered, for half an hour or so.

Roll the dough into a disk 1/16-inch / 1.5 mm thick. Fold the dough as shown in the photo above and cut it into strips about 1/5-inch / 1.25 cm wide. Take up a strip and shape it into several strozzapreti using the palm of your hands to roll the dough and your fingers to break the rolled portion of the strip, as shown in the video. Alternatively, cut the strip into 2 1/2-inch long pieces and shape each one into a strozzaprete. If your hands are dry, moisten them or the rolling motion will be difficult.

Lay out the strozzapreti to dry. You may want to dust lightly with flour the surface where you lay the shaped strozzapreti, to prevent them from sticking. As you can see in the photo below, my strozzapreti vary a bit in length and that's fine by me.

each one is unique

In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7-8 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste. Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the strozzapreti, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the strozzapreti in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size of strozzapreti, how dry they are, etc. Taste and stop the cooking when the strozzapreti are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the strozzapreti. Place in a bowl, sprinkle a bit of the cheese on top and stir briefly, then distribute some tomato sauce and toss. Finally, sprinkle some cheese on top and serve immediately.

Alternatively, while the pasta is cooking, place a few tablespoons of the sauce in a small skillet and warm it up. Taste the pasta and stop the cooking slightly earlier than usual. Drain the pasta and drop it into the skillet with the sauce. Stir well over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle some of the cheese and stir one last time. Plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the top. Serve immediately. The recipe makes two small portions.

Note: if tomato season is ongoing in your area, you can make tomato sauce using crushed tomatoes, adjusting the cooking time to get a sauce of the right consistency. And if you have fresh basil, you can add a bit of it to the sauce.

This is my contribution to edition #290 of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by the creator herself. It will be the last edition of PPN, so I invite all of you to say good-bye in style to this popular weekly rendezvous and to thank Ruth for her tireless effort in keeping the food blogging world well fed with pasta dishes. This post contains the roundup of the event.

This is also my submission for the final installment of the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit all the 20 regions of Italy using the alphabet as guide. Z come Zocca (Emilia-Romagna) is hosted by Roxy of Curiosando in cucina. This page has the list of recipes submitted to the event and a slide show.

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

strozzapreti

or launch the strozzapreti audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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pasta, Italian recipe

strozzapreti

pronti per l'assaggio

Nel nostro giro d'Italia organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA siamo arrivati all'ultima tappa, l'Emilia-Romagna. Mi sembra di aver pubblicato ieri la prima ricetta, in onore della Valle d'Aosta! E invece eccoci all'arrivo e mi sembra giusto che concludiamo nella regione che quest'anno è stata tanto nei nostri pensieri a causa del terremoto. La lista delle ricette che ho contribuito all'Abbecedario la trovate su questa pagina.

A proposito di questo, grazie a Francesca di Burro e zucchero, sono venuta a conoscenza dell'iniziativa La mia ricetta per l'Emilia organizzata dall'azienda Melinda Val di Non. Ho contribuito a tale evento una ricetta su briciole, la mia bella mela salata al cartoccio (per l'occasione tradotta in italiano) e anche una ricetta inedita che trovate sulla pagina dell'evento su Facebook: frittata di mele. Andate a vedere quante belle ricette fanno parte della raccolta.

Per celebrare l'Emilia-Romagna ho scelto di fare gli strozzapreti (abbiate pazienza, questo è il mio periodo pastaiolo). Le varie teorie sull'origine del nome sono appunto teorie. Quello che mi preme ricordare è che lo stesso nome viene usato altrove, per esempio in Umbria, per tipi di pasta diversi.

Ho guardato un po' in giro su internet e raccolto informazioni su come fare gli strozzapreti. Ho chiesto conferma a Vanessa di Italy in SF, che è romagnola, dell'uso di farina 00. Oltre a darmi tale conferma, Vanessa mi ha detto che sua nonna usa un uovo per 500 g di farina. In questo post di Sean di Punk Domestic, potete vedere foto di nonna Fernanda e della sessione dedicata alla pasta durante un viaggio in Emilia-Romagna.

pronta al taglio

Per fare gli strozzapreti, spiano la pasta fino ad uno spessore di 1,5 mm, quindi più spessa che per fare le tagliatelle. Poi la taglio a strisce larghe circa 1,25 cm. Col palmo delle mani, arrotolo la pasta e con le dita la rompo, come si vede nel video in basso. Ogni ricetta che ho letto dà misure diverse per larghezza delle strisce di pasta e lunghezza degli strozzapreti. Le misure che uso sono basate sulla mia esperienza e preferenze.

Il video comprende un'alternativa per formare gli strozzapreti che ho visto che non è tradizionale ed è meno divertente, ma che potete provare ad usare all'inizio per semplificare la procedura: invece di usare le dita per staccare ciascun strozzaprete, potete tagliare la striscia di pasta in pezzi lunghi 6 cm prima e poi arrotolarla. Spero che il video renda chiare le mie parole.

Ingredienti:

• 100 g farina 00 setacciata
  
• 10 ml di uovo e acqua calda per un totale di liquido di 50 g (vedi nota sotto)
  
• un pizzico di sale
• sugo di pomodoro a piacere
• Parmigiano-Reggiano grattugiato

Nota. Un uovo per mezzo chilo di farina corrisponde ad una frazione di uovo per 100 g di farina, la quantità che suggerisco di usare all'inizio. Potete sottrarre un pochino di uovo quando preparate una frittata o usare un avanzo di glassa d'uovo.

Lavorare i primi tre ingredienti fino ad avere un bell'impasto liscio. Farlo riposare, coperto, per una mezz'ora. Spianare la pasta fino a quando sia spessa 1,5 mm. Tagliarla a strisce larghe 1,25 cm. Prendere in mano una striscia e formare gli strozzapreti usando il palmo delle mani per arrotolare la pasta e le dita per staccare il pezzo arrotolato, come si vede nel video. In alternativa, tagliare una striscia a pezzi lunghi 6 cm e arrotolarli. Se avete le mani asciutte umettatele un po' o arrotolare la pasta è difficoltoso. Lasciar asciugare. Come si vede nella foto sotto, i miei strozzapreti variano un po' in lunghezza: che dire? Sono fatti a mano!

ogni strozzaprete è unico

Preparate un sugo di pomodoro come volete. Nel mio caso, avevo della passata di pomodori arrosto e ho usato quella.

Cuocete gli strozzapreti in abbondante acqua salata, conditeli con sugo e formaggio a piacere. Questa ricetta fa due porzioni piccole.

Questo è il mio contributo all'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare tutte le regioni italiane utilizzando come guida l'alfabeto. Z come Zocca (Emilia Romagna) è ospitata da Roxy di Curiosando in cucina.

Questa pagina contiene la lista delle ricette inviate all'evento e uno slide show.

ritratto di lavello / portrait of a kitchen sink

I was hulling strawberries one day, when I noticed the nice composition of shapes in front of my eyes.

This is my contribution to edition #58 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Rinku of Cooking In Westchester.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white.

This post contains the gallery of images submitted to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

Weekend Herb Blogging #359: il riepilogo / the roundup

[cliccare il link per andare direttamente al raccolto della edizione italiana di WHB]

As the host of last week's edition of WHB, I am pleased to present an interesting set of posts submitted by bloggers from various countries. For each contribution, I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a short quote or brief description that summarizes it, a teaser that invites you to follow the link to read the relevant post. Follow me: it will be an interesting tour. At the end, I will reveal the winner of the book giveaway.

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Cathy of Delaware Girl Eats prepared Posole Stew with Delaware Pole Lima Beans
Delaware is home to "pole limas that are grown nowhere else. These are found only during the season at farmers markets or from a friendly neighbor willing to share his or her bounty."

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Janet of The Taste Space prepared Chocolate Chip (Chickpea) Blondies
"Fudgy and moist like brownies but without any cocoa. Speckled with chocolate chips and sweetened with dates... Nut-free, to boot, these treats are made with chickpeas!"

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Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu prepared Tomatillo Guajillo Salsa
"Roasting the tomatillos under the broiler brings out the sweet tart flavor of the fruit while toasting the dried chiles deepens the intensity of the chile flavor resulting in wonderful melding of flavors."

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Marija of Palachinka prepared Cheese-stuffed Peppers
"Something unusual... In this part of Serbia, they don’t skim milk before they make cheese, so cheese is strong and salty. They often use sheep or goat milk cheese."

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Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once made Stuffed Eggplants
After stuffed peppers it is all too fitting to showcase some stuffed eggplants offered as a vacation memento by Haalo as she unpacks from her recent trip to Italy.

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Brii of Briggishome prepared Pumpkin & Tomato Tapenade
Not even pelting rains keeps Brii indoor (I don't think anything does :). After getting a good soak, she came home to make a recipe from her pumpkin cookbook Das Grosse Buch Vom Kürbis.

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Simona of briciole (your host for this week) prepared Chestnut, Bean and Potato Soup
"What I like about this soup is that the flavor of each main ingredient is perfectly clear to the palate and the chorus sings beautifully."

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As announced, this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging includes a book giveaway, courtesy of Amanda McTigue, whose novel Going to Solace has been the subject of a recent post I wrote. Seven people participated this week and the random number generator gave me the number 6 as its choice. The sixth person to send me her contribution is our esteemed organizer, Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once: congratulations! I will send Haalo the autographed copy of the book I have received from the author.

A heartfelt Thank you! to all who contributed to the event. Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu is currently accepting submissions for this week's edition of Weekend Herb Blogging. You can always look ahead to who's hosting on this page. And if you are new to the event or need a reminder, the rules for participating are detailed on this page.

A final thank you to Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, who organizes the event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. It gives me special pleasure to be part of an established tradition that links so many food bloggers around the world.

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Weekend Herb Blogging #359: il riepilogo

Come ospite dell'edizione di Weekend Herb Blogging della scorsa settimana, ho l'onore di presentare dei bellissimi post. Per ognuno, specifico i dati ufficiali (autore, nome del blog e titolo del post) e poi aggiungo una citazione o breve descrizione che riassume il post, un assaggino che vi invita a seguire il link per andare a mangiare leggere il resto. E come dessert potete leggere il risultato dell'estrazione del libro messo in palio questa settimana.

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Graziana di Erbe in cucina presenta Pizzoccheri alle tre salvie
Invece delle tradizionali coste, Graziana ha usato del pak choi dal suo terrazzo (nonché la sua salvia). "Il pak choi in effetti con i suoi gambi dolci e croccanti ha un gusto molto simile a quello delle coste."

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Brii di Briggishome ha preparato della Tapenade di Zucca & pomodoro
Nemmeno la pioggia battente tiene a casa Brii (credo che niente ci riesca). Dopo essersi bagnata bene, è tornata a casa e ha preparato una ricetta dal suo librone sulle zucche Das Grosse Buch Vom Kürbis.

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Simona di briciole presenta Zuppa di castagne, fagioli e patate
"Quello che mi piace di questa zuppa è che il sapore di ognuno degli ingredienti principali è perfettamente chiaro al palato e tutti insieme fanno un bel coro."

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Come annunciato, questa edizione di Weekend Herb Blogging include un libro in regalo offerto da Amanda McTigue, del cui romanzo Going to Solace ho parlato in un recente post. Sette persone hanno partecipato a questa edizione di e il generatore di numeri random ha scelto il numero 6. La sesta persona a mandarmi il suo contributo è stata Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once: congratulazioni! Manderò ad Haalo la copia autografata del libro che ho ricevuto dalla scrittrice per l'occasione.

Grazie di cuore a tutti coloro che hanno contribuito all'evento. Questa settimana l'ospite di WHB è Kris di Tutto ad occhio. Se volete saperne di più sull'evento potere andare su questa pagina. Qui invece trovate chi ospita e le raccolte delle edizioni passate.

Un ringraziamento finale ad Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, che organizza la versione "madre" dell'evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen e a Brii di briggishome che organizza la versione italiana. È bello far parte di una tradizione che unisce da tanto tempo food bloggers in tutto il mondo.

annuncio / announcement: My Legume Love Affair #53

If you've been wondering about My Legume Love Affair this month, wonder no more: I have the honor of being the host for the November 2012 edition of MLLA, the popular, legume-centered event that is the brainchild of Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Participation in the event revolves around a recipe that showcases one or more legumes. The recipe can be savory or sweet, with or without meat — no restrictions. The legume (or legumes) must be one of the main ingredients, not a minor character. (Exceptions to this general rule are legumes whose flavor is so intense that they are used in small quantities, like tamarind and fenugreek.)

In the US, we are fast approaching Thanksgiving and I am inviting you to add  a nice legume dish to your dinner.

You can send me a new post or a post from your archive reposted for the occasion. You can submit the recipe to other events as well, and you can send me more than one post (in which case, though, only one submission will be counted towards the random drawing described below). If you have a recipe to share, but not a blog where to post it, send the recipe and other applicable pieces of information to me and I will add it to the roundup. You will also be entered in the drawing.

The post must include a link to this announcement and also to Susan's post containing the host lineup. Use of the beautiful logo, designed by Susan, is optional. (The beans in the photo are white kidney beans  Susan bought at a Japanese market.)

Example of legumes include (but are not limited to):

• fresh or dried beans of any kind
• lentils
• chickpeas, ak.a., garbanzo beans (fresh or dried or their flour, a.k.a., besan)
• peas (fresh or dried or their pods)
• fava beans (fresh or dried)
• soy beans (fresh or dried, or their derivative products, like tofu)
• peanuts
• carob beans
• lupini beans

Not an exhaustive list, but it should give you a sense of the wide range of options. Note that in French the word légumes means vegetables, and also legumes. This event is about the second meaning.

To submit your post, send an email to simosite AT mac DOT com with MLLA entry in the subject and containing the following information:

1. Your Name
2. Name of Your Blog
3. Title and URL of Your Recipe Post
4. Your Location (necessary for the second prize described below; let me know if you prefer that I do not disclose it in the roundup)
5. Photo of the dish or legume(s) featured in it: Optional (but helpful) and maximum 400 px wide

If you don't have a blog, submit your recipe by sending me an email as described above (except for #2 and #3, which do not apply) with the description of the recipe.

The deadline is Friday, November 30 at noon PST.

If you don't receive an answer to your email or a comment on your post within two days of sending me the email, please contact me again: sometimes email messages get lost in cyberspace. Also, feel free to contact me should you have any questions regarding the event and its  rules.

The following prizes will be awarded to one winner via random drawing:

• Substituting Ingredients: The A to Z Kitchen Reference by Becky Sue Epstein. This prize is offered by Susan at her expense, and she will also absorb worldwide shipping charges.  F.T.C. Notice: Susan does not receive any compensation from Amazon. 
• Hurst Bean Box - A case of six bags of the winner's choice of Hurst Bean products, suitable for every diet, sponsored by Hurst Bean. (Due to shipping restrictions, this prize can only be awarded if the winner is a U.S. resident.) FTC Notice: In May 2010, Susan, at her request, received two Hurst Bean complimentary products which are not available for purchase in her local markets. Susan does not generally accept free products from Hurst Bean nor is she financially compensated by them.
• Drawing Structure - If the winner is a U.S. resident, she/he will be the recipient of both Prizes 1 and 2 above.  In the event that an international winner is drawn, a second drawing will be conducted from the U.S. pool of entrants to ensure that the Hurst Prize is awarded every month.  In these instances, the international winner will receive the book, and the U.S. winner will receive the Hurst Prize.

zuppa di castagne, fagioli e patate / chestnut, bean and potato soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

portrait of a soup

The smell of roasted chestnuts (caldarroste) more than anything else means autumn (autunno) to me. Every year, my mother would buy a large case of chestnuts from someone in Casperia, the village in central Italy where she grew up. We would then consume them over the span of several weeks: she would roast some one day and boil them another, and we always ate them at the end of dinner, as a special dessert. She never used them as an ingredient.

caldarrostaio in Perugia

Street sellers of roasted chestnuts are a common sight in Italy, their presence announced far and wide by the irresistible aroma of the hot product they sell. You buy a cartoccio (paper cone) of roasted chestnuts not only to eat the fragrant nuts, but also to warm up your hands.

I am lucky enough that I can count on two local growers bringing chestnuts to the farmers' market (I will add a photo when I manage to shoot a nice one) and in the photo below you can see a detail of one of the two market stalls.

Differently from my mother, I like to use them as ingredients, as in this dish and the soup below.

Paul's mix, a medley of organic beans

For the bean component of the soup, I used Paul's mix, a signature blend of various kinds of organic beans already mentioned in this post and also this one.  And for the potato portion, I used freshly dug potatoes from my garden.

purple majesty potato plant

Instead of a photo of raw potatoes, I am sharing one of my potato plants, taken at the end of January. As I have said before, I love growing potatoes because they are pretty and digging them is as satisfactory as participating in a treasure hunt.

The recipe I am proposing is a combination of elements from a couple of recipes I read (one and two, in Italian) that use the base ingredients I had chosen (though one calls for dry chestnuts), plus my own personal tastes and my preference for simple dishes.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for zuppa di castagne, fagioli e patate

Ingredients:

• 3.5 oz / 1/2 cup / 100g Paul's mix beans or borlotti [see below how to cook beans with aromatics]
• 8 oz. / 1/2 lb. / 225 g fresh chestnuts
• 1 bay leaf
• Olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• Half a leek, white and light green portion, cut into half moons and carefully rinsed (save the darker green portion to make broth or stock)
• 4 sage leaves, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 9 oz. / 250 g potatoes, well scrubbed and cubed (I used a mix of Purple Majesty and Yukon Gold from my garden)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup / 240 ml  homemade chicken stock/broth or vegetable option (in which case, this soup is vegetarian)
• Sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste

How to cook dry beans
The way I cook beans for further use comes from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (Beans with Aromatics). After soaking half a cup of dry beans for several hours or overnight in enough water to cover them by about an inch (I use two cups), empty the whole bowl into a saucepan and add

• Half of a small onion (or a quarter of a medium one), halved
• A bay leaf
• A small clove of garlic, sliced
• A couple of sprigs of fresh parsley

Bring the water to a lively boil quickly, and keep it there for five minutes, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are ready. How long this takes depends on the type of beans and their freshness. Let them cool in their broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their cooking broth until ready to use.

How to cook the chestnuts
Place chestnuts in a saucepan, cover abundantly with water and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and cook gently until they are tender. Keep the chestnuts in the cooking water and take out one at a time to peel. Use a sharp knife with a pointed blade to remove the shell, then the skin. Set aside. (If a chestnut breaks, while being handled, it is fine.)

How to cook the soup
Warm up some olive oil in a saucepan, then add shallot and leek. Stir well to coat. After a couple of minutes, add sage and rosemary and stir. After a few more minutes, add the potatoes, beans with their cooking liquid, tomato paste and broth, plus enough water to cover.

Bring the soup to a boil, covered, then turn down the heat and cook for 15 minutes. Add the chestnuts and cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are very tender (you can easily mash one with a spoon on the side of the pan).

Remove from the heat and purée using an immersion blender,  if possible. If you use a food processor or blender, purée in small batches and use extreme care. You may opt for a minimal blending so not all the ingredients are completely puréed. This makes for an interesting texture. Add more water, as needed, to make the soup reach the desired consistency. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve.

What I like about this soup is that the flavor of each main ingredient is perfectly clear to the palate and the chorus sings beautifully.

This is my contribution to edition #359 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Simona of briciole (that is, me).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

zuppa di castagne, fagioli e patate

or launch the zuppa di castagne, fagioli e patate audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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beans, chestnuts, soup, potato, Italian recipe

zuppa di castagne, fagioli e patate

ritratto di zuppa

Il profumo delle caldarroste è il più chiaro segno d'autunno. Ogni anno, mia madre comprava una cassetta di castagne a Casperia, il paese dov'era cresciuta. Nelle settimane successive, una volta le faceva arrosto e la volta dopo bollite e le mangiavamo come dessert a cena. Mia madre non usava mai le castagne come ingrediente.

caldarrostaio a Corso Vannucci (Perugia)

Sono fortunata dal momento che ci sono ben due produttori locali di castagne e le posso acquistare al farmers' market.

A differenza di mia madre, a me piace usare le castagne come ingrediente, per esempio in un piatto con fagioli e funghi e nella zuppa qui sotto.

Paul's mix: fagioli bio di diversi tipi

Per la componente fagioli della zuppa ho usato "Paul's mix," un misto di vari tipi di fagioli bio del quale ho parlato in precedenza in questo post e anche quest'altro.  E per la componente patate ho usato quelle che ho raccolto più di recente dal mio orticello.

pianta di patate viola Purple Majesty

Invece di una foto di patate crude, ve ne mostro una scattata nel mio orticello a fine Gennaio. Mi piace un sacco raccogliere le patate: è come partecipare ad una caccia al tesoro speciale.

La ricetta che propongo è nata dalla combinazione di idee tratte da un paio di ricette trovate online (una e due, in italiano) che fanno uso degli ingredienti di base che avevo scelto (anche se una delle ricette prevede le castagne secche) più i miei gusti personali e la mia preferenza per i piatti semplici.

Ingredienti per i fagioli:

• 100 g di fagioli borlotti secchi (mi rendo conto che il Paul's mix in Italia non si trova)
• mezza cipolla piccola (o un quarto di cipolla media)
• una fogliolina d'alloro
• un piccolo spicchio d'aglio tagliato a fettine
• un paio di steli di prezzemolo               

Altri ingredienti per la zuppa:

• 225 g di castagne
• una foglia d'alloro
• olio d'oliva
• uno scalogno tagliato a pezzetti
• mezzo porro (la parte bianca e verde chiara), tagliato a mezzelune e ben sciacquato (mettere da parte la porzione verde scura per quando fate il brodo)
• 4 foglie di salvia tagliate a filetti
• 1 cucchiaino di aghi di rosmarino tagliati a pezzetti
• 250 g di patate fresche pulite bene e tagliate a cubetti (io ho usato un misto di patate e pasta gialla e a pasta viola)
• 1 cucchiaio (15 ml) di concentrato di pomodoro
• brodo di pollo o vegetale fatto in casa (nel qual caso la zuppa è vegetariana)
• sale fino
• pepe macinato fresco

Cuocere i fagioli
Il metodo che uso per cuocere i fagioli secchi viene da Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone di Deborah Madison (Beans with Aromatics). Dopo aver tenuto in ammollo 100 g di fagioli per diverse ore o, meglio, tutta la notte, in abbastanza acqua da coprirli per 2,5 cm (io ne uso 475 ml), verso il tutto in una pentola e aggiungo gli odori.

Portare a bollore vivace e mantenerlo per 5 minuti, poi abbassare il calore e far cuocere, coperti, fino a quando i fagioli non sono teneri. Il tempo necessario dipende dal tipo di fagioli e dalla loro freschezza. Far freddare i fagioli nel liquido di cottura, poi rimuovere gli odori e scartarli. Lasciare i fagioli nel liquido di cottura fino a quando non li utilizzate.

Cuocere le castagne
Metter le castagne in una pentola, coprire abbondantemente d'acqua e aggiungere l'alloro. Portare a bollore e cuocere a fuoco dolce fino a quando le castagne sono morbide. Tenere le castagne nell'acqua di cottura e tirarne fuori una alla volta per pelarla. Usare un coltello con la punta per rimuovere la buccia e la pellicina. Mettere da parte. (Non è necessario che le castagne rimangano intere.)

Cuocere la zuppa
In una pentola far scaldare dell’olio e aggiungervi lo scalogno e il porro. Mescolare bene e, dopo un paio di minuti, aggiungere la salvia e il rosmarino. Dopo qualche minuto, aggiungere le patate, i fagioli con il loro liquido di cottura, il concentrato di pomodoro e il brodo, più abbastanza acqua da coprire gli ingredienti.

Mettere il coperchio e portare a bollore, poi regolare il calore per mantenere un leggero bollore. Cuocere per 15 minuti, poi aggiungere le castagne. Cuocere per altri 15-20 minuti, o fino a quando i pezzi di patata siano morbidi (cioè potete schiacciarli con il dorso di un cucchiaio di legno contro la parete della pentola).

Togliere la pentola dal fuoco, e ridurre le verdure a purè con il frullatore ad immersione, più o meno a seconda della consistenza che si preferisce. Aggiungere acqua quanto basta per ottenere una zuppa della consistenza desiderata. Regolare sale e pepe a piacere e servire la zuppa ben calda.

Quello che mi piace di questa zuppa è che il sapore di ognuno degli ingredienti principali è perfettamente chiaro al palato e tutti insieme fanno un bel coro.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 359 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Simona di briciole (che poi sono io).

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.