briciole

scone alle carote arrosto / roasted carrot scones

with the first pink rose from my garden

I have sometimes thought about the menu of my own small café. I don't believe it will ever exist outside my imagination, but I enjoy adding to the list something that I think would go well there, like these scones — or the ones with red beet, apple and pistachios I made recently.

I love scones, I always have, from the day, many years ago, when I tasted my first one during my first visit to the UK. They are flavorful and not sweet, nourishing and versatile. They prefer to charm you with their flavor and texture rather than polished looks. I could bake a batch every day. When I do bake a batch, I feel like the day starts on the right note.

The theme of opening a café is present in the book we are currently reading in our Cook the Cooks Club: The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe. I wish I could find an elegant way to say this, but I didn't like the novel — and I don't like macarons, which feature prominently in it. The scones were inspired by the novel in the sense that they were a reaction to it. They are unadorned, crisp outside and tender inside, a bit rustic, a bit surprising with their nuanced flavor of carrot punctuated by the small pieces of candied ginger, simply irresistible. Scone are traditionally served with tea and without roses, but I was too excited about cutting the first pink rose of the season from my bush not to share it here. 

Today's scones start with two pounds of freshly harvested small carrots, which I prepared using this simple yet lovely recipe by Lynda of TasteFood with a couple of minor adjustments (see below). The result was very much appreciated at the table. As I was putting away the leftovers, I thought about using some to make scones.

The morning after, I had to solve the problem of turning the roasted carrots into a form suitable for scone-making. After some deliberation, I decided to chop them and add them to the food processor after the butter had been cut into the flour. It worked and the scones were a success, so the following week, when I found more carrots in my CSA share, I was ready to repeat the sequence of roasting followed by scone making. As an aside, this time I had a smaller amount of carrots, so I added to the pan a mix of baby turnips (rape novelle) and radishes (ravanelli), a great duo of root vegetables (I will soon share a recipe featuring them).

Ingredients (see my earlier post for additional information on the original recipe and the ingredients; overall, I halved the quantities):

1. 3 ounces (85 g) leftover roasted carrots, chopped
2. 3 1/2 tablespoons (1.75 oz.) unsalted browned butter (or 4 tablespoon unsalted butter and no ricotta)
3. 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour + 1 tablespoon cornmeal + 1 tablespoon teff flour + enough all-purpose flour to make 1 cup OR 1 cup (130 g) all-purpose flour
4. 1/2 cup (65 g) whole-wheat pastry flour
5. 1/4 cup finely chopped uncrystallized candied ginger (zenzero candito)
   
6. 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
7. 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
8. 3/8 teaspoon sea salt
9. 1 teaspoon ultra-fine or granulated sugar
   
10. 1/2 tablespoon ricotta or plain kefir cheese or cream cheese
11. 1/2 cup (120 ml) homemade kefir; original recipe alternatives: buttermilk (latticello), plain yogurt or sour cream (low-fat or non-fat is fine)

How to roast the carrots
The evening before I baked the scones, I prepared the carrots using this recipe with the following minor adjustments:

• I used thyme leaves rather than whole sprigs
• I used only 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• I did not add the sugar in the last step

Since my carrots were more like toddlers than babies, I cut the bigger ones lengthwise and/or crosswise, and it took me some 25 minutes to get them to the tenderness I desired.

You can, of course, choose your favorite method for oven-roasting carrots.

The morning after, weigh the amount of carrots needed for the scones (making sure to incude a nice amount of thyme leaves) and chop them. Set aside.

golden mix

How to make the scones
Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or a piece of parchment paper and sprinkle flour over the surface.

Take the browned butter out of the fridge and let it soften slightly while you prepare the other ingredients. Measure the flours and set aside a tablespoon or so to flour the pieces of candied ginger, so they stay separate when you add them to the dough at the end. Put the rest of the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar into the food processor fitted with steel blade. Cut butter into pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse a few times for several seconds until the flour mix resembles coarse meal.

Add the chopped carrots to the food processor and continue pulsing until you see that the carrots have been finely chopped into the flour mix, which will turn into a delicate golden color (see photo above).

Pour dry ingredients into a bowl. Add the floured candied ginger and stir to distribute. In a small bowl, whisk together ricotta and kefir, then add them to the drier mix. Stir with a spatula until ingredients are just combined.

Turn dough onto the lined baking sheet and, with your hands, shape into a 1/2-inch thick square. With a bench scrape, cut into four lengthwise and then crosswise to get 16 small squares. With the help of the bench scrape, separate the pieces, so that they are at least one inch apart. If the corner pieces are much smaller than the rest, join them, so you'll end up with 14-15 scones of comparable size.

Bake for 16 minutes, then check the bottom of one scone: if it is golden brown, they are ready, otherwise, bake for another two minutes and check again. In my experience, these scones take a bit longer to bake than other types of scones I made with the same base recipe, so besides checking the bottom, I also tap on the top to make sure it is crisp, before deciding that the scones are ready and I let them sit for a minute on the baking sheet before moving them onto a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature (temperatura ambiente).

These scones are perfect for breakfast and I like to serve them for dinner as well, as a bread substitute, with creamy homemade kefir cheese or a spread, like my roasted red pepper and almond dip. As I said above: they are simply irresistible.

Once cooled completely, the scones can be frozen. When I want to serve them, I put them straight in a 350 F oven for 8-10 minutes.

This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. You can find the guidelines for participating in the event here, and here is the announcement.

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I am contributing my scones also to the May edition of Bake With Love! (formerly Bake Your Own Bread) hosted by Roxana of Roxana's Homebaking.

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

scone alle carote arrosto

or launch the scone alle carote arrosto 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.]

scone, carrot, ginger

pezze rigate / handmade pezze rigate

experimenting on the kneading board

I am determined: One day, I will invent a new pasta shape. As an intermediate step, I have created an innovative variation of an existing pasta shape called fainelle. I decided to give my pasta a different name, because it is made quite differently from the inspiring one (see details below).¹

According to my source, the "Encyclopedia of Pasta" by Oretta Zanini De Vita, fainelle are typical of Foggia (Puglia). The word fainella in dialect refers to the fruit of the carrob tree (in Italian, carruba), to which the pasta shape resembles. I was not able to find a reference to it outside of the page in Zanini De Vita's book, so the idea I have is based on the drawing and the text on that page.

Fainelle belong to the strascinati family of pasta shapes and are made with a sferre: "A typical knife of Puglia used to make many types of pasta. It has no handle, so it can also be used horizontally to make long strascinati." To approximate the shape, I decided to roll the dough with one of the pieces of dowel I had purchased during my experiments to make garganelli. I realized that using a mini rolling pin meant my pasta would not be a type of strascinato. (A sferre is now officially on my wish list.)

The result reminded me of a patch made of cloth, in Italian pezza. I made a couple of pezze and then the presence on my working surface of my gnocchi board gave me the idea of rolling the pieces of pasta dough on it to get a ridged surface and pezze rigate were born.

Then I thought about a variation: instead of placing the cylinder of dough parallel to the board grooves, I placed it a bit angled and as a result the ridges on the surface of the pezza came out oblique.

You can see my hands at work on both versions in this short video:

 

Based on Zanini De Vita's description of the flours used for this pasta shape, I decided to make a blend of whole-wheat flour and semolina flour. I could have used farina di grano arso, also mentioned in the book, but I wanted to vary.

first batch of pezze

I am reading a cookbook for an upcoming review that is all about using flowers in the kitchen. I had some calendulas (calendule) I had obtained to make one of the book's recipes and I added some of their petals (petali) to the pasta dough.

with calendula petals

Pezze rigate are probably not the best choice to show off the use of flowers in the kitchen, but it was an interesting experiment and I will certainly work more on the idea.

Ingredients for the pasta:

• EITHER 25 g / 1 oz. stone-ground whole-wheat flour + 75 g / 2.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality
• OR 100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality
• 50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
• A pinch of salt

How to make the dough and shape pezze rigate
Make a dough with the pasta ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let the dough rest, well wrapped to avoid drying, for half an hour or so.

Shape 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 1/2-inch (4 cm) long pieces, then place each cylinder on the gnocchi board with the long sides either parallel to the board's grooves or slightly angled. Run the mini rolling pin — a piece of dowel of 3/8 inch (1 cm) or 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) in diameter — over the piece of dough 2-3 times to thin it and "stamp" it. The resulting pezza rigata will be about 2 inches long. Lay out to dry ridged side up on a surface lightly dusted with flour. 

Repeat with the other pieces of dough. Lightly dust the gnocchi board as needed to prevent the dough from sticking too tightly when you roll it.

ready for the fork

Cook the pasta
Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the pezze rigate in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). The time needed to cook is a bit variable, depending on the size of pezze, how dry they are, etc. Taste and stop the cooking when the pasta is ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the pezze.

Place in a bowl, distribute some sugo di pomodoro (tomato sauce), reheated if necessary, and toss. Finally, sprinkle some Parmigiano-Reggiano on top and serve immediately.

Alternatively, while the pasta is cooking, place a few tablespoons of the tomato sauce in a small skillet and warm it up. Drain the pasta and drop it into the skillet with the sauce. Stir well over medium-low heat for a minute. 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 (served as Italian first course).

I will add this recipe to my growing collection of pasta shapes. Please, do let me know if you try your hand at making any of them.

1 If you are aware of another pasta shape that is similar to (or the same as) what I made, please let me know.

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This is my contribution to the current edition of Pasta Please, a new pasta-centric event created by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and hosted this month by Simona of briciole. The theme this month is: homemade pasta.

You have until May 28 to link to your contribution in this post.

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The top photo is my second contribution to edition #84 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 Simona of briciole.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white (Lightroom preset Split Tone 1).

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

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

pezze rigate

or launch the pezze rigate 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.]

handmade pasta, semolina flour, whole-wheat flour, Italian cuisine

Related articles

annuncio / announcement: Pasta Please

scone con barbabietola rossa, mela e pistacchi / red beet, apple and pistachio scones

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

the photo could be better, but the scones are perfect

The recipe started with yet another batch of small red beets freshly harvested and promptly roasted. It went on with an apple too large to eat all as my breakfast. En route, it picked up some fresh dill (aneto) and to complete the party, it invited pistachios to join: what a success!

I had a hard time setting up this shooting session, even within the realm of my minimalist style of food photography. I baked four batches of these scones and every time, my camera wanted to be outside, focusing on large landscapes rather than small edibles.

On the other hand, the scones have a kind of rough beauty that comes across in the photos and that I find quite attractive. I like that the color is not uniform, but somewhat marbled. Above all, I like how the scones taste.

I keep using the same scone recipe, making small adjustments to accommodate each variation I come up with.

Ingredients (see my previous post for additional information on the original recipe and the ingredients; overall, I halved the quantities of the original recipe):

1. 3 1/2 tablespoons (1.75 oz.) unsalted browned butter (or 4 tablespoon unsalted butter and no ricotta)
2. 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour + 2 tablespoons cornmeal + enough all-purpose flour to make 1 cup OR 1 cup (130 g) all-purpose flour
3. 1/2 cup (65 g) whole-wheat pastry flour
4. 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
5. 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6. 3/8 teaspoon sea salt
7. 1 teaspoon ultra-fine or granulated sugar
8. 1/4 cup grated roasted red beet (use the medium side of your grater)
9. 1/4 cup grated apple (use the extra-coarse side of your grater)
10. 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh dill (aneto)
11. 1/2 tablespoon ricotta or cream cheese or plain kefir cheese
12. 1/2 cup (120 ml) homemade kefir; original recipe alternatives: buttermilk (latticello), plain yogurt or sour cream (low-fat or non-fat is fine)
13. 1/4 cup (1 oz.) roasted and lightly salted pistachios, chopped

How to roast beets
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Rinse and scrub well beets, then wrap each in foil, place on a baking sheet, and bake until easily pierced with a knife. Alternatively, place clean beets in a baking pan or dish, add 1/4 inch of water to the pan and cover tightly with foil or dish's lid, then proceed as with the other method. Let beets  cool until easy to handle, then slip off the skin.

Note: If you are like me and prefer to buy bunches of beets with their greens still attached, cut the greens an inch above the beet, then proceed with the preparation. I usually bake a number of beets at a time, for efficiency's sake. There are many ways you can use them, for example, this soup or this spread. I also set aside the greens to make a frittata or to add to kale in this dish. And I prepare the stalks in this way.

How to make the scones
The procedure I follow is also a bit different from the original recipe.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or a piece of parchment paper and sprinkle flour over the surface.

Take the browned butter out of the fridge and let it soften slightly while you prepare the other ingredients. Grate red beet and apple. Measure ingredients number 2 through 8 and put into the food processor fitted with steel blade. Cut butter into pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse a few times for several seconds until the flour mix resembles coarse meal. Due to the red beet, it will be pink.

Pour dry ingredients into a bowl, add apple and dill. In a small bowl, whisk together ricotta and kefir, then add them to the drier mix. Stir with a spatula a couple of times, then add the pistachios. Stir briefly until ingredients are just combined.

Turn dough onto the lined sheet and shape into a 1/2-inch thick square. With a bench scrape, cut into four lengthwise and then crosswise to get 16 small squares. With the help of the bench scrape, separate the pieces, so that they are at least one inch apart. If the corner pieces are much smaller than the rest, join them, so you'll end up with 14-15 scones of comparable size.

Bake for 15 minutes, then check the bottom of one scone: if it is golden brown, they are ready, otherwise, bake for another two minutes and check again. When ready, move them onto a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

marbled, fragrant, excellent scones

These scones are perfect for breakfast and I like to serve them for dinner as well, as a bread substitute, with creamy homemade kefir cheese or a spread.

Once cooled completely, the scones can be frozen. When I want to serve them, I put them straight in a 350 F oven for 8-10 minutes.

This is my contribution to edition #383 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:

scone con barbabietola rossa, mela e pistacchi

or launch the scone con barbabietola rossa, mela e pistacchi 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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scone, red beet, apple, kefir, pistachio

Per i lettori italiani

la foto non è gran che, ma gli scone sono perfetti

La ricetta comincia con un po' di piccole barbabietole rosse appena raccolte che ho subito cotto al forno. Continua con una mela un po' troppo grossa per essere mangiata tutta per colazione. Per strada, dà un passaggio a dell'aneto fresco e per completare la festa invita dei pistacchi tostati. Il risultato: un successo!

Ho avuto un po' di difficoltà a fare foto, anche nel mio stile minimalista. Ho preparato gli scone quattro volte e ogni volta la mia macchina fotografica voleva essere all'aperto e puntare a vasti paesaggi piuttosto che a piccoli oggetti commestibili.

D'altra parte, questi scone hanno una loro bellezza rustica che le foto mostrano bene e che io personalmente trovo molto attraente. Mi piace il fatto che il colore non sia uniforme ma un po' marmorizzato. E soprattutto mi piace il sapore di questi scone.

Continuo ad usare la mia ricetta base degli scone e faccio piccoli cambiamenti per adattarla a ciascuna variazione che invento.

Ingredienti (vedi il mio post precedente per ulteriori informazioni riguardanti la ricetta originale e gli ingredienti; ho dimezzato le quantità della ricetta originale):

1. 50 g burro nocciola (oppure 57 g di burro normale e non usare la ricotta)
2. 2 cucchiai [30 ml] farina di grano saraceno + [30 ml] fioretto di mais + abbastanza farina di grano per arrivare a 130 g, oppure 130 g di farina di grano
3. 65 g farina integrale fina (da dolci)
4. 1/2 cucchiaio (7,5 ml) lievito per dolci
5. 1/4 cucchiaino bicarbonato di soda
6. 3/8 cucchiaino sale fino
7. 1 cucchiaino zucchero bianco fine
8. 1/4 tazza (60 ml) barbabietola rossa cotta in forno e grattugiata con la grattugia a buchi medi o grossi
9. 1/4 tazza (60 ml) mela grattugiata con la grattugia a buchi grossi (un quarto di una mela medio-grossa)
10. 1 cucchiaino aneto fresco tritato
11. 1/2 cucchiaio (7,5 ml) ricotta o formaggio cremoso
12. 120 ml kefir fatto in casa; la ricetta originale offre varie alternative: latticello, yogurt bianco o panna acida (va bene anche parzialmente scremato o magro)
13. 30 g pistacchi tostati e leggermente salati, tritati

Come cuocere le barbabietole rosse
Scaldare il forno a 190 C. Pulire bene la barbabietola (o barbabietole), avvolgere in pellicola di alluminio, porle su una lastra da forno e cuocerle in forno fino a quando è facile perforarla con una lama.  Lasciar intiepidire e poi rimuovere la buccia. 

Nota: Se siete come me e preferite comprare barbabietole con ancora attaccate le foglie, tagliate i gambi 2-3 cm sopra alla radice e poi proseguite con la preparazione. Di solito cuocio un certo numero di barbabietole per volta, per amor di efficienza. Potete usarle in diversi modi, a parte quello descritto in questo post (per esempio, questa zuppa o questa crema da spalmare). Io utilizzo le foglie per fare una frittata o insieme al cavolo riccio in questo gratin. E gli steli li preparo in questo modo.

Come prepareare gli scone
La mia procedura è un po' diversa da quella descritta nella ricetta originale.

Scaldare il forno a 218 C. Foderare una lastra da forno con un tappetino di silicone per forno o carta da forno e spargere un po' di farina sulla superficie. Togliere dal frigorifero il burro nocciola e farlo ammorbidire leggermente mentre preparate gli altri ingredienti.

Grattugiare barbabietola e mela. Misurare gli ingredienti dal numero 2 all'8 e metterli nel robot con la lama d'acciaio. Tagliare a pezzi il burro e aggiungerlo agli ingredienti. Pulsare un po' di volte per diversi secondi per sabbiare. La barbabietola rossa fa diventare il composto rosa.

Versare gli ingredienti secchi in una ciotola, aggiungere mela e aneto. In una ciotola piccola, mescolare ricotta e kefir e poi aggiungerli agli ingredienti secchi. Con una spatole, mescolare brevemente, poi aggiungere i pistacchi. Mescolare solo fino a quando si ha un impasto coeso.

Rovesciare l'impasto sulla lastra foderata e dargli la forma di un quadrato spesso 1,25 cm. Con un raschietto, tagliare il quadrato in quattro per lungo e per largo in modo da ottenere 16 quadretti. Con l'aiuto del raschietto, separare i quadretti in modo che siano distanti almeno 2,5 cm. Se i quadretti d'angolo sono molto più piccoli degli altri, uniteli a due a due in modo da avere 14-15 scone di dimensioni simili.

Infornare e cuocere per 15 minuti, poi controllare il fondo di uno scone: se è bello dorato, gli scone sono pronti. Se no, cuocere per un altro paio di minuti e controllare di nuovo. Quando sono pronti, trasferirli su una griglia e servirli caldi o a temperatura ambiente.

marmorizzati, fragranti, buonissimi

Questi scone sono ottimi per colazione e a me piace anche servirli per cena, al posto del pane, con formaggio di kefir cremoso o una crema salata da spalmare.

Una volta raffreddati, surgelo sempre una parte degli scone. Quando poi voglio servirli, li metto direttamente in forno riscaldato a 175 C per 10 minuti.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 383 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 sarei io).

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

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Weekend Herb Blogging #383: il raccolto / the roundup

lorighittas al sugo piccante / lorighittas with spicy hot tomato sauce

ready to dry

Inspiration often comes unexpectedly. When I followed the link to read this post by Aioulik of Trattoria MuVarA (in Italian), I expected to be reminded of some of the great dishes typical of the Sardinian cuisine. The photo of the lovely pasta shape resembling a miniature wreath or an earring made me search immediately online for information. Shortly afterwards, I was at the kneading board. Later, I posted this phost to my Instagram feed:

from my first batch of lorighittas

I think it was not bad for my first try.

According to online sources, lorighittas are typical of the Sardinian town of Morgongiori (province of Oristano). As explained on this page, the name comes from sa loriga, a Sardinian word that indicates the iron ring fixed to the wall of a house to which horses or donkeys were tethered. 

In this video (in Italian), the woman interviewed talks about the tradition of making lorighittas. She adds the salt to the water rather than the semola (in this post, there is a brief discussion of the various products obtained by milling durum wheat) and calls that battezzare (to baptize). She says that the pasta is fully dried, a process that takes several days. I assume the drying is done for storage. 

Other interesting things from the video are the beautiful basket on which the lorighittas are laid out to dry and the repurposed meatgrinder. Instead of a basket, I used a cookie sheet lined with a cotton kitchen towel (see top photo). I then covered the lorighittas with another towel.

To make lorighittas you roll the dough into a string that is thin enough, but not so thin as to break during the shaping. The meatgrinder made a lot of sense, so I decided to try using it. Unfortunately, the disk I have (only one, since my meatgrinder is basically an antique) does not produce smooth strings, so my experiment did not end satisfactorily. I went back to rolling with my hands.

Shaping the lorighittas requires a bit of attention. In this video, you can see my hands at work.

A quick comparison with the hands of the women in the previous video shows that I have a little way to go before I can contemplate making lorighittas for a large party. But I am determined to improve with practice.

Considering that I had chosen a complex pasta shape, I thought I would go easy in terms of sauce. Having missed last month's edition of Pasta Please, I wanted to comply with this month's theme, chili peppers, so I made simple tomato sauce using my strained roasted tomatoes and I spiked it with peperoncino.

See this bunch of peperoncini? I have had them for some time and I can assure you they've lost none of their potency.

bright red peperoncini next to big zucchini blossoms

I bought them during my only visit to the farmers' market in Milan, shortly after they opened it. I had a mixed experience there, but walked away with, among other things, a pretty bunch of peperoncini, fiery in both color and flavor, which I have been using ever since.

Ingredients for the pasta:

• 100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality (see the post on orecchiette for details on products of ground durum wheat)
• 50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
• a pinch of salt

Ingredients for the spicy tomato sauce:

• Olive oil
• Two garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 cups strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, if frozen)
• A red chili pepper (see below for details)
• Sea salt, to taste
• Freshly grated fiore sardo, to taste

Make lorighittas
Make a dough with the three ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let the dough rest, covered, for at least half an hour.

Roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the lorighittas. You don't want the dough to dry out. Roll each piece into a thin string, not thicker than 1/6 inch / 0.4 cm diameter (see Note below). Wrap the string around the four fingers twice then break the dough and join the two ends by pressing lightly. Note: if the rings come out too long and you have trouble with the next step, try using only three fingers. Thread one loop into the other a few times until the two strands are woven into a sort of two-strand braid.

Continue until all the dough is used. You may want to dust lightly with flour the surface where you lay the shaped lorighittas, to prevent them from sticking. And you may need to wet your hands if they get too dry while shaping the pasta (it happened to me).

The first time I made the pasta, I cooked it a few hours after I had shaped it. The second time, I dried it for a couple of days to see how it looked. Note: someone whose mother is from Morgongiori kindly commented on FB that the string of dough must be thinner than it appears in my version of lorighittas. I am aware that in my first rendition the string of dough was a bit thick. Also, the perspective of the close-up photos is somewhat tricky. Finally, I learned by myself, just watching a video, so I make no claims about the authenticity of my lorighittas. As I mentioned above, the dough should be thin, but not so thin as to break when you roll it around your fingers. I am sure my technique would improve if I could spend some time in Morgongiori with the pros and if I am ever in Sardinia, you can be sure I'd visit the town and look for a mentor.

just shaped

Prepare the spicy tomato sauce
In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add garlic and chili pepper. Choose the chili pepper's size and how you cut it based on how spicy you want your sauce. In my household, the preference goes to mild spicyness, so I chose a smallish peperoncino. I left it whole and snapped off the stem and the small cap to which it is attached.

Cook gently for a couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7-8 minutes. Remove garlic and chili pepper. Adjust salt, to taste. Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the pasta, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

If you find that the sauce is too hot for your taste, make another batch without peperoncino and then blend the two.

Cook the pasta
Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the lorighittas in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size of lorighittas, how dry they are, etc. Dry lorighittas take quite some time to cook, so be patient. Taste and stop the cooking when the lorighittas are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the lorighittas. Place in a bowl, distribute some tomato sauce (reheated if necessary), 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. Drain the pasta and drop it into the skillet with the sauce. Stir well over medium-low heat for a minute. 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.

pretty on the plate

Every time I make a new pasta shape, I think it is the prettiest I have made so far. Lorighittas stand well with the spicyness of the peperoncino in the sauce. I honestly liked the fresh version a bit better, but I am glad I dried one batch. I will do it again and complete the drying process, so I can store the pasta for later use.

This is my contribution to the current edition of Pasta Please, a new pasta-centric event created by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and hosted this month by Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen. The theme this month is: chillies (a.k.a. chili peppers).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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The top photo is my contribution to edition #81 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 Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to  sepia (using Lightroom preset Sepia Tone).

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

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

lorighittas al sugo piccante

or launch the lorighittas al sugo piccante 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.]

handmade pasta, semolina flour, chili pepper

panini quadrifoglio / four-leaf clover rolls

waiting for the rolls to cool

Do you remember the delivery of mail catalogs that was an almost daily occurrence until not too long ago? Annoying as sometimes was, I realize that, as an adult immigrant to the US, I would have not learned about certain brands had I not received their catalogs.

King Arthur Flour's¹ catalog keeps arriving in my mail box and I like to leaf through it because it showcases a few recipes and they have been inspirational more than once: The recipe for four-leaf clover rolls is the most recent example (and this is a previous one).

The display of this recipe had to do with St. Patrick's Day, but, as usual, things I see need to ferment in my brain for a bit before I act upon them. Then, I need to test the recipe at least a couple of times before I decide whether to talk about it on my blog.

nesting in the ramekin

The photo in the catalog showed the rolls nesting in the ramekins in which they were baked: it caught my attention. I read the instructions and they seemed pretty straightforward to execute, so I did it and loved the result.

Then I did it again and again enjoyed the rolls, so now I am inviting you to try them. For once, I made only a couple of minor changes to the list of ingredients, besides halving the quantities and making therefore four rolls. I used:

• 120 g KAF unbleached all-purpose flour (this is the flour I generally use for bread baking)
• 55 g KAF white whole-wheat flour, instead of Irish-style wholemeal flour, because I had the former but not the latter — this substitution is also suggested in the tips box
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 g honey (miele), i.e., half the amount
• 14 g soft unsalted butter the first time, then the second time 10 g olive oil, and I liked the flavor better
•  123 g lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 28 g toasted pecans rather than walnuts, because I happened to have a nice batch of toasted pecans for this recipe
• 35 g currants
• no glossy finish (which in any case is optional)

One nice thing about the recipes on the KAF's website is that you can view the list of ingredients in volume, ounces or grams. I always choose the latter options, especially when I need to perform division on the quantities.

and then it's tasting time!

Whether you make the full amount or half, follow the directions on the recipe page and you'll be rewarded with pretty rolls that are a pleasure to pry open along the seams. A dose of sweetness and a bit of crunchiness come together in the rolls which are perfect to nibble by themselves and to accompany your dinner.

cleaning up after baking

In this photo, the usual chaos around my kitchen sink (lavello) includes the four ramekins in which the four-leaf clover rolls had baked.

¹ Disclaimer: I neither have nor had any business relationship with this company. This is not an advertisement, but simply a description of the brand I use.

I am sending my cute rolls to Panissimo a biweekly event created recently by Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of indovina chi viene a cena?

This post contains the roundup of the event, English version, and this one the Italian version.

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And I am also contributing it to the April edition of Bake Your Own Bread hosted by Roxana of Roxana's Homebaking.

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The bottom photo is my contribution to edition #80 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar

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

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

panini quadrifoglio

or launch the panini quadrifoglio 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.]

Irish bread, white whole-wheat flour, pecan, currants

torta alle noci / walnut cake

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

ready to be cut

One year, when I was still living in Milan, for my birthday dinner a friend of mine got me a walnut cake. I remember the nice contrast between the soft cake crumb and the crunchy walnuts. I am not sure why I never thought about making a walnut cake at home, maybe because I am not much of a cake person. However, when I saw the recipe for Gâteau aux Noix in the cookbook "Saveur Cooks Authentic French," a gift from my friend Christine of Christine Cooks, I knew immediately that I would make it.

the treasure inside the shell

During my childhood in Italy, we always had walnuts and hazelnuts (nocciole) in the house. My mother kept them in a special bowl that had a hook for the nutcracker (schiaccianoci). We purchased both types of nuts from someone in her native village. They were still in the shell (guscio). In fact, the first time I saw shelled walnuts sold was after I moved to California.

While I often buy shelled walnuts, when I have the opportunity, I get them whole and reenact my childhood game of challenging myself to crack the walnut open without breaking the nutmeat. I like to spend some time enveloped in the subtle smell of walnuts, listening to sharp little cracks, picking the nutmeat out of the broken shell with delicate fingers.

Back to the recipe, the first time I made it, I cut the sugar amount in half and the cake was a bit dry, so the second time, I added a small amount of liquid and the result was good. Also, I used some of my vanilla sugar to add just a nuance. Instead of a cake pan, I used a springform pan.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup / 2 oz. / 56 g chopped walnuts (they don't need to be chopped finely, but not coarsely either) [see below how to prepare walnuts for use]
• 3 eggs of good quality, possibly from pastured poultry
• 1/2 cup / 100 g / 3.5 oz. white sugar half of it vanilla sugar, if possible
• 1/3 cup / 80 ml walnut oil
• 1/3 cup / 80 ml dry white wine (vino bianco secco)
• 2 tablespoon / 30 ml homemade kefir (substitute with milk, if not available)
• 1 1/2 cups / 195 g all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon / 10 ml baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Prepare the walnuts
If your walnuts are freshly cracked, toast them lightly in a dry pan, shaking the pan often.

Otherwise, in her “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”, Deborah Madison gives instructions on how to treat walnuts to improve their flavor when they aren't freshly cracked, and make them less irritating for people who are sensitive to their skins. Bring a pan of water to a boil, add walnuts and let them stand for one minute, then drain them and absorb the excess moisture with a towel. Finally, spread the walnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat and place them in the oven preheated to 300 F until they have dried out, 15-20 minutes. Remove them from the oven as soon as they are dry. Chop and measure the amount required.

Make the cake
Preheat oven to 350 F. The second time I made the cake, I used the convection bake option (my oven does the temperature adjustment).

Break the eggs in a bowl and beat them with an electric hand mixer. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and bubbly. Add walnut oil, then wine, then kefir and beat at the lowest speed to mix.

Grease a 9-inch cake pan or line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and grease the side. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Add the egg mixture to the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Gently fold in the walnuts, then spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake the cake until a toothpick can be inserted and pulled out clean, about 40 minutes. Check the cake after 35 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven, cool for 10 minutes, and then remove it from the pan and place it onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely, then serve cut in wedges.

cutting another slice

This cake, soft and a bit crunchy when the teeth meet pieces of walnuts, is nice as dessert, with some vanilla ice cream, or for breakfast, together with a nice glass of strawberry lassi. 

This is my contribution to edition #381 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 Terry of Crumpets & Co..

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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My Gateau au Noix participates to the fifth installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. E like Escargot (France) is hosted by Elena of Zibaldone culinario.

This page contains Escargot's recipe and the list of dishes contributed to the event.

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

torta alle noci

or launch the torta alle noci 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.]

[jump to Comments]

walnuts, cake, French recipe

Per i lettori italiani

pronta per essere tagliata

Un anno, quando ancora abitavo a Milano, conclusi la cena di compleanno con una torta alle noci compratami da una mia amica. Mi ricordo il piacevole contrasto tra la pasta soffice e le noci croccanti. Non so bene per quale motivo non ho mai pensato a fare una torta alle noci, forse perché non sono molto brava con le torte. Ma quanto ho visto la ricetta per Gâteau aux Noix nel libro "Saveur Cooks Authentic French," un regalo della mia amica Christine di Christine Cooks, ho deciso subito che l'avrei preparata.

il tesoro nel guscio

Quando ero ragazzina, a casa avevamo sempre noci e nocciole che mia madre comprava al suo paese di origine in Sabina (Casperia). In California, la frutta secca comunemente viene venduta sgusciata. Spesso compro le noci sgusciate, ma quando mi capita, le compro intere e mi sfido di nuovo a schiacciare il guscio senza sbriciolare la noce. Mi piace spendere qualche minuto avvolta nel profumo delicato delle noci, che estraggo con dita pazienti dal guscio rotto.

Tornando alla ricetta, la prima volta che l'ho preparata ho usato metà dello zucchero e la torta e risultata un tantino secca, per cui la seconda volta ho aggiunto un po' di liquido e il risultato mi ha soddisfatto. Parte dello zucchero è alla vaniglia per dare giusto un idea di aroma. Infine, ho usato uno stampo a cerniera invece che uno stampo da torta rotondo.

Ingredienti:

• 56 g noci tritate (non troppo fini ma nemmeno in modo grossolano) [vedi sotto come preparare le noci]
• 3 uova codice 0
• 100 g zucchero, se possibile, metà aromatizzato alla vaniglia
• 80 ml olio di noci
• 80 ml vino bianco secco
• 30 ml kefir fatto in casa (o latte)
• 195 g farina di grano
• 2 cucchiaini / 10 ml lievito per dolci
• un pizzico di sale

Preparare le noci
Se le noci sono appena sgusciate, tostatele leggermente in una padellina a secco, scuotendo la padellina spesso.

Altrimenti, nel suo libro “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”, Deborah Madison spiega come trattare le noci per migliorare il loro sapore quando non sono appena sgusciate e renderle meno irritanti per le persone sensibili alla pellicina che le ricopre. Portare a bollore una pentolina d'acqua, versarci le noci e sbollentarler per un minuto, poi scolarle e assorbire l'eccesso di umidità con uno strofinaccio.

Distribuire le noci su una placca foderata con un tappetino di silicone da forno. Mettere nel forno scaldato a 150 C fino a quando le noci si sono asciugate bene, 15-20 minuti. Tirare fuori dal forno non appena sono asciutte. Pesare le noci necessarie e tritarle.

Fare la torta
Scaldare il forno a 177-180 C. La seconda volta che ho fatto la torta ho usato l'opzione forno ventilato  (il mio forno aggiusta la temperatura automaticamente).

Rompere le uova in una ciotola e frullarle con lo sbattitore elettrico. Aggiungere pian piano lo zucchero e frullare fino a quando le uova siano ben montate. Aggiungere olio d noci, vino e kefir frullando a velocità minima dopo ogni aggiunta.

Imburrare una tortiera di 23 cm di diametro o foderare il fondo di uno stampo a cerniera (stesse dimensioni) con carta da forno e imburrare la parete. Setacciare farina, lievito e sale in una ciotola. Aggiungere le uova sbattute e mescolare con un cucchiaio di legno fino a che siano appena amalgamati. Incorporare delicatamente le noci, poi versare nella teglia preparata.

Cuocere in forno fino a quando la torta passa la prova dello stecchino, circa 40 minuti. Fare la prova dopo 35 minuti. Togliere la torta dal forno, farla intiepidire per 10 minuti e poi rimuoverla da tortiera o stampo e farla raffreddare completamente su una gratella. Tagliare a fettine e servire.

un'altra fetta

Questa torta, morbida e un po' croccante quando i denti incontrano le noci è piacevole come dessert, servita con del gelato alla vaniglia, oppure per colazione, magari insieme ad un bel bicchiere di lassi alla fragola.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 381 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 Terry di Crumpets & Co..  

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

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Con la mia Gateau aux Noix partecipo alla quinta tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. E come Escargot (Francia) è ospitata da Elena dello Zibaldone culinario.

Questa pagina contiene la ricetta per Escargot e la lista delle ricette contribuite all'evento.

Se siete interessati a partecipare, questo post contiene la lista completa di paesi, blog ospitanti e scadenze.

cappellacci dei briganti / brigands' hats

the hats are made of pasta dough!

You look at the image and you want some, right? That's what happened to me: I read about cappellacci dei briganti in the "Encyclopedia of Pasta" by Oretta Zanini De Vita and I immediately made a batch.

The word cappellaccio comes from cappello (hat). The suffix has a negative connotation, which matches the idea that they are worn by lawless characters. According to Zanini De Vita, this pasta is typical of Molise, the Italian region sandwiched between Abruzzo and Puglia. (Note that there is another type of pasta whose name includes cappellacci, namely cappellacci di zucca, a type of stuffed pasta typical of Ferrara.)

the hatmaker's production

The name of this pasta shape evokes tales of travellers being ambushed and robbed by men wrapped in dark cloaks, their faces shadowed by tall hats. Despite the fearsome name, this pasta is quite cute and not particularly difficult to make, but it requires close attention to the movements of your hands.

My first attempt was successful, but I was not totally satisfied with the way my cappellacci looked after the required rest, so I searched the web and found an image in this article (in Italian, click on the magnifying glass icon to see the whole image), which gave me the idea of pressing the front of the brim against the conical portion of the hat. I tried it and liked the result, so that's how I have made my cappellacci dei briganti ever since.

You can see my hands at work in this short video — in which you can also hear my husband say "Action!"

 

As usual, my recommendation is to start by making un uovo di pasta, a small amount of dough, so you don't get overwhelmed by the task. When your hands become proficient at making cappellacci, you can increase the amount of dough and delight more people. To make the pasta dough, I used the KAF Pasta Blend previously mentioned and was happy with the result. For one extra-large egg, I weigh 80 g of flour. I then add more flour, as needed, to get a dough of the right consistency. It is better to have to add flour than to find yourself with a hard dough (my mother's wisdom).

Ingredients:

• 80 g (a teaspoon less than 3 oz.) flour [see paragraph above] plus more as needed to obtain the dough
  by my measuring, 80 g of King Arthur's Pasta Blend correspond to 1/2 cup, but this is not what the packaging states and in any case, I recommend you weigh the flour
• 1 extra-large egg
• A pinch of sea salt

On your working surface, create a well with the flour and crack the egg directly into it. Sprinkle the salt. Scramble the egg with a fork. Draw flour from the sides of the well into the center, mixing well with the egg.

Trade the fork for your fingertips. Draw flour until a soft dough forms. Add more flour, as needed. Continue to knead the dough, 8-10 minutes. Cover the dough and let it rest for an hour or so (at least half an hour).

circles and cutouts

Roll dough by hand or with a pasta machine. On my machine, I stop at the penultimate notch. Zanini De Vita mentions an inverted liqueur glass as implement to cut the circles from which to shape the cappellacci. A two-inch biscuit cutter is perfect for the task and actually, in my opinion, more comfortable to use than a glass. 

Wrap one circle around the tip of your index finger (indice) to form a cone. Fold back the side of the brim opposite to the seam and press it against the cone, then slide the cappellaccio off the finger and place it upright on the lightly floured working surface, resting on the lateral sides of the brim. Make sure the index finger you are using as support to shape the pasta is floured, otherwise you won't be able to take the cappellaccio off at the end without misshaping it.

Knead together the cutouts (ritagli di pasta) and cover them while you work, then roll them again. Continue until all the dough is used. Let the cappellacci dry for at least a couple of hours, so they will hold their shape better while cooking. I usually make cappellacci in the morning, if I plan to cook them for lunch.

Boil in plenty of salted water. Always handle the cappellacci with a delicate touch, when you transfer them into the pot, when you stir them while cooking and then when you dress them. You will be rewarded with a truly pretty plate of pasta that will delight the eyes and palates of your guests.

cappellacci dei briganti al sugo

I dress the cappellacci with my usual sugo di pomodoro. I have been carefully drawing from my stash of frozen strained roasted tomatoes, which is a joy to use and will last me until the new tomato crop comes around.

I will add this recipe to my growing collection of pasta shapes. Please, do let me know if you try your hand at making any of them.

I am submitting this recipe, bookmarked on the book "Encyclopedia of Pasta" by Oretta Zanini De Vita to Bookmarked Recipes #23, an event originally started by Ruth of Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments and now hosted by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

cappellacci dei briganti

or launch the cappellacci dei briganti 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.]

handmade pasta, egg pasta, Italian recipe

ceci al pomodoro per FBAH / chickpeas with tomatoes for FBAH

"Nearly one in five children in America lives in households that struggle to put food on the table" (source).

This is not a statistics I just learned. I have been sensitive to the problem of food insecurity in this country for quite some time. The Alameda County Community Food Bank and Food for People are two organizations close to my heart and so is Share Our Strength.

The recent documentary A Place at the Table from Participant Media—the same studio that brought us Food Inc.—follows three families struggling with food insecurity, and sheds light on the problem of hunger in America. I believe hunger is a problem that can be solved and education and awareness are good first steps to solve it. I plan to watch the documentary soon (click here to watch the trailer). In the meantime, I have let my representatives in Congress know that I support protection of federal programs that aim to provide food to children and I hope you will do that as well.

For my participation to Food Bloggers Against Hunger, a day dedicated to raising awareness about food insecurity, I would like to mention two programs I am familiar with created by Food for the People: Plant a Row for the Hungry and Backpack for Kids. The former allows gardeners to share the bounty of their harvest who then get access to fresh produce, while the the latter ensures that children have nutritious food during the weekend, when they are not in school.

I am extremely lucky that in my life I have never suffered from food insecurity. However, I don't take food for granted. Both my parents experienced the food insecurity caused by WWII, so they instilled in me a deep respect for food in its entire life-cycle, from growing it to making sure that none of it is wasted.

chickpeas with tomatoes and dried apricots

The event organizer asked us to share a budget friendly recipe "featuring reliable pantry staples and ingredients that are accessible in most supermarkets." My contribution is a recipe from my archive that is flavorful, nutritious, and inexpensive: chickpeas with tomatoes and dried apricots (ceci al pomodoro con albicocche secche).

There is a story behind this recipe, which makes it particularly dear to me: you can read it in the original post. For my most recent rendition of the recipe I used dried chickpeas rather than canned ones.

Ingredients, using organic (bio¹) wherever possible (see note after the recipe):

• 1 cup / 6 oz. / 170 g dried chickpeas (see below for how to cook them) OR two 15 oz. cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• a cup of diced dried and unsulphured apricots
• one large onion (about 1/2 lb / 225 g), chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cumin  from seeds toasted in a dry skillet until they smell aromatic
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano (origano)
• 1 14.5 oz. can of fire-roasted crushed tomatoes OR fire-roasted diced tomatoes with their juice OR diced tomatoes with their juice
• 3 garlic cloves, minced

How to cook chickpeas
Drain the chickpeas. Put them in a saucepan, cover with 2 quarts of fresh water, and boil for 10 minutes. Skim off any foam that collects on the surface, then lower the heat. Add 1 onion, quartered, 2 sprigs of parsley and 4 garlic cloves. Optionally, add a 5-6 inch piece of kombu. Simmer, partly covered, until the chickpeas are almost tender, about 45 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons salt, and continue cooking until the chickpeas are completely tender but not mushy. Strain, reserving the broth for soups. (Source: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison)

How to prepare the dish
Place diced dried apricots in a small bowl and cover them with hot water.

Spray a large skillet or sauté pan with olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add the onion and cook in the warmed pan over low heat with cumin. Rub oregano with your fingers on the palm of your hand then add to the pan. After about 15 minutes, when the onion is translucent, add chickpeas, tomatoes and apricots, drained. If using crushed tomatoes, rinse empty can with 1/4 cup / 60 ml of water and pout that into the pan.

Raise the heat until the mixture starts bubbling, then lower the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, covered. Add garlic, cook another 5 minutes, uncovered, then turn off the heat, cover and keep warm until you are ready to serve the dish, the sooner the better.

I like to serve this with a side of polenta, though in my most recent rendition (shown below), I served it with a side of mixed greens (rainbow chard, kale and collard greens).

chickpeas with tomatoes and dried apricots

I am afraid I have no great photos, but trust me, this recipe is great.

Here are the prices for the main ingredients:

• organic dried chickpeas: $1.09
• organic diced tomatoes: $1.19
• organic onion: $0.70
• organic dried apricots: $1.06

The total is $4.04. I realize this does not include the cost of the spices and of the aromatics to cook the chickpeas. However, the dish serves more than one person or one person for more than one meal. One thing the price-conscious buyer does is keep an eye on sales. For example, the organic tomatoes I used were on sale when I checked the price, so I bought an extra can.

Please, take the time to visit other blogs participating in this initiative. They are listed on the Food Bloggers Against Hunger page on The Giving Table site. A great thank you! to Nicole for organizing this event. If each of us does something, together we can do a lot towards solving the problem of food insecurity.

¹ Short for: da agricoltura biologica (organically grown).

This is also my contribution to MLLA #58, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen, and hosted this month by Claire of Chez Cayenne. 

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

ceci al pomodoro con albicocche secche

or launch the ceci al pomodoro con albicocche secche 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.]

chickpeas, garbanzo beans, apricots, tomatoes

zuppa di zucca / winter squash soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

creamy winter squash soup

Being a winter squash hoarder means I still have "raw material" (materia prima) for soup, though the calendar says it's spring (primavera). Am I really the only one still drawing from a stash of squashes carefully stored during the winter? I suspect not. In any case, let's face it: it's time to use them. If you live on the other hemisphere, then you have squashes from the new crop to work with.

I met this recipe in the waiting room of my doctor's office. A quick look at the list of ingredients told me that the recipe deserved a test. While I have used the basic combination of ingredients many times, I have never made the soup as instructed: I use longer cooking times and follow my tried-and-true method of roasting squash or pumpkin before adding it to the soup. More recently, I have also added a couple of "special" ingredients to the list, which runs as follows:

• 1 3/4 lb. / 800 g flesh from one large or two small roasted squashes (see Note 1 below)
• 1 tablespoons / 15 ml olive oil
• 3/4 large onion, chopped + 1/2 large leek cut into half-moon slices OR 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger (zenzero)
• A 2-inch / 5 cm piece of kombu, optional but recommended
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons / 10 ml ground coriander
• 2 cups / 475 ml homemade chicken stock/broth OR vegetable broth
  
• 1/2-3/4 cup / 120-175 ml liquid from cooking beans (see Note 2 below)
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml homemade borș (see Note 3 below)
• Water, as needed
• Sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste

Note 1: I have made this soup with different types of squash and pumpkin and in my opinion, the best performers are gray or green kabocha and in general squashes that, like the kabocha, are fairly dry. The version in the photo was made with a mix of butternut and white acorn and it was really nice. Pumpkin performs last in my informal hit parade.

Note 2: whenever I cook beans, I set aside the leftover cooking liquid and use it in soups.

Note 3: borș and bean cooking liquid are of course optional. You can make the soup without them, using some more broth and water.

How to prepare the winter squash(es)
Preheat the oven to 375 F. If the squash is hard, pre-process it as follows: pierce it with a blade in a few places, place it on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat, and bake it for 15 minutes, then let is cool slightly. This makes it easier to cut it in half.

Cut the squash (pre-processed or raw) in half lengthwise and remove the seeds (a grapefruit spoon is my preferred tool for this task). Place squash halves on the silicone baking mat, cut side down. Put back in the oven and bake until squash is tender, easily pierced with a blade. Let the squash cool and then scrape the flesh off the skin, again using a grapefruit spoon.

Weigh the amount required by the recipe. If you have some leftover, you can use it to make these scones or this bread (a slice of which is visible next to the soup bowl in the photo above).

How to prepare the soup
Rinse leek well in a colander. Warm up olive oil in a soup pot, then add onion and leek and stir well to coat. Let cook for a few minutes, then add the ginger and stir. Let cook gently for another 8 minutes, stirring often. Add kombu, garlic and and coriander, stir, and cook for a couple of  minutes.

Place squash flesh in the pot, stir and then add the three types of liquid, plus enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, covered, then turn down the heat so the soup bubbles gently. Cook for 25 minutes, then remove pot from heat. Season with a bit of salt and pepper and stir. Let the soup rest, covered, for 15 minutes, then purée with an immersion blender. Add water, if needed, to obtain a soup of the desired consistency. Adjust salt and pepper, if necessary.

Making the soup at least a few hours before you are planning to serve it will give it enough time to rest and ripen. Reheat the soup before serving it — possibly topped with a sprinkling of dukkah.

blooming trillium means: it's spring

Instead of another photo of the soup, I am sharing an image of one of my favorite wildflowers (with a little visitor).

This is my contribution to edition #378 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 Marta of Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare.

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 zucca

or launch the zuppa di zucca 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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winter squash, ginger, coriander, soup

Per i lettori italiani

zuppa di zucca cremosa

Essendo una che accumula zucche, ho ancora della "materia prima" per zuppe, anche se il calendario dice che è primavera. Credo di non essere l'unica che ancora centellina il suo mucchietto di zucche tenuto da parte con cura durante l'inverno. Comunque sia, devo accettare il fatto che vanno consumate. Chi invece vive nell'altro emisfero ha accesso al nuovo raccolto.

Questa ricetta l'ho incontrata nella sala d'attesa del mio dottore. Uno sguardo rapido mi disse che meritava una prova. Ho usato la combinazione degli ingredienti molte volte, ma non ho mai preparato la zuppa secondo le indicazioni della ricetta: utilizzo infatti tempi di cottura più lunghi e il mio metodo provato di cuocere al forno la zucca prima di aggiungerla alla zuppa. Di recente, ho anche aggiunto un paio di ingredienti "speciali" alla lista che contiene quanto segue:

• 800 g polpa di zucca arrosto da una o due zucche (vedi Nota 1)
• 1 cucchiaio / 15 ml olio EV d'oliva
• 3/4 cipolla grossa tritata + 1/2 porro grosso tagliato a mezzelune O 1 cipolla grossa, tritata
• 1 1/2 cucchiaio radice di zenzero tritata
• un pezzo di kombu (5 cm), facoltativo ma raccomandato
• 4 spicchi d'aglio grossi, tritati
• 2 cucchiaini / 10 ml coriandolo in polvere
• 475 ml brodo di pollo [fatto in casa] O brodo vegetale [fatto in casa]
• 120-175 ml liquido di cottura dei fagioli (vedi Nota 2)
• 120 ml borș fatto in casa (vedi Nota 3)
• acqua, q.b.
• sale fino e pepe nero macinato fresco, q.b.

Nota 1: Ho preparato questa zuppa con tipi diversi di zucca e secondo me viene meglio con la kabocha (verde o grigia) e in generale con zucche che hanno la polpa piuttosto secca. La versione della foto l'ho preparata con un misto di zucca butternut e zucca acorn bianca: ottimo connubio.

Nota 2: quando cuocio i fagioli metto da parte il liquido di cottura e lo utilizzo nelle zuppe.

Nota 3: il borș e il liquido di cottura dei fagioli sono facoltativi. Potete preparare questa zuppa senza di essi, utilizzando un po' più di brodo e acqua.

Preparare la zucca
Scaldare il forno a 190 C. Foderare una placca da forno con un tappetino di silicone per il forno.

Per evitare di far saltare la lama al coltello nel tentativo di tagliare a metà una zucca, bucarla in alcuni punti con una lama appuntita e metterla  in forno sulla placca preparata per 15 minuti. Quando si è intiepidita abbastanza da poterla toccare, procedere come descritto nel paragrafo successivo.

Se utilizzate una zucca che si taglia facilmente, saltate il passaggio descritto nel paragrafo precedente. Tagliare la zucca a metà e usare un cucchiaino da pompelmo per rimuovere i semi.

Metterla in forno, sulla placca preparata, con la parte tagliata in basso e cuocerla finché non è morbida. Toglierla dal forno e, quando è tiepida, spesso la pelle viene via facilmente. Altrimenti usare il cucchiaino da pompelmo per rimuovere la polpa.

Pesare la quantità richiesta dalla ricetta. Se vi avanza della zucca, potete utilizzaral per preparare questi scone o questo pane (una fetta del quale è visibile accanto alla ciotola con la zuppa nella foto qui sopra).

Preparare la zuppa
Sciacquare bene il porro per eliminare ogni residuo di terra. Rinse leek well in a colander. Scaldare l'olio in una pentola da zuppa, poi aggiungere cipolla e porro e mescolare bene. Far cuocere alcuni minuti e poi aggiungere lo zenzero e mescolare. Far cuocere a fuoco dolce per altri 8 minuti mescolando spesso. Aggiungere kombu, aglio e coriandolo, mescolare e cuodere per un paio di minuto.

Mettere la polpa di zucca nella pentola e versare i tre liquidi, più abbastanza acqua da coprire la zucca. Mettere il coperchio e portare a bollore, poi abbassare il calore e far cuocere dolcemente per 25 minuti. Rimuovere la pentola dal fuoco, condire con un po' di sale e pepe e mescolare. Far riposare la zuppa per 15 minuti, poi usare il frullatore a immersione. Aggiungere acqua, se necessario, fino ad ottenere la consistenza desiderata. Correggere sale e pepe, se necessario.

Se preparate la zuppa alcune ore prima di servirla, le darete modo di riposare e maturare. Riscaldare la zuppa prima di servirla, magari con una spolverata di dukkah sulla superficie.

trillium in fiore fa primavera

Invece di un'altra foto della zuppa, condivido un'immagine di uno dei miei fiori preferiti (e di un piccolo visitatore).

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 378 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 Marta di Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

pane di segale con cumino dei prati / caraway rye bread

densely good and nourishing

Rye bread still tastes a bit exotic to me, like the first time I had a bite, many years ago, during my first visit to Germany. The crumb was dense and the palate detected a slight smoky tone. I can't say I fell in love with it, but I was intrigued. Years later, once my bread-baking skills had developed enough, I went back to that memory and decided to renew the experience, this time with a product from my own oven.

After I baked my first rye bread, emboldened by my success, I tried making sourdough rye and was humbled by the result — twice. When I recovered from the disappointment, I went back to a recipe that uses a mix of rye and wheat flour, which seems to work much better for me.

with caraway rye bread

I have shown my first rendition of the caraway rye bread in this photo and my second rendition in my post on fasole bătută , where I hinted at the use of "a traditional Romanian ingredient."

Then, in the post where I revealed the details of the traditional Romanian ingredient, I shared some additional details. It's time to tell the full story from the bread's perspective.

my touch: borage flowers

The original recipe suggests to use dill or sour pickle juice as a substitute for the water. I used diluted borș. And instead of sour cream, I used some of my homemade kefir drained to a creamy consistency. I have a couple of borage plants (borragine) in my garden that are blooming, so I harvested some of the flowers and added them to the bread dough, not so much for flavor, but for an elegant look.

I halved the quantities given in the original recipe and made one round loaf.

Ingredients I used:

• 57 g borș
• 57 g lukewarm water [original recipe: 114 g lukewarm water, dill or sour pickle juice]
  
• 53 pumpernickel flour [original recipe: white rye, medium rye, or pumpernickel flour]
• 5 g sugar [original recipe: 7 g]
• 1 1/8 teaspoons instant yeast
• 56 g drained kefir [original recipe: sour cream (low-fat is fine; please don't use nonfat)]
• 1/2 tablespoon / 4 g caraway seeds [original recipe: 1/2 to 1 tablespoon caraway seeds, to taste] (semi di cumino dei prati)
  
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 140 g King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (this is the flour I always use to make bread)
  
• 8 g gluten flour [original recipe: 12 g wheat gluten, optional, for best rise]
• 14-15 freshly picked borage flowers

Notes: When I made the bread in the photo, I had run out of caraway seeds, so I used 1 teaspoon ajwain seeds. The result was interesting. However, I recommend using caraway seeds. 

I followed the instructions in the original recipe, except I did not brush the warm loaf with melted butter (burro fuso).

lightly toasted is even better

This rye bread has a delicate rye flavor and a somewhat dense crumb (mollica). I like to toast it lightly before putting something on top, like fasole bătută or cheese. If you'd like to give rye bread a try, this and my first rye bread are good choices as the dough is quite easy to shape and the result is lovely.

I am sending my little round of rye bread to Panissimo a biweekly event created recently by Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of indovina chi viene a cena?

This post contains the roundup of the event in English and this post contains the roundup in Italian.

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And I am also contributing it to the April edition of Bake Your Own Bread hosted by Roxana of Roxana's Homebaking.

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

pane di segale con cumino dei prati

or launch the pane di segale con cumino dei prati 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.]

rye bread, caraway seeds, borage