farrecchiata: polenta di roveja

jump to Recipe

[versione in italiano]

a personal take on a traditional Umbrian dish
(dish by @fem_pottery, placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller¹. The novel tells the story of Olivia Rawlings, pastry chef in an exclusive club in Boston, who, after losing her job, takes refuge in the town of Guthrie, Vermont. The connection to Guthrie is her friend Hannah, who lives there with her husband.

Olivia is hired as pastry chef at the local inn and quickly gets involved in town's activities. She also meets a number of residents, a colorful cast deftly described by Miller. Adventures ensue, some in the professional field, others in the personal one. The seasons, particularly winter, play a role as well, with the traditions tied to them. The novel is an easy, pleasant read, possibly something to immerse yourself into during the upcoming winter Holidays.

As you can imagine, given Olivia's job, there is a fair amount of food in the book, mostly desserts. I don't have a sweet tooth and we don't eat dessert at home, so I looked for inspiration elsewhere, namely in the weather: it's cold in Guthrie in the winter, and it snows a lot. Growing up, my father would describe a cold day as "polenta day," a not-so-subtle hint to my mother to prepare one of his favorite dishes.

roveja (Pisum arvense) and its flour
(dish by @fem_pottery, placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Traditional polenta is made with cornmeal. In Valtellina, a splendid valley in the Italian Alps, polenta taragna² is made with a blend of cornmeal and buckwheat flour (farina di grano saraceno). In my home region of Umbria, the local legume roveja³ (Pisum arvense) is ground and cooked into a nutritious type of polenta called farrecchiata.

I brought the ingredient back from Italy and the reading inspired me to prepare the traditional dish, which I never ate at home as my parents were originally from the neighboring region of Lazio, so farrecchiata was not part of their culinary heritage. Neither was roveja, but I was introduced to it some years back and wrote a post about it.³

a dish to warm and nourish
(dish by @fem_pottery, placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

I make farrecchiata with my usual method for making polenta. According to recipes I read, the traditional way of serving farrecchiatia is with a simple sauce of garlic-infused olive oil and anchovies (alici). Much as I like anchovies, I did not enjoy the result. Farrecchiata has a slightly bitter note to be balanced, so for my next experiments I used my favorite polenta pairing: cheese (formaggio). That made my taste buds happy, particularly when I used fresh chèvre (caprino fresco).

Fundamentally, polenta of any type is a blank canvas that invites the cook to choose their preferred pairing. This is also the case for leftover polenta, which is firmer than the freshly cooked one, can be sliced and pan-fried, grilled or baked and enriched with the topping of choice.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Farrecchiata with cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 cups / 480 ml cold water
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup / 3 ounces / 85 grams roveja flour
• cheese of choice, to taste, crumbled, cut into small pieces or grated, depending on consistency
  • I use crumbled Cypress Grove Meyer Lemon and Honey⁴: 1 ounce / 28 grams mixed in at the end of cooking plus to taste as topping on individual servings

Pour the cold water into a saucepan and add the salt. Slowly add the roveja flour in a thin stream, while whisking. Place the saucepan over medium heat. Continue whisking as the water warms up. As soon as the water reaches boiling point, turn down the heat to low to maintain a simmer. Keep stirring with the whisk for the first 10 minutes or so, then switch to a wooden spoon as stirring implement.

Cook the farrecchiata for 35-40 minutes, stirring often to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and to avoid the build-up of steam that results in bubble explosions.

Add the chosen cheese to the farrecchiata at the end of the cooking time, and stir to incorporate it. Serve immediately, possibly with additional cheese as topping or on the side.

Makes 1 1/2 cups. Serves 3-4 as a side dish.

I have served and eaten farrecchiata as a side dish, together with roasted or stewed vegetables. A particularly pleasant pairing is with roasted winter squash, whose sweetness complements farrecchiata's pleasant bitter note.

---

¹ The book's page on the publisher's website
² From briciole's archive: polenta taragna
³ From briciole's archive: roveja
⁴ Cypress Grove Meyer Lemon and Honey

---

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

farrecchiata (polenta di roveja)

or launch the farrecchiata (polenta di roveja) [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]

---

This is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Claudia of Honey from Rock. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

---

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

---

roveja, polenta, cheese, chevre, Italian cuisine

[jump to Comments]

farrecchiata (polenta di roveja)

una tradizione della mia regione d'origine
(ceramica di @fem_pottery, tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)

Arrivati alla lettera R del nostro viaggio nel mondo degli ingredienti ho scelto di preparare un piatto umbro: la farrecchiata (polenta di roveja). Della roveja, dal 2006 Presidio Slow Food dell'Umbria, ho scritto in passato.¹ Confesso che non ho mai mangiato la farrecchiata in Umbria. I miei genitori erano originari del Lazio e mia madre faceva la polenta classica di mais. Durante una recente visita ho comprato della farina di roveja e finalmente ho preparato la farrecchiata.

la roveja (Pisum arvense) e la sua farina
(ceramica di @fem_pottery, tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)

Le ricette che ho consultato descrivono una salsa di olio infuso d'aglio e alici sciolte per condire la farrecchiatia. Le alici mi piacciono, ma non ho gradito il connubio con la farrecchiata. Questa ha una nota amarognola da bilanciare. Quindi successivamente ho usato il mio condimento preferito: il formaggio (polenta taragna² docet). Il mio palato ha apprezzato, in modo particolare quando ho usato del caprino fresco di produzione locale.³

un piatto nutriente e che riscalda
(ceramica di @fem_pottery, tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)

Ingredienti:

• 480 ml di acqua fredda
• 1/4 cucchiaino di sale fino
• 85 grammi di farina di roveja
• formaggio a scelta, in quantità a piacere, sbriciolato o tagliato a pezzetti o grattugiato, a seconda della consistenza
  • io uso caprino fresco sbriciolato: 30 grammi mescolati alla farrecchiata al termine della cottura, più a piacere sopra le porzioni individuali

Versate l'acqua in una pentola e salate. Aggiungete lentamente a filo la farina di roveja, mescolando col frullino a mano. Mettete la pentola su fuoco medio e portate l'acqua ad ebollizione, sempre mescolando, poi abbassate il calore al minimo che mantiene un leggero bollore. Continuate a mescolare col frullino per 10 minuti poi passate ad usare un cucchiaio di legno.

Cuocete la farrecchiata per 35-40 minuti, mescolando spesso per evitare che si attacchi al fondo della pentola e anche che accumuli vapore e poi provochi piccole esplosioni vulcaniche.

Al termine della cottura, aggiungete il formaggio scelto e mescolate bene per incorporarlo. Servite immediatamente la farrecchiata, magari con dell'altro formaggio da aggiungere a piacere.

Porzioni: 3-4 come contorno.

Servo la farrecchiata come contorno insieme a verdire arrosto o stufate. Una combinazione che apprezzo in modo particolare è quella con la zucca, la cui dolcezza si bilancia bene la nota amarognola della farrecchiata.

---

¹ Dall'archivio di briciole: roveja (in inglese)
² Dall'archivio di briciole: polenta taragna (in italiano, oltre che in inglese)
³ Cypress Grove Meyer Lemon and Honey (in inglese)

---

Contribuisco la mia farrecchiata (polenta di roveja) dall'Italia alla lettera R di Un mondo d'ingredienti evento creato dall'instancabile Aiu' di Trattoria Muvara

 

---

FTC disclosure: Ho ricevuto gli articoli di lino gratuitamente dall'azienda produttrice (la FABBRICA del LINO). Non ho ricevuto e non riceverò alcun compenso per presentarli sul mio blog. Le opinioni espresse nel post sono interamente personali.

 

Comments

[Claudia]

I love this! Awesome job Simona, researching a very little known and rare legume. Is there any place it could be ordered online? Thanks for your contribution to the roundup.

[Debra Eliotseats]

Interesting recipe. Thanks for sharing this and the info!

[Simona Carini]

Thank you, Claudia :)
Roveja is (still) little known in the US. This is an online source: https://www.markethallfoods.com/products/roveja-peas-from-la-valletta
and I found a source of seeds, it you’d like to try growing it
https://uprisingorganics.com/products/pea-dry-soup-roveja

Thank you, Debra :)

[Wendy Klik]

I love learning all about these different types of polenta. I had no idea that each region had their own kind.

[Simona Carini]

My home region is famous for several specialty legumes, Wendy, including lentils from Castelluccio and tiny beans called "fagiolina". It's paradise for legume-lovers :)

[Delaware Girl Eats]

I know I'm way late commenting ..... have always loved making polenta, so as you say this is a different approach to making that dish and looks like something great to try while we are digging out from snow this month

[Simona Carini]

Making polenta was a kind of ritual in our family. My grandmother would make it in a big copper pot hanging inside the fireplace over coals. Hard to beat on cold winter days. I hope the coming storm is not as bad as the forecast say, Cathy. Stay safe :)