Archive for the ‘what’s cooking wednesday’ Category
Escarole, Bean, and Pancetta Soup – Zuppa di Scarola, Fagioli e Pancetta
Last week Vince at Scordo posted a recipe for Escarole and Bean Soup. It looked tasty to me, and just as I was tucking it away in my memory, wouldn’t you know my mother-in-law gave us a bunch of escarole the next day?
I more or less stuck to Vince’s basic recipe but added some pancetta — and then P wanted some soup pasta with it so we threw that in as well (although that’s not in the photo below).
This recipe is super easy and delicious, especially if you use canned beans. As Vince mentions, your own soaked beans inevitably taste better and are less expensive, though, so give them a try sometime as well.
Overall, I have to say, if you’re looking for a hearty, warm-your-soul kind of meal, this is a wonderful choice.
Escarole, Bean, and Pancetta Soup — Zuppa di Scarola, Fagioli e Pancetta
Just grab a spoon and a hunk of bread!
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, each cut in half
- 1 peperoncino, cut into a few pieces
- 40 g of pancetta, cubed
- Bunch of escarole, washed and coarsely chopped
- 2 cans of cannellini beans
- 1 liter of water
- Salt to taste
1. Heat olive oil on medium heat in a large soup pot and sautée garlic, peperoncino, and pancetta for a few minutes.
2. Add escarole and sautée until wilted, being sure to coat thoroughly with the oil mixture. Add a bit of salt as well.
3. Add water, beans, and a bit more salt. Cover, turn down heat to low, and let simmer until the escarole is done to your liking — at least 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Serve hot with fresh chunky bread; although it’s not very Italian of me, a slab of butter on the bread and then dipped in the soup just makes everything right with the world.
Buon appetito!
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Sausage and Peppers
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t love sausage when I lived in the States; here in Calabria is a whole other story, though, and one of my favorite ways to prepare salsiccia is with peppers and onions in tomato sauce.
P had never had sausage prepared this way before I came along, but it’s been one of my family’s favorites from back when my grandmother made it — and it has quickly become one of P’s favorites as well.
And you want to talk about easy? There are only five steps!
A couple notes before we dig in:
I prefer using sweet sausage, red onion, and red and yellow peppers:
Peppers and onions ready for sauteeing
You are, of course, welcome to play with various combinations that may include spicy sausage and green peppers. Here our sweet (“dolce”) sausage tends to have a little kick with peperoncino, so don’t be afraid to add a little hot pepper even if you’re using sweet sausage; mostly it will just heighten flavors if you don’t use too much.
Also, I like to make extra sausage and sauce so we can have it with pasta the next day — the first day we usually do the sausage and peppers on hard rolls (sausage and pepper hoagies for those of you who know what a hoagie is). This is why I use two cans of tomato sauce; if you only want to use this for one meal, one can is probably plenty. This is definitely one of those sauces, though, that tastes even better the next day, so I highly encourage making enough for leftovers.
Sausage and Peppers
Sausage and peppers ready to simmer
- Sausage links
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large or 3 medium peppers, julienned
- 1 large onion, julienned
- 1 large clove of garlic cut in half
- 2 cans of tomatoes/tomato sauce
- Salt to taste
1. In a large nonstick pan on medium to high heat, brown sausage (about 10-15 minutes).
2. Remove sausage from pan and set aside. Turn down the heat a bit and add the olive oil, peppers, onion, and garlic. Saute until peppers and onions soften, at least five minutes.
3. Return sausage to pan and add tomato sauce, using about a quarter cup of water to rinse out the can (add that water to the pan as well). Add salt as desired.
4. Cover and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until tomato sauce tastes ready to you. This will take at least 15-20 minutes, but could take longer depending on your tastes. If you like a thicker sauce, be sure to take the lid off the pan at some point, which I do after about 15 minutes.
5. Serve sausage on hard rolls with plenty of sauce, peppers, and onions *or* serve with pasta (we prefer penne with this).
Buon appetito!
Zucchini Flower Fritters – Frittelle di Fiori di Zucca
Zucchini flowers
Longtime readers might remember my zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta, spinach, and prosciutto crudo as well as fried zucchini flowers.
Well this time when I picked up some zucchini flowers at the market, P asked if I would make some fritters, which is the usual way they’re made in this area of Calabria.
P’s aunt has made them for us many times, but I had never asked for the recipe or technique. As luck would have it, the day I bought the flowers, she happened to be walking by the house when I took the dogs out for their lunchtime walk.
The recipe she gave me on the spot is below; of course there are no measurements, but I have faith in you!
Seriously if you’re afraid of working with zucchini flowers, it’s time to conquer the fear. I was right there with you, but these fritters are amazingly simple and delicious. Enjoy!
Zucchini Flower Fritters – Frittelle di Fiori di Zucca
Frittelle di fiori di zucca
- Bunch of zucchini flowers
- Flour
- Water
- Pinch of baking soda
- A few pinches of salt
- Oil for frying
1. Clean the zucchini flowers by snapping out the stamens (assuming you have male flowers, the ones attached to stems).
2. Chop roughly into pieces and place in boiling water for about a minute.
3. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Fiori di zucca
4. Mix together flour, water, some salt, and a pinch of baking soda so that you get the consistency of pancake batter. Fold in the flowers. This part, by the way, is completely up to your tastes. When P’s aunt makes them, to be honest, I don’t taste much of the flowers because there’s so much, well, flour. I like mine bursting with zucchini flower flavor — they also look prettier, I think, as the flower colors show through. So use your own taste to determine how much batter to flowers you should make.
5. Heat oil for frying (I use last year’s olive oil) in a shallow pot or pan. You’ll want enough in there so the batter can sink to the bottom and then have a little way to rise and dance at the top, and you also don’t want your fritters crowded. The pan I used fit three fritters at a time. Zia also told me to throw in a pinch of salt when ready to fry.
6. When the oil is hot, take a large spoonful of batter and drop it in. As mentioned above, it will sink at first but then rise as it fries. Turn them a bit until you see all sides are browned, remove with a slotted spoon, and place on paper towels to drain.
Zucchini flower fritters
Buon appetito!
How to Store Fresh Cut Basil
As we’re at the height of basil season here, I thought I’d share with you my method for how to keep basil fresh after it has been cut from the plant.
I’ve tried all kinds of ways over the years, and this is what I have found works best:
1. Wrap the stems in a damp paper towel.
2. Put a plastic bag over the unwashed leaves and secure with a rubber band at the base.
3. Place the basil in the refrigerator.
4. Pluck off leaves as you need them, washing just before use.
With this method, I have kept basil fresh for up to two weeks in the refrigerator, but you do want to keep an eye on it if you’re not using it immediately. Be sure to re-wet the paper towel when it’s going dry and also remove any leaves that are turning black and/or slimy; they will get moldy if left in there too long.
If you still aren’t using your basil quickly enough before it goes off, wash and pat dry the basil then tear off the leaves and pop them in a freezer bag. The leaves won’t be great for something like a Caprese Salad once they’re thawed, but they’ll still add great basil taste to soups and dishes like our Borlotti Beans alla Calabrese — and they do retain excellent flavor for about four to six months.
What are your favorite food storage tips?
Panino Caprese: Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Sandwich
One of our summer staples around here is the Caprese Salad, but sometimes you just want something you can hold in your hand . . . enter the panino caprese.
As with many Italian dishes, the quality of ingredients in this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday is extremely important, so you should use the best tomatoes (homegrown off the vine), mozzarella (di bufala) and olive oil (extra virgin) you can find. Basil, oregano, and salt round out the ingredients.
I like to put some olive oil on each inside of the bun to start, but you can assemble this any way you like. I do sliced mozzarella first, then sliced tomatoes, then basil, oregano, and salt — with another drizzle of olive oil over the tomatoes to finish it off.
Remember, “panino” in Italy just means a sandwich — it can be on any kind of bread or roll and certainly doesn’t need to be pressed in a grill. That said, you are more than welcome to heat up your panino caprese as that’s tasty as well.
And if you want to whip up some focaccia seasoned with olive oil and oregano (even thyme, yum!) for this sandwich, you won’t be disappointed; indeed, the first time I had one of these, it was at Dean & Deluca in New York City. Love at first bite doesn’t begin to describe it.
Buon appetito!
Michelle Fabio is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer living in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy and savoring simplicity one sip at a time.
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