back to top

Primavera - Spring

Asparagus, Fave and Peas: Springtime Goodness
Unusually hot this year and the wild asparagus just keeps coming!  Over 30 years ago when we worked our land here in the Umbria countryside, the wild asparagus popped in the woods in late May.  At the end of the day when all the farm chores were finished, I headed for the woods, prudently wearing high rubber boots (admonition of my farm neighbors as in hot weather, the viper takes refuge in the cool of the forest) and swishing my walking stick ahead of me ("vipera, via!"). 

Kerchiefed farmwomen sold bunches of the wild asparagus at the morning market off Assisi's main square, fruit of hours of scrambling up and down the hills in the woods, eyes sharpened in search of the narrow stalks.  The season started and ended in a couple of weeks.  It has been so warm this year that I first found asparagus in our woods in late March - and it is still coming!  We've enjoyed many a wild asparagus frittata (flipped omelette) for dinner and tonight we'll have wild aspargus in a pasta dish.  Pasta alla Primavera means "springtime pasta" and includes spring vegetables:  peas, fave beans and/or asparagus (wild asparagus if you are lucky and if not, garden asparagus).  Here is how I make pasta alla primavera (and there are many variations on this theme).

Pasta alla Primavera
Ingredients: (for 6)
1- 1/4 lbs pasta (or a bit less - use 1 lb of pasta for every 5 people) - use rigatoni or penne or bowtie  pasta
a bunch of wild asparagus or about 6 - 8 stalks of garden asparagus
fresh peas (about 1- 1/2 c when shelled)
fresh fava beans, if available (about 1 c. or more when shelled)
1 large onion, white or yellow
olive oil - about 1 cup
grated Parmesan or pecorino  (sheep's milk cheese - sharper than Parmesan and better, I think, for this dish)
salt, pepper
 
Finely-chop onion and sauté til golden (do not burn!) in olive oil.  Add peas and fava beans and gently simmer, adding about 1 to  2 c. of hot water so that beans and peas start to cook down, though they should remain al dente ("to the tooth", ie, chewy).  Add asparagus tips if garden asparagus - and if wild asparagus, add all of the stalk (breaking into pieces of about 1/4 inch til not possible to break, ie, til you reach the "tough" part at base).

Simmer all  vegetables til  tender, though NOT mushy!  Serve over pasta which you have cooked in salted water til al dente, remembering to save the water when draining.  If sauce needs more moisture, add a bit of the pasta water and or a bit of olive oil.  Generously sprinkle with grated cheese, mix and serve.

Optional addition:  zucchini, chopped into small pieces -  sauté in olive oil with beans, peas - but after the legumes have cooked a bit as zucchini will cook down much more quickly.


Tonnarelli alla Diavolata ("Diabolical" Pasta)
NB I treasure the family recipes - passed on from mother and grandmother -which Ischia hotel-owner Gabriela has so kindly shared with me.  Here are a few (with Gabriela's generous permission). Please read my article to know more about beautiful Ischia.

Ingredients: (for 5)
1 lb pasta - shell-shaped or elbow macaroni
2 anchovies
handful of oregano
6 black olives in pieces
handful of pinenuts
handful of fresh basil, shredded into small pieces by hand
red hot pepper, small
1 - 1-1/4 c. canned tomatoes or of very ripe fresh tomatoes (Roma variety),  cut into small pieces
3 T. pecorino cheese, freshly-grated
3 T Parmesan cheese, freshly-grated
extra virgin olive oil, q.b. (q.b = quanto basta, ie, whatever is needed...a typical note in many an Italian cookbook as no good recipe can be truly precise!)
 
Heat 2 garlic cloves in olive oil til golden, being careful not to burn the garlic nor to let olive oil smoke. Stir in the 2 anchovies (well-rinsed if they have been packed in salt), the oregano, olives, pinenuts and red peppers.  Add tomatoes,  in small pieces and salt (to taste).  When tomato sauce is ristretta (that is, most of the water of the tomatoes has evaporated), add handful of fresh basil.

Cook pasta until al dente ("to the tooth", ie, NOT too soft!) and drain, saving some of the brodo or pasta water (always do this when making pasta so that you can dilute the sauce a bit, if necessary).   Add a bit of the brodo if pasta not sufficiently liquid.  Mix pasta with sauce, adding both cheeses. Serve.


Pasta e Patate all'Ischitana (Pasta with Potatoes, Ischia Style)
Ingredients: (for 5)
1/2 white or yellow onion
1 cup or so tomato pulp, canned or fresh (if fresh tomatoes, only very ripe ones - Roma variety)
handful of parsley
1 stalk of celery, finely-chopped
handful of fresh basil
6 medium-sized potatoes, cut into tiny cubes
1/2 pound (approx) small, tube-shaped pasta
extra virgin olive oil (q.b.! - see recipe above)
1 T approx butter
Parmesan cheese
 
Cook finely-chopped onion in olive oil and butter til golden. Add tomatoes, finely-chopped parsley, celery and basil (torn into tiny pieces by hand).  Add potatoes and salt and pepper to taste and simmer over low heat, adding hot water as needed.  When potatoes are nearly cooked, add pasta (rice may be substituted, though to be added when potatoes are only half-cooked). Simmer til cooked and serve.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Polpettine all'Ischitana (Small Meatballs, Ischia-style)
Ingredients: (for 5)
1 lb. ground veal or mixture of ground veal, ground chicken, ground pork (use less proportionately of the chicken)
1 - 1/2 - 2 c  of bread, taken from center of loaf of excellent bread (Italian-style or French, but coarse in texture)
water
2 eggs
1 clove garlic, finely-chopped
handful parsley and handful of basil, both finely-chopped
grated lemon rind
1/2 t. sugar
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
pinenuts
currants
Sauce:  1/2 onion, 1 - 1- 1/2 c. tomato pulp, canned or of very ripe tomatoes, Roma variety, 1/2 c. white wine, basil
 
Soften bread in water, then squeeze out all water well. Mix ground meat, softened bread, beaten eggs, parsely, basil, garlic, handful pinenuts and same of currants, sugar, salt and pepper to taste.  Form into small balls - about 2 in. in diameter -  and fry in hot sunflower seed oil (or other seed oil, not olive oil).
Drain on coarse paper or paper towel.
Sauté til golden olive oil, onion.  Add white wine - let wine evaporate.  Add 1 c. of tomato pulp and finely-shredded basil. Add meatballs to tomato sauce and simmer briefly.  Serve.
N.B. Sugar is often added to meatballs and tomato sauces from Naples on South.

•••••

Farfalle alla Primavera (or "Springtime Bowtie Pasta")
Here in Italy, bowtie pasta is called farfalle ("butterflies "- have a look at them again and you'll see the name fits!)
Many restaurants serve "alla primavera" dishes, which generally indicates the predominance of springtime vegetables, such as asparagus, peas - though not always. In fact, in this recipe served by the Hotel Sole in Assisi, the principal vegetables are a summer one (bell pepper) and a fall one (mushrooms).

Ingredients:
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 small red chili pepper
2 T. or so of olive oil
1/2 large yellow or white onion
3 large mushrooms or 6 medium ones
1/2 c. cream
1-1/2 c. chopped tomatoes (canned ones - if you cannot get vine-ripened in season!)
salt, pepper to taste

Heat olive oil and add diced peppers, chili pepper and diced onion. Add about 1 cup water and simmer for about 10 minutes and then add tomatoes, finely-chopped mushrooms and salt (about 1/2 t) and cook about 10-15 minutes uncovered (so that the water of the tomatoes evaporates for the most part). When done, blend for a few seconds with an immersion blender. Add cream just before serving.

Cook the farfalle pasta al dente, drain. Add pasta to sauce and stir. Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan.

•••••

Tagliatelle agli Asparagi con Polpettine (Fettuccine Pasta with Wild Aspargus and Baby Meatball Sauce)
Late April/May is asparagus season here in Italy and the best of all are the wild asparagus (in fact, I will be heading for our woods today to hunt them). Now is the time to savor wild asparagus frittata (Italian omelette), risotto, soups and countless types of pasta dishes. If you are in Italy at this time of year, look for asparagi di bosco ("asparagus from the woods") dishes on the menu!

This is a delectable dish which I had rescently at Ristorante Cacciatore in Spello. The cook shared the recipe. This is how she told me to replicate her masterpiece:

Ingredients:
4-6 oz ground veal
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese (and I recommend getting the best you can for this dish!)
olive oil
1 lb 16 oz. canned tomatoes
1 medium-sized carrot
1/2 stalk celery
1 garlic clove
1/2 small white or yellow onion
bunch of wild asparagus (well... you might have to buy the garden variety if you can't find them in the nearest woods!)
pasta

For the sauce: cover saucepan with olive oil and when oil is hot but not smoking, add finely-diced carrot , celery, onion, whole garlic (to be removed when serving sauce) and asparagus, washed and cut into pieces about 1 - 1/2 in. long. Simmer til onion is golden.
Add tomatoes and cook uncovered about 15 mins til most of water (from tomatoes) has evaporated.

To make the polpettine (or "baby meatballs" - about marble-size): Mix ground veal with abundant amount of Parmesan and salt to taste (add salt after the Parmesan - which is salty). If you wish, add egg to bind, though you should not need it. Roll tiny meatballs in your hands which are coated with olive-oil.
Add meatballs to sauce (after it has cooked as indicated above, ie, about 15 - 20 mins) and cook 5 more minutes... not longer as meatballs will be less tender if cooked too long.

Serve with fettuccine pasta (cooked al dente) and generous amount of Parmesan on top.

Hint: whenever you make pasta, drain the cooked pasta over a bowl so that you conserve come of the water pasta was cooked in. You can use this water to "allunga" (or "lengthen", ie, render more liquid, creamy) the pasta sauce if needed.

•••••

Due zuppe / Two soups (both are meatless)
I'd like to share with you the soup recipes of two good friends, Mirella (born in Todi, now lives here in Assisi) and Silvana (from Rome - though she and I met in San Francisco, CA many years ago!). As you might expect, like everyone I know here, they never cook from recipes and both said, "but you have to SEE how it is made". I have made both myself many times and have tried here to set out quantities for you. Please do experiment freely.

Mirella's Vellutata di Spinaci ("Velvety Spinach Soup")
Ingredients - for about 6 persons
about 3 c. of spinach
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1 c. milk (possibly more)
vegetable bouillon cube
bread
Parmesan cheese
salt, pepper

Make a white sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan and gradually add flour, stirring constantly in the same direction. Add about 1 tsp. salt and pepper to taste. Add hot milk gradually. Should be creamy. If necessary, add more milk.
Pureé spinach in a blender. Add to creamy white sauce. Heat on low flame, constantly as you gradually add broth you have made with vegetabe bouillon cube (need about 1/2 -1 qt. of broth) - until you have a creamy soup. NB - the more broth you add, the more liquid the soup, so add broth to consistency you prefer (less broth if creamer soup desired). One of the favorite bouillon cubes here is "Star" brodo but use whatever you prefer. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Toast bread slices in oven and then cut into cubes. Pour soup over these crostini onto which you have generously sprinkled Parmesan cheese.
Variation: I like to use fresh spinach and instead of using vegetable broth, I use the water (very little) in which I have cooked spinach... and then add just a bit of broth. You might also wish to add just a touch of grated nutmeg.

Silvana's Zuppa di Carote e Patate ("Carrot and potato Soup")
Ingredients - serves 6
extra virgin olive oil (about 1/4 c.)
1 white onion
clove of garlic
7-8 medium-sized carrots
3-4 medium-sized potatoes

(As all ingredients will be pureéd, fine to chop into smallish pieces of whatever size).
Cover bottom of saucepan with olive oil, then add chopped white onion, garlic clove, chopped potatoes and carrots. Add very hot water bit by bit, until you have added about a litre (less if you like the soup creamier). Add bouillon cube (vegetable - not meat). Salt and pepper to taste. Cook in pressure cooker 1/2 hr. Pureé. Serve, drizzling a bit of extra virgin olive oil on top, then sprinkling (if desired) a bit of Parmesan cheese.
Optional addition: for color, add finely-chopped fresh parsley.

•••••

Fettucine* con Lattuga e Piselli (lettuce and peas) - for about 6 persons
Soon, peas will be ripe in the garden. Spring brings countless dishes offering peas as the culinary protagonist: risotto con piselli, pasta con piselli e prosciutto... and this is an interesting one.
Ingredients:
1 head of lettuce... but NOT iceberg! Romaine or another sort, tender leaves
About 2 1/2 cups of peas, baby ones and tender; if possible, fresh
2 Tbs. of butter
2 Tbs. of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Fettucine* (whenever you are cooking pasta, allow about 100 g per person... or count on about 1 lb. for every 5 persons)

In a small pan, heat butter with olive oil and then cook peas, simmering gently. Boil water for pasta - and salt water.
After about 15 min., add lettuce which has been carefully washed and sliced into julienne strips and add salt, pepper to taste. Cook a few min., adding a drop or two of hot water, if necessary to have sugo (sauce) right consistency.
Serve steaming hot over fettucine, cooked al dente. Add ground pepper as desired.
An added nice addition: freshly-chopped mint. This pasta is not generally served with Parmesan... but add if you wish to, give it a try.
*Note: fettuccia = "ribbon"

Pasta al Sugo di Pancetta e Piselli - for about 6 persons
Another one of our favorite Umbrian pasta recipes made with peas.
Note: bacon is a poor substitue for pancetta, the Italian "bacon" which is salt-cured, not smoked (as is bacon)... so... for best flavor, splurge on pancetta.
Ingredients:
1lb-12 oz. can of whole tomatoes
2 c. peas (fresh if possible... otherwise, use frozen)
2 slices of thickly-sliced pancetta
1/2 c. dry white wine
Extra virgin olive oil
Rigatoni or penne pasta
Grated Romano cheese (as flavor is sharper than Parmesan)

Sauté diced pancetta in hot olive oil. Add 1/2 c. white wine and simmer until most of wine evaporates. Add peas and tomatoes, chopped into small pieces and simmer about 15-20 min. or until most of water from tomatoes evaporates and sauce is right consistency. Do not over
Serve over pasta, adding amount of cheese desired. (Some people like to add a garlic clove to pancetta; others like to sauté finely-chopped white onion first, then add pancetta, then tomatoes.)

Variation: in bianco (often made this way by my farm women neighbors here in Umbria) = "white", ie, without tomato. Heat diced pancetta in olive oil and add 2 cups of peas, simmering and adding a drop or two of hot water as peas cook to right consistency. Serve over hot pasta, adding olive oil if needed (unheated). Sprinkle generously with Romano cheese.

•••••

Here's a tasty springtime recipe which is delicious with garden asparagus (if you don't have access to the wild variety! - see article), shared by my friend Anna Maria Minciotti, mother, agronomist and great cook! (She and her husband, Edoardo, have inherited a 16th-c family palazzo in the medieval backstreets of Assisi. Have a look: www.palazzominciottiassisi.com. If you ever stay there, ask Anna Maria to give you one of her cooking lessons!)

Pasta alla Primavera ("Springtime Pasta")

Ingredients - serves about 6 persons
(use any or all of the vegetables)
penne or rigatoni pasta (or fettuccine, also called tagliatelle) - use about 1 lb for every 5 people
peas (a cup or so)
asparagus tips (same amt)
fava beans (same amt)
artichokes (3 or 4 medium-sized)
clove of garlic
1/2 onion
olive oil (extra-virgin and accept no substitutes!)
6-8 very ripe cherry tomatoes
white wine - 1/2 c or more
Parmesan or pecorino cheese, freshly-grated

Cover bottom of saucepan with olive oil. Heat a bit and sauté gently finely-sliced white onion with garlic clove til golden (do not burn - and if you do, throw out the onion and garlic and start over as the flavor will be ruined).

Add to olive oil, peas (fresh best - if using frozen, add near end of cooking), asparagus tips, fave beans, artichokes (sliced - with spiky part of tips trimmed off). Simmer a few minutes, then add a 1/2 c (or slightly more) white wine. Simmer, uncovered, til wine evaporates. Vegetables should be tender. Add halved cherry tomatoes. Cook just a few minutes so that tomatoes soften but do not turn to sauce.
Mix into hot pasta.

Serve at once with grated Parmesan or pecorino.

Optional: add a piece of hot red pepper when sauteéing onion and garlic.

Hint: when draining pasta, always save the brodo (salted water) in which you cooked it. This can be useful when you mix in sauce, as you may wish to add a bit of liquid to it. (Do not rinse pasta when draining! When pasta is cooked perfectly al dente - or "to the tooth" - throw into the pot a cup of cold water to immediately stop cooking and then drain immediately. And no! Italians do NOT throw the pasta on the wall to see if it is cooked!).

Estate - Summer

Sicilian Zucchini with Mint and Garlic
Pino's wise and wonderful mother, Signora Vincenza, taught me much about Sicilian lifestyles and Sicilian cooking. She is no longer with us - but her culinary secrets live on! One of the first recipes she taught me to make was one with zucchini (one summer while visiting us when our zucchini crop was surplus!).
Vinegar is often used in Sicilian cooking as years ago, people could not afford refrigeration.  Cooking with vinegar helped preserve the food.  When my husband Pino was small, there was no refrigerator in their home. Even in the intense heat of Sicilian summers, these zucchini need not be refrigerated.
 
Ingredients:
zucchini - 6 or 8  or....? (as many as you want - use more mint and garlic, olive oil and vinegar if making this dish with more zucchini)  - small-to-medium-sized but NOT large (too much pulp inside ---and less flavor)
wine vinegar, red or white q.b = "quanto basta" or " as much as is needed)
extra-vrigin (ONLY!) olive oil  - q. b.
sunflower seed (or other seed oil) - q. b.
bunch of fresh mint
garlic cloves, 4 or 5
salt - q.b.
 
Rinse zucchini and then slice.  Slice longtitudinally if zucchini are quite small; slice rounds if zucchini larger. Objective: you will be frying all the slices and therefore want to be turning as few slices as possible. Put all zucchini slices in deep bowl and cover with salt - a cup or more. Let sit about half an hour. (Zucchini will soften as water is leached - and are therefore prepared for frying).
Rinse 2 or 3 times.
Drain. Spread on cloth.
Heat 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 sunflower seed oil in stainless steel  frying pan.  Oil should be deep for better frying. Begin to fry only when oil "spits".  Zucchini should be brown and crispy on both sides. As you remove one zucchini from pan, add another. Leave no "open" spaces in the pan or oil will smoke and burn.
Finely-chop garlic cloves and generous bunch of mint.
When all zucchini are fried, add olive oil and wine vinegar, then garlic and mint. Mix lightly. Add salt as needed.
If making large quantities, the zucchini can be stored in the fridge in a jar for a couple weeks, if you add a bit of olive oil and vinegar.  Zucchini should not be "exposed" to the air, ie, top level should be covered with olive oil.
Serve cold as antipasto.

•••••

Umbrian Harvest-time Beans
(Please see article.)

Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs of dried beans, soaked overnight in abundant cold water
1 white onion
celery - 1 or 2 stalks
parsley (optional)
5 or 6 very ripe tomatoes or about 1 c. of canned tomatoes.
olive oil.

Boil the beans til tender in salted water.

For sauce (sughetto):
Sauté finely-chopped white onion with finely chopped celery, Add finely-chopped parsley if desired. When onion is golden, add tomatoes and cook briefly til tomatoes blend in with chopped vegetables.

Stir beans into sauce, adding olive oil if needed. Add salt and pepper to taste. This dish is often used with fava beans.

NB The farmwomen have not ever seen a recipe written down! They cook by watching and then helping out when young. I suggest trying out this dish via experimentation.

•••••

Pasta al Vero Pesto alla Genovese (Pasta with the REAL Genovese Pesto Sauce)

And yes, this certainly can be a recipe which bridges summer, fall... though the variety of basil cultivated on the Ligurian coast (and which enriches the Genovese pesto with its rich perfume) becomes scarcer in the garden (and less perfumed) as the cold, rain starts to set in. This variety of pesto has a small convex leaf, oval-shaped; color is delicate green. Prime characteristic: its delicate fragrance. Ocimum basilicum arrived in Europe from Africa with the Romans and this basil quickly becomes the basic herb of Ligurian cuisine and of course, of the famous Genovese pesto.

The Region of Liguria has now applied for DOP ("denominazione d'origine protetta") status for its pesto, i.e., Protected Designation of Origin status which means that "pesto alla genovese" can ONLY come from the Genoa area. DOP recognition will be an affirmation of the Genovese saying, "Se il basilico é foresto, di sicuro non é pesto" ("If the basil is foreign, then it can't be pesto").

I recently visited an old friend in Camogli, on the coast just outside of Genoa. Felicità is a superb cook and has been cooking "alla genovese" since she was old enough to hold a spoon, carrying on the culinary traditions of her mother, grandmother... and so on down the line.

You certainly won't be able to make your pesto with the highly-perfumed Genovese basil (and neither can I here in Umbria!) but see how close you can come to a vero pesto:

Ingredients:
100 g of pasta (spaghetti) for every person (or about 1 lb for 5 people)
*The Genovese serve their pesto with trofiette (a flour and water-based pasta of curious twisted shape) but any form welcomes a buonissimo pesto, (in fact, Felicità makes a pesto lasagna as well!)
a large, large bunch of basil
a handful of pine nuts
a handful of grated Parmesan cheese
about 1/4 c excellent extra-virgin olive oil (feel free to contact me if you wish information on how to get the BEST absolutely!)
garlic clove (can eliminate if desired)
sale - a touch

Pesto was originially made with mortar and pestle ("pestaio" - hence, the name "pesto") but nowadays a blender does the job. Fill blender with all the basil it can hold and add other ingredients. Blend. If too thick, add a bit of water. Consistency should be that of heavy cream and pesto should come out of blender in dollops. Color will be light green. Mix in well with hot pasta. When draining pasta, be sure to save some of the water in which you cooked it. This water can be added to pesto if needed, to render it more creamy when mixing in with the pasta.

If freezing your pesto, do not use olive oil, nor cheese when blending (add later when serving). Use corn oil or a seed oil in blender as olive oil when defrosted has unpleasant odor.

Before mixing the pesto in with the pasta, Felicità adds about 2 tablespoons of prescinseua ("buttermilk" in Genoese dialect) to the pesto, to add a more creamy flavor (as did her mother and grandmother when they made pesto). I asked Felicità about the absence of pecorino (sheep's milk cheese) - which is sometimes used along with the Parmesan - in her pesto. She rightly pointed out that the Ligurian coastal area has never been a sheep-herding area. Therefore, "niente pecorino!" she exclaimed.

•••••

Pollo alla romana ("Chicken the Roman way"... though there are many ways the Romans cook chicken!)
Ingredients - serves 4
a young chicken (free-range chicken is best!)
1 lbs of ripe red tomatoes, Roma variety if possible (contain less water)
a couple slices of prosciutto
6-8 slices of a good Italian or French bread
salt, pepper
dry white wine - a cup or more
fresh basil, parsley, maggioram
olive oil - a bit of butter
beef or chicken boullion cube ("Star" is the one preferred by Italians)

Cut the chicken into pieces (or have your butcher do it!). Pieces should not be too large (amount of meat on each piece should be about that on a chicken leg). Put about 1 T of butter in pan with about 1 T (or more as needed to cover pan) of olive oil (the Roman way would prefer use of lard here). Add to pan (do not let fat burn!) finely-chopped prosciutto and parsley. Lightly simmer them in very hot oil/butter combination (or just use olive oil if preferred) and then place chicken pieces in the pan, turning til all pieces golden. Pour wine over chicken and also add 1/2 finely-chopped garlic clove and a pinch of majoram. Peel tomatoes (trick: drop them in boiling water and drain at once: skin will come off) and then add to chicken. Add a bouillon cube dissolved in hot water (for flavor) and let chicken cook for 20-30 mins. in the tomato/boullion sauce, uncovered, adding now and then T. or two of very hot water if sauce reduces too much. As chicken cooks, sugo ("sauce") will reduce - and will not be watery. When sauce has reduced and chicken is fork-tender, remove from heat. Arrange chicken on a warm platter, pouring over the top the sauce remaining in pan. Arrange around the chicken toasted bread slices (wonderful to dip in sugo - and some of that sauce may be poured right over slices). Buon appetito!

•••••

... and here's a summer side dish for you - delicious and easy to prepare (a favorite of my Sicilian relatives).

Savory Green Beans and Potatoes
After cooking green beans al dente (do not overcook... though Italians often do!) and boiling potatoes (then peeling), combine the two together and season with fresh minced garlic, olive oil, vinegar. You can either mash the potates with a fork or finely slice. Leave beans whole. Best served cold. You can boil the potatoes the day before and keep in fridge - beans, too. Cook both potatoes and beans in salted boiling water.
Either beans or potoates may also be served on own with same seasoning. I like to add lots of minced fresh parsley to potatoes with olive oil and vinegar - and lots of fresh mint to beans done with this seasoning. In all cases, add salt and pepper to taste. (My Sicilian brother-in-law loves to add a minced anchovy to the above recipe).
Hint: best if done with beans from YOUR garden. Why? Not only fresher but you can pick them smaller! Many USA grocery stores specialize in monster-size fruits and vegetables (= with less flavor).

•••••

We'll soon be coming into the bell pepper season. We use the thicker-skinned ones for roasting on the grill and the thinner-skinned ones (generally green) for pasta, risotto, meat dishes. If making a pasta dish with bell peppers, we generally prefer a pecorino (sheep's milk cheese) which has a bit of a "bite" to it, sharper than Parmesan. Here in Umbria, we use our own Umbrian pecorino. The Sardinian pecorino is buonissimo and the pecorino siciliano is also one of my favorites. Probably most available in the US: pecorino romano.

Bucatini ai Peperoni - for about 4 persons, abundant portions!
Ingredients:
1 lb bucatini pasta (thick spaghettini with a tiny hole - "buco")
... or use penne or rigatoni
3 small bell peppers, one red, one yellow, one green
olive oil
2 garlic cloves
2 anchovies under oil
white wine
2 T of tomato sauce
broth (fine to use a simple one made with a boullion cube... if possible, STAR brodo)
a handful of black olives without pits, cut into small pieces
salt
1 small red chili pepper (peperoncino) - optional
grated pecorino cheese (romano... or other)

Put on pasta water to boil in large pot and begin to prepare sauce. Singe the peppers - can be done over gas flame on stove if you are using gas - otherwise, put in hot oven til skin blisters. Rinse under water, eliminating blistered skin. Open peppers and eliminate seeds and "nerves", then cut into strips. In sauce pan, brown til golden the 2 garlic cloves in about 4 T of olive oil. DO NOT BURN. Crush garlic with fork and then remove from oil (so oil has garlic flavor but no one will be eating garlic). Add anchovies to oil and crush with fork (and add chili pepper at this point if you like it a little piccante = hot). Add peppers and cook on lively heat about 2 mins, splashing with 1/2 c. of white wine. Reduce to medium heat and simmer so that wine evaporates. Add tomato sauce diluted in with 3-4 T. of broth (or just use water if you don't want to bother with broth)... and cook sauce over medium heat for about 1/4 hr, having added olives at halfway point.
When pasta is cooked al dente, drain and mix well into sauce. Add grated cheese and serve hot.
Note regarding tomatoes: If very ripe Roma tomatoes are available, you may use those. Boil water - drop tomatoes into it - then remove skins of tomatoes. Use about 4-5 tomatoes.

•••••

Maccheroni in Rosso - for about 4-6 persons
Ingredients:
1 lb maccheroni (or penne or rigatoni)
1 lb very ripe Roma tomatoes
4-5 leaves of fresh basil
1 bell pepper
oregano
grated pecorino cheese
olive oil
salt

Cook whole tomatoes in pan with basil leaves, a small pugno of salt, about 1 T of olive oil - covered pan about 10 mins. Then pass through food mill. Prepare pepper as in above recipe. In saucepan, heat about 4 T olive oil (but do not burn) and add tomato sauce, pepper, about 1-2 t of origano, salt. Cook about 10 mins. Cook pasta in salted water til al dente and then mix in sauce, adding pecorino cheese.

Bandiera (Flag)
This is a typical Umbrian rural dish - of la cucina povera. I learned to make this simple but delicious dish from my farm neighbors, who often made it when the bell peppers abounded in their vegetable gardens. Note that the ingredients are green, red, white = the Italian flag.
Ingredients:
4-5 green bell peppers
1 large white onion
5-6 very ripe Roma tomatoes
olive oil
salt

Heat olive oil in frying pan. When you can tell that the oil is hot (put in one piece of white onion and watch to see when it starts to sizzle), add chopped onions, then peppers. Simmer a few minutes til peppers start to seem tender, then add tomatoes cut into small pieces. Salt to taste (small pugno). Simmer til cooked. Serve hot.

Bandiera con le Uova (with eggs)
When bandiera is ready, stir in 4 or 5 beaten eggs... and you have made dinner!

Autunno - Fall
These are favorite dishes of Tita, who lives near Perugia, teaches cooking at times in her home - and grew up in a home of great cooks. In converting grams to lbs/oz or tablespoons, I just estimated, which should work as we never work from recipes here anyways!


Bucatini with Vino
Bucatini is very thick spaghetti - with a hole or buco - in the middle. Here in Umbria, we would use the strangozzi - thick spaghetti, made with just flour and water - also called in Umbrian dialect strozzapreti or "priest-chokers" - well, as Cardinal Ugo Poletti once lamented, "The Italians are Catholic but anti-clerical at one and the same time"!
Ingredients: (for 8 persons)
1-1/4 lb or so of bucatini
2-1/2 lbs of canned Roma tomatoes
3- 4 oz (or more to taste) pancetta (Italian salt-cured bacon - if you use other bacon, will not have the same flavor!) or prosciutto
1 c Parmesan
celery stalk
carrot
red wine q.b. (q.b. = "quanto basta" or "as needed"!)
about 1/4 c extravergine olive oil
salt, pepper q.b. (see above)
 
In saucepan, add diced onion, celery, carrot to olive oil (enough to cover the pan) which is hot, though not burning.  Stir til golden and add the diced pancetta (or prosciutto), stirring briefly. Cover with red wine and when it has evaporated, add the tomatoes, finely-chopped  and season with salt, pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil and cook at moderate heat about 1/2 hour.

Cook pasta in abundant salted water.  Drain when cooked al dente ("to the tooth" - ie, chewy).  Put in serving bowl and add a few tablespoons of grated Parmesan, then cover with half of sauce and mix well.  When putting into the individual pasta bowls, add the rest of the sauce and the remaining Parmesan.  Serve very hot.

•••••

Sausages with Grapes
I learned this recipe from an Assisi friend. Please see my article about our first grape harvest!
Ingredients:
1 or 2 sausages for each person (best sausages: the Umbrian ones! If not available, use a good pork sausage which is not highly seasoned - lean, if possible)
Bunches of grapes - about 1 bunch for every 4 sausages but best to simply experiment on quantity
Olive oil q.b. (q. b. = quanto basta - or... as needed)
White wine if green grapes and red wine if purple grapes (q.b)
 
Cover skillet with olive oil and heat slightly but do not burn.
Add washed grapes, crushing a bit with your hands as you put into skillet.
Simmer til grapes start to cook down a bit.
Add sausages and prick with fork (this releases the fat during cooking)
Add wine to cover (q.b.!).  Simmer til liquid evaporates.
Serve.
Buon appetito!

•••••

Panzanella ( "dried bread salad" - pane means "bread")
Ingredients - serves 6
about 1 lb of nearly stale good homemade bread (or if purchasing, Italian or French-style breads)
4 ripe tomatopes
6 leaves of basil
1 large purple onion
1 stalk celery
1 medium-sized cucumber
extra-virgin olive oil (accept no substitutes and get the BEST you can)
salt, pepper
wine vinegar
optional:  variety of salads (but not iceberg lettuce!)
 
Soak the bread in water til it softens, then squeeze all water out.  Cut into small pieces, all vegetables. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper, vinegar and keep in cool place (though not refrigerator) til served.
Best NOT prepared ahead and refrigerated.
 
Variations:  in the Lazio region, tomatoes and onions are omitted and capers, garlic, anchovies and parsley are pulverized together with mortar and pestle. Hot red pepper is added. I enjoy adding new variations to the traditional panzanella (which was made only from ingredients out in the garden in the summertime): black olives, carrots, radishes, corn...even tuna.  And here is a secret learned from my Sicilian mother-in-law about the use of purple onion in salads:  slice finely about 20 mins before making salad and salt.  This will draw out the water, "tenderize" the purple onion. Add to salad as is (and then add extra salt to salad, if needed).

•••••

Signora Vicenza's Penne al Pistacchio
This recipe is a "fall" one only because I am writing it down in the fall! Enjoy it any time of year.  Signora Vicenza of the Nebrodi mountains of Sicily (an area famous for its cultivation of pistachios) shared her recipe with me for this squisito pasta dish (and see "Volcanic Adventures" for more on Signora Vicenza and the area where she lives):

Pulverize about 6 oz. of unsalted pistachios.  Mix with olive oil til a paste is formed.
Sauté finely-grated white onion (half of onion) til golden in olive oil.  Add pistachio pesto and stir. Raise heat and add about 1/4 c of brandy.  Add 1/2 c approximately - or more as needed - fresh cream. Add beef bouillon cube - start with just 1/2 (may be sufficient).  Simmer.  Add salt, pepper as needed. 
Mix into hot pasta.  Signora Vincenza does NOT add grated cheese.   
 
N.B. Signora Vincenza makes a very laborious beef broth (I cheat with the bouillion cube but the resulting pistachio pesto sauce is squisito the same). To make Signora's beef broth: braise veal bones (from a butcher - but you won't be able to get the same sort of bones that she does:  those of the huge white chianina oxen which graze in the Nebrodi mountains - what flavor!) in oven with onion, celery, carrot and then put the bones in a large pot, add water and fresh carrot, celery, onion and let simmer away on the stove all day! Signora Vicenza adds finely-chopped fresh parsley for about the last 15 minutes of simmering.

•••••

Torta al Testo* (Italian flat bread)
Ingredients - serves 6
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 to 1/3 cup finely grated parmigiano reggiano or pecorino
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups warm water

Dissolve yeast in warm water and let sit until creamy and bubbly-about 10 minutes.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture and olive oil to the dry ingredients and stir until a soft dough is formed. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and satiny, and not stick to the work surface.
Alternately, you can put the dry ingredients into the bowl of a standing mixer, add the yeast and olive oil, and stir well. Using the dough hook, mix on medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic, and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
Form the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning to coat all surfaces. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Heat a large (15-inch) griddle over medium heat until a drop of water jumps and sizzles. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and divide dough in half. Keep remaining dough covered with plastic wrap. Roll into a large circle, about 1/4-1/3 inch thick and 14 inch in diameter. Carefully place the dough round on the hot griddle and poke it all over with a fork. Immediately turn heat to low and check after a minute or two to make sure it is just beginning to brown. After about 5 to 10 minutes, when the bottom is lightly browned, carefully turn it over and continue to cook until done, about 10-15 minutes more. Check every 5 minutes by lifting an edge, to make sure it is not browning too quickly. It should be lightly browned and crusty with a soft center, when it is done.
Remove from heat and cool on a rack.
Punch down the remaining dough, shaping and cooking the torta as before.
Cut into 6 wedges. Split and fill with desired ingredients and eat slightly warm, or at room temperature.
Cooled torta al testo can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 3 days, or frozen up to a month. Reheat, wrapped in foil, in a 400° oven for 5 minutes.
If a 15-inch griddle is unavailable, divide the dough into thirds and use an 8-10 inch griddle.

*My friend, Christine Hickman, has very generously offered to share her torta recipe. My farmwomen neighbors all have learned to make torta from their mothers and grandmothers. So there is NO recipe. But Christine observed, learned and transcribed doses. This is her recipe, painstakingly calculated and based on her observations of donne umbre in cucina. The recipe was published in November 2003 in an article on her in The Sant Fe New Mexican. Chris lives 6 months of the year in Santa Fe and 6 month here in Perugia, teaching cooking lessons in both places. Look for her book-in-progress on gnocchi.

•••••

Pumpkin Risotto - for 6 people
Ingredients:
450 grams of rice (about 1 lb)
1 pumpkin
80 grams of butter – nearly 1/4 c (slightly less than 3 oz)
1,5 liters of meat broth - about 1- 1/2 qts.
1 onion
4 T. of Parmesan chesse
nutmeg
1 bunch of parsley
salt and pepper

Cutting the pumpkin
Wash and dry the outside of the pumpkin with a cloth. Cut the top of the pumpkin off and with a spoon, empty the rest of the pumpkin into a bowl. Take about 500 grams (about 1lb) of the pumpkin and squash with a fork, after freeing it of the seeds.
Preparing the “soffritto”
Wash, dry and chop into small pieces 3/4 of the parsley (the other 1/4 will be used to decorate the rice). Melt 50 g. (4 T about) of butter in a saucepan (medium flame) and fry the onion (sliced) in the butter until blond. Add the 500 grams of pumpkin, salt and pepper and mix it all together for 5 minutes.
Cooking the rice
Add the rice to the saucepan (where you have fried the onions in the butter and added the pumpkin) and mix with a wooden spoon. Cook the rice with the meat broth (adding ladles of broth as it becomes absorbed) until the rice is cooked al dente (NOT overcooked!).
Uniting it all
After about 18 minutes of cooking the rice, add the remaining butter (30 grams) and the Parmesan cheese and continue mixing. Then add the sliced parsley and grated nutmeg. Pour the rice in the empty pumpkin and decorate the top of the rice with the whole parsley.

•••••

Pasta with Pesto – Potatoes and Fresh String Beans - for 4 people
NB - This recipe is not strictly-speaking "seasonal": green beans are no longer in the garden - but some of the year's crop is now in the freezer - and we have frozen our basil leaves for the making of tomato sauce and pesto during the winter. In any case, I've had this dish before but Tita's is tops. I had to share!
Ingredients:
600 grams of pasta (about 1 1/4 lb)
50 leaves of Basil
50 grams of pine nuts – about 1/4 c. (2 oz)
1 garlic glove
30 grams (about 4 T) of grated Parmesan cheese
30 grams of grated pecorino
1/2 glass of extravergine olio di oliva
2 small potatoes
100 grams (about 1/4 lb) of string beans
salt

1) Clean the string beans and cook them in salted boiling water for 15 minutes. Peel the potatoes and boil them in another pot for 25 minutes. Cool the string beans and potatoes and cut them in small pieces (a little bigger than a dice).
2) Wash and dry the basil leaves and put them in a mixer with the pine nuts , garlic, 1 T of olive oil and 2 pinches of salt, mixing them until they become a creamy sauce.
3) Unite to the creamy pesto sauce the Parmesan e pecorino cheese (1 teaspoon at a time) and the rest of the olive oil until it becomes a creamy sauce.
4) Cook the pasta in salted water and when the pasta is cooked (don’t throw away the cooking water), unite the pasta to the creamy pesto sauce, adding 2 T of the pasta water. Then add the potatoes and string beans and serve hot!!!

•••••

Umbrian Lentil Soup - for about 6 persons
Ingredients:
1 lb lentils
1 carrot, finely-chopped
1 medium-sized stalk of celery, finely-chopped
1 small white or yellow onion, finely-chopped
1 handful parsley, finely-chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil - to taste, as needed
Salt
Optional additions: hot red pepper, sprig of fresh rosemary

Soak the lentils overnight in cold water. (Try to buy small, tender lentils which do not require hours to cook. Here in Umbria, the lentils of Castelluccio are the best - cook very quickly and superb flavor. Sought after all over Italy. If you ever come to Umbria, be sure to pick some up!)

Rural version: my farm neighbors would start with a soffrito (or "gentle fry"), that is, by putting in saucepan olive oil, enough to cover the bottom. Procedure: heat olive oil but do not burn and put all vegetables in oil, stirring with wooden spoon (only! never use stainless steel with legumes, I am told... though not sure why!). Stir til vegetables are golden - add lentils and about 1 qt water. Simmer til lentils tender. Drizzle with olive oil when serving, if desired.

Anne's version: to avoid any sort of frying (even if minimal) of olive oil, I put all ingredients in pot together (except olive oil) and simmer. Simmer til lentils tender and drizzle olive oil on the soup before serving. (My version is probably better for the health - but the rural version is best for the palate!).

For both of above versions, small hot red pepper may be added during cooking - but watch out!. A sprig of fresh rosemary adds wonderful flavor to the soup.

Miscellaneous lore:
*The above soup is delicious if poured over hot bruschetta (bread toasted and rubbed with a garlic clove, then drizzled with olive oil).
*Here in Umbria, lentils are eaten New Year's Eve (along with many other dishes) as the more lentils you eat on New Year's Eve the more coins (ie, greater wealth) you will have in the New Year! On New Year's, the lentil soup is cooked with zampone (pig's feet), though the farmers often used their homemade sausages if zampone not available.
*Olive oil must be extra virgin and ideal if also cold-pressed. The best olive oil in the world (if you believe Europe's top chef, Alain Ducasse) is that of the Spello area, here in Umbria! (...and happy to tell you how to get hold of it).

---

Home | Tours | Trip planning | Cooking | Lectures | U.S. Events |
Services | Comments | Bio | Memoirs | Links | Contact

E-mail: Anne@Annesitaly.com
© Anne Robichaud

WWW ANNESITALY.COM