A Five-Color Recipe…or Two

I suggested to Pino that we put fewer zucchini plants in our garden this year: to no avail. The “zucchini tsunami” has hit.
Our chickens are relishing the seeds and soft pulp of the giant ones, too overgrown for zucchine marinate.
We often have penne with zucchini and zucchini flowers (with and without shaved black summer truffle) and a simple sauce with just finely diced zucchini and diced white onion, a bit of prosciutto.

I wanted to come up with a new pasta dish today taking in the advice on a recent Italian TV food health note: “five portions of five colors daily.”

I had two objectives: first and foremost, use up lots of our zucchini and secondly, dish up five colors. I worked both objectives into these two recipes:

Pasta Arcobaleno (“Rainbow Pasta” – not all the colors of the rainbow but pretty close!)

Ingredients (for four persons)

• zucchini..if over-sized, 2 will do
• 2 small eggplants
• bunch of fresh basil, chopped
• garlic, 3 cloves
• bell pepper – 1, if large
• green or black olives – a handful
• red chili pepper
• prosciutto, 1 slice (sliced rather thickly)
• 4- 5 very ripe Roma tomatoes
• celery, 1 stalk
• carrots 2
• salt, q.b. (“quanto basta” or as much as you need)
• Parmesan, q.b.

As soon as I set out all the ingredients, I was glad to see I had my five colors: green (celery, olives, basil and our olive oil), orange (carrot), white/pinkish (garlic), red (chili pepper, bell pepper, and tomatoes), and purple (eggplants). And I could have had yellow if I’d used a yellow bell pepper, not a red one…

Here’s how to make this tasty dish:
If zucchini is large, cut in half and remove soft pulp and seeds as you wish to have just firm zucchini for this dish. Finely-dice the zucchini, discarding soft pulp and seeds (to the chickens, if you have them). Finely-dice eggplant, celery and peeled carrot. Chop bell pepper and the tomatoes into small pieces. Dice one slice of prosciutto. Finely mince the garlic.

Cover medium-sized saucepan with olive oil (extra-virgin only, please) and heat slowly, adding almost immediately garlic and diced prosciutto. When garlic golden, add all the other vegetables, except tomatoes and cook over low heat just until they start to soften. Now, add tomatoes, olives and basil, salt, q.b. Serve over penne or rigatoni pasta. Add Parmesan cheese. Serve.
Buon appetito!

I felt like a light summery second course today for Pino and one of his workers here for lunch. And of course, abundant amount of zucchini in the garden, eggplant, too. I asked our butcher, Francesco, to cut two chicken breasts for straccetti – “strips” and he knew exactly what I wanted. (I could have used veal but chicken breasts seemed more “summertime”).

Here’s what you need for this tasty summer chicken dish:

Summertime Straccetti

Ingredients (for four persons)

• two chicken breasts, cut into strips about an inch wide
• 1 zucchini if small or use a large zucchini, discarding soft pulp and seeds
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 small tender eggplants
• 1 bell pepper
• handful of olives
• balsamic vinegar, q. b.
• olive oil, q. b.
• salt, q. b.

Cover frying pan with olive oil and when hot (but not burning), stir in finely-diced garlic cloves, immediately adding chicken strips. Brown gently on both sides and add zucchini, pepper and eggplants also cut into thin strips about 4-5 “ long and about the width of your forefinger. Simmer a few minutes, then add olives, chopped. As chicken and vegetables cook together, stir gently. When vegetables just starting to soften, add balsamic vinegar (about a 1/2 c). Simmer a few minutes. Add salt, q.b.
Serve hot, warm or room temperature.
Optional: add capers, too, when you add the olives.

And this recipe is missing one of the five colors. Well, should we add carrot?

Read about colors and food varieties in the heart-healthy diet
Another note here on five colors and good health
A zucchini recipe here
Another one here
More recipes here