Zia Lucia’s Zucchini and Mint Salad

Posted on August 21, 2011 by fjbnyc

This is a salad that reminds my mom of her Aunt Lucia, who used to live in Cosenza, a small city in Calabria.  Only my mother’s aunt used to make this salad for her–my grandmother never cared to make it.  Therefore the memories of it, for my mom, are forever connected with Zia Lucia.

My most vivid memory of Zia Lucia was a visit she paid my family when I was a child.  While we were out at school during the day, my aunt was determined to make dinner for us.  Not finding a larder full of food in our basement (as she was accustomed to having in Italy), she spotted a rabbit running around our yard.  My mother arrived home just in time to call off the hunt and explain to Aunt Lucia that if any of our neighbors had spotted her chasing a rabbit with a broomstick, we’d all have a lot of explaining to do!  She settled on making a sublime potato dish for us that I shall always remember–I’ll publish it one day.

Back to the salad:  zucchini are sliced lengthwise on a mandoline, then blanched.  The wilted slices of zucchini are then drained well and arranged in a broad shallow serving dish, each layer lightly dressed with salt, pepper, olive oil, red wine vinegar and torn mint leaves.  That’s the dish–the longer it sits, the more the flavors meld.  Make it at least a couple of hours ahead and let it rest at room temperature until dinner–it’s delicate but bright and astringent.

Zia Lucia’s Zucchini Salad

serves 4

6 small zucchini (approximately 7″ – 8″ long)

24 mint leaves

6 tbls extra-virgin olive oil

4 tbls red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Slice zucchini lengthwise on mandoline.

Blanch in boiling well-salted water for about 5 – 7 minutes or until tender but still bright green.  Drain in strainer.

Arrange layers of zucchini slices in broad, shallow serving dish.  Top each layer with salt, pepper, mint, oil and a drizzle of vinegar.

Allow to rest at least a couple of hours prior to dining.

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Pasta with Savoy Cabbage

Posted on August 18, 2011 by fjbnyc

Although I think of cabbage as a fall and winter vegetable, the early crop is now in farmstands in my area, and it is sweet and delicate (no unpleasant odor while cooking these).  Savoy cabbage is more delicate than green cabbage and I always prefer it when I can get it.  The leaves are crinkled and veined and much thinner and less sturdy than standard green cabbage.  When I see a perfect specimen, I can’t resist.

I prefer to blanch my savoy cabbage before sauteing it.  I’ve seen recipes that call for sauteing it raw and I’ve tried it, but it ends up cooking a little unevenly–too crunchy in spots, while brown and caramelized in other spots.  I like the leaves to maintain their gorgeous green color and be crisp-tender.  A few minutes in boiling salted water is all that is required. 

When making savoy cabbage as part of a pasta dish, you can simply boil the cabbage first, then drain while you boil the pasta in the same pot of water. 

Tonight we’re dining vegetarian, with pasta as the main course.  For protein, I’ve made a salad of chopped arugula, mozzarella and cherry tomatoes from my neighbor Beppi’s garden.  Simply tossed with olive oil and salt, this caprese is a great first course or side dish.

Pasta with Savoy Cabbage

serves 4

1 head savoy cabbage

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 lb gemelli or other short pasta

4 tbls olive oil

1 hot chili pepper or pinch of  chili flakes (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

pecorino cheese for sprinkling at the table

Quarter the cabbage lengthwise and remove the core from each quarter.

Slice each quarter widthwise into 1/2″ ribbons.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, blanch cabbage for 3 -4  minutes, until crisp-tender.  Remove and drain. 

While pasta is cooking (in the same water in which the cabbage was boiled), brown the garlic and chili pepper in a broad skillet on high heat for 2 – 3 minutes or until garlic begins to turn golden.

Add in cabbage and continue sauteing on low heat until pasta is a minute shy of done.

Add pasta and 1/2 cup cooking liquid and saute with cabbage for about a minute. 

If you’re serving the dish with the hot pepper included, remove seeds and slice.  Otherwise, if pepper is too hot, discard.  Drizzle with a bit more olive oil and add salt and pepper.

Serve with plenty of grated pecorino.

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Summer Minestrone

Posted on August 16, 2011 by fjbnyc

On a wet and rainy Sunday, even in summer, a bowl of soup always satisfies.  A minestrone that makes full use of summer squashes and tomatoes is quick and easy to make and a great vehicle for a dollop of basil pesto, should you have any to use up from the fridge or freezer.

This soup can either be made using water or chicken broth.  I happen to have a bag of chicken backs and necks in the freezer, so I’m going to improvise a little chicken stock with some carrots, onion and celery plus a bay leaf, which I’ll simmer for an hour prior to proceeding with the recipe.

The variety of summer squashes that I’m using are as interesting to look at as they are good to eat:  plump round little zucchini with hardly any seeds, plus pale green and yellow varieties of zucchini.  

A potato, peeled and cubed is added, plus some cooked white beans. A peeled chopped tomato and a diced carrot add some color and sweetness.

I also freeze the rinds from the parmigiano, therefore, one will go into my soup (I’ll remove it before serving).  Also in my freezer is a bag of swiss chard stems, all cleaned, chopped and blanched.  I usually use these in frittata, but a soup is also  the perfect opportunity to use up all these precious little odds and ends.

You always end up making more than you set out to, and the leftovers are great at room temperature as well, drizzled with some extra-virgin olive oil.  The soup keeps for at least 5 days in the fridge.

Summer Minestrone

serves 4 – 6

3 qts chicken broth

2 small carrots, coarsely diced

1 stalk celery, coarsely diced

1/2 a medium onion, coarsely diced

1 yukon gold potato, peeled and diced into 3/4″ dice

1 piece of parmigiano rind, rinsed (optional)

4 small zucchini–mixed varieties or all dark green, diced into 3/4″ dice

2 plum tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 links of pre-boiled pork sausage (optional)

stems from a bunch of swiss chard, chopped and pre-boiled for about 10 minutes

15 oz. cooked white beans (may be canned and rinsed)

1/4 lb ditalini pasta

pesto sauce for adding at the table

grated pecorino cheese for sprinkling at the table

salt and pepper to taste

In the broth, simmer the potatoes, onions, celery, carrots and parmigiano rind for about 10 minutes.  Add zucchini, tomatoes and sausage.  Simmer another 7 – 10 minutes.  Add beans at last minute (if using canned) so as not to cause them to become too soft.  In a separate pot of salted water, cook pasta until a minute shy of done.  Add to soup and simmer another couple of minutes.  Serve with a dollop of pesto and plenty of grated pecorino romano.

 

 

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Mom’s Zucchini Fritters

Posted on August 15, 2011 by fjbnyc

With an abundance of sweet just-picked zucchini, these weeks in late summer are a veritable zucchini-fest.  Zucchini is such a mild and neutral vegetable–the perfect accompaniment to poultry or fish; great in frittate, easy and quick to prepare.  Zucchini require no extensive cleaning (like spinach or swiss chard), no pre-blanching, and generally takes less than 15 minutes to prepare.

My mother makes wonderful fritters with zucchini, and is especially fond of the blossoms of the zucchini plant.  These blossoms are the most delicate and perishable byproduct of the zucchini plant, since they live for only a very short while off the plant, and must be harvested early morning, before they close and shrivel up in the afternoon sun.

When picked in the morning, they can be kept in the fridge for several hours and used later in the day.  My neighbor Beppi has a zucchini patch in his garden and has invited me to raid the zucchini plants any morning I want.  Today, I decided to take him up on his offer as I tiptoed into his garden very early this morning.  I found a basket and clippers waiting for me on a stone wall right beside the zucchini patch.

The only advance preparation required for these fritters is the grating and salting of the zucchini. Zucchini are mostly water, therefore, when they are used as a component of another dish, like fritters, they need to be drained and squeezed.  I use the food processor to grate them, then place them in a colander with a couple of teaspoons of salt to help dehydrate them.   The batter may be made up to an hour ahead, but not longer than that, since the zucchini will continue to exude water into the batter and will eventually render the batter too thin.

I’m  serving these as part of a first-course salad of green oak leaf lettuce, orange cherry tomatoes, topped with a dollop of fresh goat cheese.  They are great, however, on their own as a snack.

Mom’s Zucchini Fritters

makes approx. 20 fritters

6 medium zucchini, grated (should yield about 4 1/2 grated zucchini, before salting)

1/2 c flour

3/4 c grated pecorino cheese

3 large eggs

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp salt

1/3 c olive oil for frying

Grate unpeeled zucchini using grater attachment of food processor, or grate by hand on the coarsest side of a box-grater.  Place in a strainer and sprinkle with salt.  Allow to drain for at least a half-hour and up to an hour.

After a half-hour, the zucchini should have shrunken in volume and there should be a nice bright green pool of salty water underneath them.  Discard water.

In a mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients for batter–it should resemble a thick pancake batter.

In small handfuls, squeeze the zucchini between both hands and place in the batter.  If using zucchini blossoms, simply chop coarsely and add to batter.

In a broad nonstick skillet on high heat, preheat oil for a minute or so.  Drop in batter by the tablespoon–if the first tablespoon of batter doesn’t begin sizzling immediately, allow oil to heat further before adding more batter.  Do not crowd the pan.  Once the pan is 3/4 full, lower the heat to medium.  Fry until golden on both sides–approximately 3 minutes per side, depending on the strength of your burners.

If you are making more than one batch, hold the first batch in a preheated 275 degree oven until ready to serve.

May be eaten hot, warm or cold.

 

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Zucchini and Ricotta Pizza

Posted on August 14, 2011 by fjbnyc

Pizza night was such a hit last month among my twenty-something guests that I decided it was the best way to entertain a crowd again this past weekend. I duplicated two of the the pizzas from last month: the basic margherita,  and one with roasted eggplant, peppers and onion.

See Mom’s Pizza for the sauce recipe and the basic procedures.

The third pizza was made with sauteed swiss chard, caramelized onions and goat cheese. This was essentially the same as last month’s beet green and garlic pizza, only substituing swiss chard and onion for beet greens and garlic.

Then add dollops of fresh soft goat cheese and drizzle with olive oil.

The main attraction in this post, however, was the simplest pizza of all:  zucchini and ricotta studded with fresh cherry tomatoes.  This pizza was so beautiful and light (and easy) that it was an instant favorite.  The zucchini were sauteed briefly until they began to soften and become golden and caramelized, then they were arranged and embedded in the ricotta.  The cherry tomatoes were simply cut in half and arranged between rounds of zucchini.  The whole pizza was heavily anointed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and baked for about 45 minutes at 375 degrees with convection.

Last but not least, was a beautiful salad made with oak leaf lettuce, yellow cherry tomatoes and roasted beets from my neighbor Beppi’s garden.  I tossed the greens in a large mixing bowl with 2 parts olive oil to one part red wine vinegar, sprinkled on salt and pepper to taste, and then piled the greens in an oval serving platter and topped with the beets and halved tomatoes.  It’s an impressive presentation for any buffet.

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Pasta with Zucchini and Arugula Pesto

Posted on August 13, 2011 by fjbnyc

It’s been a fun challenge to take maximum advantage of the crop of zucchini this summer.  This next dish is also takes advantage of the peppery arugula which comes from my  neighbor Beppi’s garden.  Zucchini and arugula are a great combination–silky and sweet combined with peppery and tart.

The beauty of this pesto is that it doesn’t discolor like traditional basil pesto.  I’ve made prior variations of this sauce before, but tonight’s version is the perfect proportion of ingredients to complement the plain sauteed zucchini.

This dish is great for company because the sauce may be prepared hours in advance and held at room temperature.  The pasta may then be boiled at the last minute, while the zucchini are sauteed.

The pasta I’m using tonight is dried fettucine.  Egg pasta may be substituted, but I think that the sturdiness of dried pasta is more appropriate for this sauce.

Pasta with Zucchini and Arugula Pesto

serves 6

1  – 3/4  lbs dried fettucine

6 medium zucchini (approximately 7″L), cut in half lengthwise, then sliced into half-moon slices approx. 1/4″ thick.

3 tbls olive oil for frying zucchini

Arugula Pesto (see below)

2 tbls butter

grated cheese–blended equal parts parmigiano and pecorino

Boil pasta in plenty of salted water.  While pasta is boiling, in a broad skillet on highest heat, saute zucchini in oil until just tender (about 6 minutes).

When pasta is about 30 seconds shy of done, toss into skillet with zucchini, along with butter, and a half-cup of pasta cooking water.  Turn off heat under skillet and mix in pesto.  A bit of pasta water may still be added if mixture is too tight–the pasta will absorb the liquid as it sits.

 Arugula Pesto

2 c  arugula (firmly packed)

8 – 10 basil leaves

1/4 c smoked almonds

1/4 c grated pecorino

2 tbls grated parmigiano

1/2 c olive oil

Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until a coarse puree results.

Posted in Pasta, Sauces | Leave a comment

Pollo e Zucchini

Posted on August 12, 2011 by fjbnyc

Tonight’s dinner was like putting together the parts of a puzzle.  I have one guest who doesn’t eat meat but loves vegetables.  This time of year I would normally make eggplant for her, but one of my other guests is not an eggplant eater, and besides, we’ve had a lot of eggplant lately.  My other guest is a big meat-eater but not so fond of fish or vegetables.  Everyone at the table, however, eats pasta, and although my non meat-eater isn’t wild about chicken, she’ll eat it from time to time.

Tonight’s main course is a tender chicken breast which has been lightly browned, topped with sauteed zucchini slices and sprinkled with lots of freshly grated parmigiano cheese (courtesy of my mom, who just returned from Italy with a suitcase full of cheese).  The chicken is then lightly braised in a light tomato sauce made from freshly chopped summer tomatoes.  This dish is wonderful year-round, but like any other dish with tomatoes and zucchini, it’s much sweeter and better in the heat of summer.

The great part about this dish is that, like many Italian braised dishes, it provides you with a main course plus a wonderful sauce with which to dress pasta for a first course.   Tonight we’re having egg papardelle, lightly dressed with the buttery sauce from the chicken.

Because I’m using parmigiano on the chicken breasts, I’m putting a touch of butter in the sauce (along with a touch of white wine) for a sauce that’s subtle and refined–more northern Italian than southern (my neighbor Beppi’s Venetian influence at work here).

As an accompaniment to the chicken, we’re having a simple salad of green oak leaf lettuce, just picked this morning, dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Pollo e Zucchini

serves 4 – 6

6 chicken breast halves, boneless and skinless

3 medium (around 6″ – 8″) zucchini, sliced into 1/2″ thick rounds

1 c grated parmigiano

2  c  fresh pureed plum tomatoes

1/2 c white wine

1 c chicken broth

4 tbls olive oil

4 tbls butter

flour for dredging chicken (I’m using Wondra)

salt and pepper to taste

basil leaves for garnish

In a broad nonstick skillet, heat half the oil until smoking and slip in the zucchini slices. Saute until golden brown and soft (about 5 – 7 minutes).  

Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and set aside.

Dredge chicken breasts in flour and set aside.

In a broad skillet, on medium heat, heat the rest of the oil and butter until butter melts. Gently slide in the chicken breasts and sprinkle well with salt and pepper.  Cook just until golden on one side.  Turn and cook lightly on the other side (for about a minute). 

Remove from skillet and set aside.   Turn heat to high and add wine.  Reduce for a minute, then add tomatoes and broth.  On high heat, reduce for about 2 – 3 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly.

Return chicken breasts to the skillet of sauce and gently arrange zucchini slices over them.   Sprinkle a generous amount of parmigiano over each chicken breast–this will be the glue that holds the whole thing together.  

Cover and simmer on very low heat for about 8 minutes, then serve.

Remove chicken breasts and drizzle with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil.  

Add 2 tablespoons butter to remaining sauce and toss in freshly cooked pasta, along with a couple of ladles of pasta cooking water.  There will be a light coating of sauce on the pasta–but don’t underestimate the intensity of the sauce–the fresh tomatoes, the butter, the flavor that the chicken imparts–it’s delicate and exquisite.  Sprinkle generously with lots of grated parmigiano.

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Cod alla Livornese (Summer Version)

Posted on August 11, 2011 by fjbnyc

This is a recipe of my neighbor Beppi’s.  He made it for us for Christmas Eve dinner, but this time of year it’s a great dish to make, since all of the sauce ingredients are local and in-season,  making the finished dish that much fresher-tasting.  The fish is basically poached in a light sauce with tomatoes, fennel, olives and onions until it is practically falling apart.  For Christmas, Beppi made it with rice.   Tonight, I was in the mood for crispy oven fries with it, since I love potatoes with fish. 

The dish begins with the sauce, which begins with sauteing aromatics.  Onions and fennel are sliced and sauteed in olive oil.  Chopped tomatoes are added (this time of year, I’m using fresh ripe tomatoes–in the winter I used canned whole peeled tomatoes). 

Then a little white wine, broth and olives are added, along with the fish filets.  The whole mixture is simmered and reduced until the fish is falling apart and the sauce has thickened slighlty.  It’s nice, gentle way to cook cod and very forgiving, since the fish will tend to break apart naturally as it simmers.  This would also be great over pasta. 

The dish can be made in a half-hour from start to finish but I wouldn’t make it and reheat it, since I think that fish gets fishier when reheated.   To make the dish for company, you would simply make the sauce and set it aside.  Add the fish at the last minute and simmer for about 15 – 20 minutes prior to serving.  No frying or grilling–just gentle poaching.

Cod alla Livornese

serves 4

2 – 1/2 lbs fresh cod filets

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

1 small bulb of fennel

1/4 c olive oil

1- 1/2 c chopped fresh tomatoes

1 hot pepper (optional–my addition)

1/2 c pitted olives (I used Nicoise)

1/2 c white wine

1 c chicken broth (good bouillon is fine)

2 tbls chopped fennel fronds

2 tbls fresh chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

To make the sauce, first clean the fennel by removing the tops (take a couple of tops and chop for later use in the recipe) and peeling off the outer layer (it will seem wasteful, since the outer layer is often half the vegetable, but it’s too tough and fibrous to eat).  Slice bulbs in half lengthwise and remove the triangular core in each half.

In a broad skillet on low heat,, saute fennel, onion and hot pepper (if using) in olive oil until vegetables are beginning to soften and turn lightly golden (about 5 – 7 minutes).

Turn heat to high and add chopped tomatoes, olives and white wine and reduce for a minute or so.  Add broth, and some chopped fennel fronds and simmer for about 7 minutes.

Add in fish filets and poach on medium heat for about 10 – 15 minutes, or until cooked through.  Sprinkle with chopped parlsey.

Posted in Seafood | Leave a comment

Salad with Crispy Eggplant

Posted on August 10, 2011 by fjbnyc

The eggplants from my neighbor Beppi’s garden are still coming, as are the arugula and cherry tomatoes.  I still have some ricotta left from my melanzane alla pargmigiana.  This is the perfect opportunity to vary the ingredients a bit and create an entirely new dish.

I’m in the mood for a salad as a main course, but I loved the crispiness of the roasted breaded slices of eggplant.  Therefore, I’ve repeated the breading and roasting process for the eggplant slices  (see melanzane alla parmigiana),  tossed a salad of arugula and cherry tomatoes with extra-virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar, then topped the salad with a dollop of fresh ricotta.

This is light and rich at the same time and a perfect dish for company.  With the ease of roasting the eggplant, rather than frying it, you can bread the eggplant slightly ahead of time (an hour or so), then toss the tray of eggplant into a preheated 375 degree oven while your guests arrive.  Toss the salad and serve the eggplant slices right from the oven, while they’re still hot and crisp.

Salad with Crispy Eggplant

serves 4

1 large eggplant, partially peeled

1/2 c flour

2 eggs

1 – 1/2 c seasoned bread crumbs

1 lb arugula

1 c fresh ricotta

1 pint cherry tomatoes

2 tbls extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbl red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Slice the eggplants and prepare the slices as in my melanzane alla parmigiana recipe.  Roast for a half-hour or until golden and crispy on the outside but soft on the inside.

Toss the arugula and tomatoes with the olive oil and vinegar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Arrange eggplant slices on plates, top with salad and a dollop of ricotta.

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Melanzane alla Parmigiana (My Way)

Posted on August 8, 2011 by fjbnyc

Admittedly, this is a time consuming dish, but one that makes for great leftovers and freezes very nicely.  I like to make it when eggplants are at their local best.  These eggplants come from my neighbor Beppi’s garden, so I know how fresh and flawless they are.  You might find yourself feeding a crowd in August, and the beauty of this dish is that it can be prepared entirely ahead and baked at the last minute, for stress-free entertaining.

My version of it includes a layer of chopped spinach blended with ricotta.  I find that in addition to the usual mozzarella and red sauce, the ricotta and spinach lighten the dish considerably, and add a green flavor to the richness of the mozzarella and breaded eggplant.

The process begins with making the tomato sauce.  My tomato sauce is a simple combination of sauteed onion, a touch of sweet green pepper plus canned whole peeled tomatoes and some basil leaves.  Today, I substituted a tablespoon of pesto for the basil leaves, since I had plenty of pesto on hand. 

The most time-consuming process is the breading and cooking of the eggplant slices.  Rather than frying the eggplant, I’ve decided to roast the slices on sheet pans in the oven.  This is my mother’s preferred method of getting the slices crisp without frying.  Believe me, it’s brilliant–not only do you not have to slave over a skillet (or two) of hot oil, frying batch after batch of eggplant slices, but the finished dish is that much lighter.  I was reluctant to try it, but I’m glad I did–I’ll never fry them again for parmiggiana.

The recipe here is for a very large tray of eggplant that could feed 10 persons.  It’s best to make a large tray and enjoy the leftovers for a couple of days–it tastes even better the second day.

Melanzane alla Parmigiana

Serves 10 – 12

5 large eggplants

1 recipe basic tomato sauce or about 3.3 qts (see below)

3 c all-purpose flour

10 large eggs

approx. 8 c seasoned breadcrumbs

olive oil for greasing baking pans

2 large balls fresh mozzarella, sliced thinly

16 oz. of fresh ricotta

2 – 10 oz. pkgs frozen chopped spinach

3 c grated pecorino romano cheese

1/4 tsp nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Partially peel the eggplant, leaving stripes of black peel (some peel adds flavor, but I don’t like to leave it entirely unpeeled because I feel that the peel gets too  hard and leathery if left on entirely).

Slice crosswise into 1/3″ thick slices.

Dredge each slice first in flour, then beaten eggs, then seasoned breadcrumbs, then set aside on sheetpans that have been spread with a light coating of olive oil.  Make sure to tap each slice after flouring to remove excess flour.  Also, allow egg to drip off before placing in crumbs.

Roast in a preheated 400 degree oven (with convection, if you have it) for approximately 30 minutes, or until golden brown.  After 15 minutes, alternate positions of trays in the oven for equal browning.

While eggplant slices are roasting,prepare the ricotta mixture: drain and squeeze the spinach in small bundles and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, half the grated cheese, a teaspoon of black pepper, and the nutmeg.

Begin layering the eggplant in the roasting pan, beginning with a layer of tomato sauce along the bottom. 

 Arrange eggplant slices, then top with half of ricotta mixture, mozzarella,  2 tablespoons of grated cheese, and several ladles of tomato sauce.  NOTE:  you’ll need much more sauce than you think– ladle it on freely, even if you think it will be too moist. 

Repeat with a second layer and top generously with sauce, mozzarella and grated cheese.

Cover with foil and bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until bubbling.  Uncover and bake for about 10 minutes.  Let rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving.  May be frozen in foil packages with additional tomato sauce and reheated in the oven.

Posted in Vegetables | 1 Comment