Italian salsa verde

 

 

While we say that we are green with envy in English, the Italians associate positive feelings with this color, verde speranza literally meaning that green is the color of hope.

 

It makes perfect sense when you think of it: green is so vibrant, the color of all things fresh and new. Just looking out onto a green meadow or up at a canopy of leaves instantly relaxes our mind and brings peace to our soul.

 

Green in food is often associated to good health: green vegetables and fruits are rich in vitamins and fiber (think leafy greens), not to mention healthy fats (avocado, olives). Green is the color of medicinal plants and herbs used for centuries to cure all kinds of ailments.

  

 

 

There is a very popular green sauce in Italy that derives from an ancient recipe, presumably first brought to the country from the Middle East by the Romans, who then in turn proceeded to spread it to the present day France, Spain and Germany.

 

Each country (and in Italy specifically every region, town and household) has its own version. I spoke to friends from different areas in Piedmont, famous for its "bagnet vert" (which literally means little green dip) served with tongue or mixed boiled meats, and their families all use different ingredients and preparation methods. Some add hard-boiled egg yolks, some use both lemon and vinegar, others like to mix in some gherkins. Some prepare it a few days in advance for extra flavor, others make it fresh and chop the ingredients by hand. I even came across some recipes that require the base to be heated in a pan with olive oil.

 

 

Traditionally this sauce is used to accompany boiled meats, but it works great on grilled vegetables, toasted crusty farmer's bread or fish (we had it with swordfish the other night).

 

It takes five minutes to make and can be stored in the fridge for days.

 

 

 

 

Does a form of salsa verde exist where you come from? If so, how do you make it?

 

 

Ingredients

3 anchovies
50gr red or white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp capers in vinegar
100gr extra virgin olive oil

80gr stale white bread, without crust
120gr flat leaf parsley
pepper

Cut the stale bread into cubes, after ridding it of the crust, and soak it in vinegar. Clean and chop the parsley using a knife, mezzaluna or food processor (although the traditionalists will be gasping just about now!) together with the garlic (it is a traditional ingredient, but I don't always use it), capers, anchovies, bread and olive oil.

 

 

Ok, I used whole baguette... it worked fine

 

  

 

The Healthy-Enough-For-Breakfast Cake

 

 

While white smoke was billowing from the Vatican on Wednesday evening announcing the newly-elected pope to the world, I was in my kitchen dusting white clouds of powdered sugar onto this lovely little creation of mine.

 

Ok, so that isn't entirely true.
I baked the cake on Tuesday, not Wednesday, and quickly sprinkled on some sugar for styling reasons before it had truly cooled down just so I could snap a few pictures before it got dark. So excuse my use of artistic license... a blogger's gotta do what a blogger's gotta do, right? ;o)

 

 

What you don't need, however, is an excuse to have cake for breakfast anymore (not that that has ever been an issue here in Italy).

 

There is no butter, no sugar (except that little sprinkling added for styling purposes) and no highly processed flour in this cake. Yet it does not taste like cardboard. I promised you a long time ago I would never publish healthy yet unappetizing excuses for a dessert. And I never have, although I have made my share over the years. So trust me on this one, 'kay?

 

This cake is moist (really, really moist) and packed with nutritious ingredients: honey (antioxidants, antibacterials), olive oil (antioxidants and vitamin E), carrots (beta carotene, vitamin E), coconut (vitamin C, fiber), Greek yogurt (calcium, acidophilus), oat flour (vitamin B, iron, calcium), wholewheat flour (fiber, folates, vitamin B).

 

 

See how moist it is?

You can use grated zucchini instead of carrots, substitute some of the yogurt, olive oil or even honey with apple sauce... well, you get the gist. Just make it! We have been eating it all week and it is as moist and satisfying as the first day.

Wishing you all a lovely week end. I know I am looking forward to mine!

Ingredients

3/4 cup wholewheat flour
3/4 cup oat flour
2 heaping tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup honey
1 1/4 cup finely grated carrots
1/2 cup unsweetened dried coconut
1- 1 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C and grease a traditional round layer cake pan or a springform tube pan (I used the latter). Whisk together flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Beat the eggs, mix in the yogurt, eggs, honey, finely grated carrots (I used a food processor), coconut, oil and vanilla. Then mix in the dry ingredients. Pour into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean). Let cake cool on rack for a few minutes and then ummold. When the cake has completely cooled down you can sprinkle it with powdered sugar, or not if you want to stick to the healthy -enough-for-breakfast rule.

 

 

 

 

 

Roasted lemon and red onion chutney

Saturday it was spring: sunny, warm beautiful beckoned many of us out of our homes and into the city's parks for a picnic.

I may have already told you about a park near our house that we often go to in the warmer months. It is a lovely, quaint garden tucked away behind an historic villa with a fish pond crossed by a little bridge, beautiful trees, a large and nicely kept lawn and a miniature playground. It is small and you may only enter with children and no dogs. I know this sounds unfair, but it is because of these strict rules that people can let their children crawl or walk in the grass barefoot without worrying about them stepping in/on the undesirable and often scary things that litter urban parks. It is so safe you can let your children run free and explore the secret trail beyond the bridge while you lie on a blanket and relax in the shade of a tree.

That is exactly what a bunch of us was doing, glass of red wine in hand, when we saw a woman approaching us followed by our children like she was the Pied Piper. She asked us if she could take the kids to the large park right across the street to feed animals. A couple of dads volunteered to tag along and when they all got back both fathers and children were brimming with interesting and funny stories.

That is how we found out about this group of volunteers who goes to these parks on their lunch break every day to feed the animals (mostly turtles, ducks and fish) and to make sure they are well. 

My daughter told me excitedly that a few weeks ago, when Milan was covered in snow, the pond had frozen over. If you share Holden Caulfield's curiosity about what happens to the ducks when ponds freeze in a city park, I can tell you that the Milanese ducks all huddled together in a wooden bird house by the water to keep warm, waiting for the volunteers. When they arrived with food, my daughter told me through big bouts of laughter, one of the ducks literally ice skated towards them.

Also, one of the huge carps that live in the same waters recently died and it was embalmed and is now exhibited at the nearby Museum of Natural History.

On their walk around, they also met a Brazilian turtle with a blue beak called Freddy who is a protected species. Apparently people often abandon illegaly imported animals in city parks.

My daughter and husband also met an alligator snapping turtle from Florida who eats pythons. To think I have probably walked by it a hundred times over the years and never knew were were compatriots!

Needless to say, my daughter and her friends loved every minute.

I think it is amazing that there are people out there willing to use their free time to care for animals and to teach our children about the environment that surrounds us. I can only express my gratitude towards these volunteers who take care of the little nature we have in big cities with passion by thanking them for turning my child's afternoon into a great adventure.

But you are here for a recipe, so let me digress no further. Remember that saying that goes "if life gives you lemons make lemonade"?

Lemonade? Not me, nossir. From now on I'm making chutney. Roasted lemon and red onion chutney to be exact. And you will too if you try this.

I was inspired by this recipe and the photos a few months ago. I had bookmarked it and finally decided to use up all that lovely citrus I had lying around.

I did however make some adjustments. Part of the changes were dictated by what I had in my kitchen, others by my personal preferences.

I used red onions instead of shallots. Also, I roasted my onions alongside the lemon instead of keeping them raw: whatever it lacked for in texture it made up for in color and flavor. The onion softened and caramelized slightly with the lemons and helped to further neutralize the acidity from the lemons. I made sure to use less honey so the end result wouldn't be too sweet. I also omitted the mint because I didn't have any, but I am sure it adds a lovely note and will definitely use some next time. What I am also thinking of adding when I make it again is some grated ginger, just a touch, to add some freshness and a teeny bit of heat.

When I served it my daughter eyed it suspiciously and stated with her typical 6-year old attitude: "I'm not eating that". I reminded her that our household rule is to taste before refusing something. Well, maybe I shouldn't have insisted because she ended up  making a huge dent in the supply. We ended up slathering this stuff on everything we ate yesterday and it was gone before nightfall. Not only di we drizzle it over crumbled feta and warm toasted bread, we mixed it into the vinaigrette for our salad and even used some on grilled meat. It would work wonders on roasted fish or even smoked salmon. Can you think of something else you would pair it with?

Focaccia alla Genovese

We get inspiration for our meals in in a variety of ways.

1) There is the inpsiration you get from the leftovers in your fridge or your cupboard. Often the results are satisfying (if only because you are not wasting food), sometimes they are amazing, other times less-than-stellar.

2) Then there are the special recipes you bookmarked from a blog, in a cook book or a magazine. Those are the kind of recipes you go out shopping for, the kind that usually leaves behind an array of ingredients to be used up in recipe number 1).

3) Then there are those spur-of-the moment ideas and when you check you are just lucky enough to have the basic ingredients you need in the house.

A lot of my cooking falls into category 3) these days, just because I haven’t been focused enough or had the time to sit down, plan a meal and look for a fitting recipe.

 

My weekend cooking scenario looks somewhat like this:

Me sitting at my kitchen table. The kids are playing, the husband is in the shower or out buying the paper.

It is a Saturday morning and I waver between the luxurious feeling of the whole week end stretching ahead of me and knowing I have no time. An idea is forming in my mind and I pick up my iPhone and start searching. I google, I check out some blogs, I log onto Foodgawker. I get impatient while the phone loads, I mumble under my breath as I misspell that word for the third time. I hear the clock ticking in the back of my head and I know I am wasting precious time but there are a million recipes and I can’t seem to find exactly what I was looking for. I finally find a recipe I like and I read through it to make sure I have all the ingredients and the technique is clear, that there will be no surprises half way through. All clear and well, only one problem, this recipe makes much more than I want, so I decide to halve the ingredients.

As I start calculating, the phone rings. I dust off my flour-coated fingers and go answer.

When I get back to the kitchen counter 15 minutes have passed and I need to start over, weighing the ingredients again. I am cutting a piece of butter when...

"Moooooommmyyyyyyyy, I’m doooooone" from the bathroom. I go, I wipe, I come back, I wash my hands and start over.

Just as I am measuring the flour again, in walks my son.

"Acqua" he says looking up at me. As he comes closer I realized water isn’t all he needs. I pour him some water and off we go for a diaper change and teeth brushing and dressing while we are at it.

 

Back in the kitchen, after another handwash, I put in the ingredients in the stand mixer. As I start washing up, the fighting starts.

"Stoooooop! That is mine".

"No! Mio."

Thump.

Silence.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Moooooooooommmmmmmyyyyyyyy!!! Whaaaaaaaahhhhhh".

So long for not overmixing.

Finally eyes dried, snotty noses cleaned and peace restored, the kids are in the kitchen with me. They are drawing and I am content, forget their crap strewn all over the floor between the sink, the Kitchen Aid and the oven, which are strategically placed in different corners of the kitchen. I trip and slide over the stuff and hum along to my Ipod, because I’m in a good mood. It is Saturday after all.

Even when little fingers start poking the dough or try to grab an ingredient just as I am chopping it, I keep on humming (ok, maybe with a teeny bit of hollering in between).

Taking my time and spending a relaxing afternoon in the quiet of my kitchen just doesn’t happen, so it is no surprise to me when I forget to beat the egg whites or add in an extra yolk. I post these recipes anyway if they turn out good. Because that is my life as a mom and food blogger and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I made one of my usual mistakes in this oh-so-simple recipe because I decided to halve the ingredients and then didn’t halve them all. Ooops. So there is more yeast in this focaccia than called for. If it turned out this good with the wrong amounts, I am sure it will be fabulous if you make it right. Of course, the consequence is that it was a little on the bread-y side (and I am usually somebody who likes focaccia to be quite thin and chewy), but it turned out to be just what we needed to sop up the oil from the gambas, so I’m not complaining.

As I already insisted in my last post, when you are making something with so few ingredients, they have to be good quality, down to the salt and water.

I got the recipe from La cucina italiana.

Gambas al ajillo

I have some fun recipes lined up for you, but not today. Today is just deliciousness in a dish without a recipe per se.

I have been cooking and baking and taking pictures but I find my mind goes blank whenever I have a couple of minutes to write. Work has taken up a lot of my time, thoughts and energy recently as you may have noticed from my less frequent posts lately.

I do however feel like hanging out with you and chatting a bit even if I just can't get my act together so humor me, will you? Just for today.

I read this comic strip and this one and this one that cracked me up, so I thought I would share them with all you parents of young ones. Story of my life. Maybe that is why I feel drained in the evenings, hehe.

I remember singing along to How Will I Know? day dreaming about a much older guy (a friend of my sister's - he was 18!) like it was yesterday. Whitney Houston was really a part of my adolescence. It is so sad to see yet another example of extraordinary talent leave us.

I made this dish the other evening and it was finger lickin' good. And I am not just saying that. We actually licked our fingers after eating this. There was almost oil dripping from our elbows we got so into it, talk about crowd pleaser.

Why did it take me so long to make this at home? Why wait to go to Spain to eat this?

Having the right dish, a cazuela de barro, may make it look and feel more authentic, but you can prepare this typical tapa with any heavy-based pan. Make sure your very few ingredients are top quality and you will be on a roll. I overcrowded the pan because I was lazy about making two batches since I only have one clay pot and the family was hungry, but believe me when I say they were delicious anyway.

Ingredients
about 20 large shrimp

2 cloves garlic

good quality extra virgin olive oil

chili to taste

salt to taste

Heat enough olive oil in a pan to cover the shrimp. Peel and cut up a couple of cloves of garlic and let sizzle in the hot olive oil with some chili pepper, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. The garlic and heat factor are completely up to you. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes, just enough to ensure it is cooked through otherwise they will get tough. Sprinkle with some salt and eat with lots of good bread to soak up the garlic studded oil. Accompany with some cold wine or beer.

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Of pigs and olives (or cold meats and EVO)

Close your eyes and think fabulous olive oil, cured meats, regional wines and good food. The essence of Italy. This, in a nutshell, is how I spent Tuesday evening.

Frantoio Gentileschi invited a bunch of food lovers and bloggers to present their new brand Salumi del Frantoio, a line of delicatessen meats in which a part of animal fat is substituted with extra virgin olive oil. Less bad fats (saturated fats) and more good fats (monounsaturated fats like oleic acid) equals healthier food with higher nutritional value.

The wines we tasted

After a brief introduction by General Manager Evaristo Rota, the nutritional expert Samantha Biale illustrated these facts and many more as we were served dish after dish of food. Did you know that ham is rich in Vitamin B1, an ‘antistress’ vitamin that helps strengthen the immune system and generate energy? 

Nutritionist Samantha Biale

The great variety of cured meats is an important part of the Italian food tradition and this tradition should not be lost because of our modern-day qualms about consuming foods that are rich in fats. Deli meats are not particularly fat and if the fat is the healthy kind, then what are we worrying about?

The undisputed star of the evening, as an innovative ingredient in the precooked meats we sampled and definitely in its own right, was extra virgin olive oil.

No surprise that the event was hosted at the newly opened Frantoi Celletti Blu. Mr. Celletti, who is a long-time restaurateur, is also a true olive oil lover, connoisseur and taster. He teaches courses, has written a book about olive oil (that he kindly regaled us with) and is passionate enough about the subject to have opened a restaurant dedicated to EVO. When you enter the premises, the first thing you see are two massive, ancient stone olive presses. His menu revolves around olive oil tasting, each dish attentively paired with the just right oil.

Mr. Celletti

Some interesting tidbits?

There are 1628 different varieties of olives and 638 of these cultivars (cultivated varieties) grow in Italy.

All olives start out green and turn black as they ripen, they are not different varieties. So green olives are just picked earlier (and what you use to make olive oil) .

Olive oil is expensive. A cheap bottle of olive oil is never good. A sentence he repeated several times throughout the evening was: "there is no oil in olives. It has to be made". It is not just a matter of picking and pressing. The quality of the oil starts from the olive: the finest, purest olives are hand picked. Pollination and different harvesting times also contribute in raising production costs.

While Mr. Celletti illustrated these facts, we served our first dish of the menu (created by the restaurant in unison with Salumi del Frantoio using their products) paired with fabulous regional oils and wines. He taught us how to warm the oil in small glasses with our hands before tasting it. It clearly contributed enormously to the flavor of the different courses we were served.

How to taste oil

Here is what we ate.

Rustic ham and ricotta mousse paired with Monocultivar Tonda Iblea olive oil from Sicily (sweet, spicy, undertone of tomato and basil). Served with Grechetto brut sparkling white wine from Umbria

Mortadella and black pepper mousse paired with Monocultivar Coratina olive oil (bitter, spicy, undertone of freshly cut grass)

Served with Grechetto brut sparkling white wine from Umbria

Neapolitan pizza with puff pastry, mozzarella and roasted turkey paired with Monocultivar Ortice olive oil from Campania

Served with Grechetto brut sparkling white wine from Umbria

Spinach olive-leaf shaped pasta with roast turkey julienne and pecorino cheese paired with Monocultivar Frantoio from Tuscany. Served with Grechetto brut sparkling white wine from Umbria

Sicilian busiati pasta alla Norma (with eggplant) with roast chicken and dried ricotta cheese paired with Monocultivar Tonda Iblea olive oil from Sicily. Served with Insolia white wine from Sicily

Tagliata of chicken and turkey frankfurters with a gorgonzola cheese cream and parmesan cheese crisps paired with Monocultivar Bosana olive oil from Sardinia. Served with a Montepulciano d'Abbruzzo red wine.

Pork frankfurter in pistachio crust with eggplant mousse and with a cinnamon Nero d'Avola red wine sauce paired with Monocultivar Tonda Iblea olive oil from Sicily. Served with Nero d'Avola red wine from Sicily

Lemon ice cream paired with Monocultivar Bosana olive oil from Sardinia

My favorites, in their utter simplicity, were the appetizers and the dessert. The flavor of the mortadella, ham and oils really stood out yet complemented each other perfectly. The pairing of the olive oil and creamy cold lemon ice cream was refreshing and delicious. I personally prefer my cold meats in salads or sandwiches, but I have to hand it to the chefs behind the recipes that they worked hard to create innovative and unusual pairings (although I would have taken the wrapper off of the toothpicks ...well, actually I would have skipped the toothpicks too).

At the end of the evening food photographer Silvia Luppi taught us a few tricks to make our food look as good as it tastes.

Food photographer Silvia Luppi

So remember:

1) Don’t be afraid to eat good quality delicatessen meats: it has as many calories as a pork chop and nutritional advantages too, especially if it contains EVO!

2) Buy less olive oil if necessary, but spend a little more. Good quality olive oil does not come cheap. Oh, and buy Monocultivar. They are the best.

3) The spicier the better: oil that stings your tongue and the back of your throat is richer in polyphenols. This is good.

It was a very fun evening indeed and extremely well organized, with lots of variety and interesting moments. So thank you Maja, Francesca and Salumi del Frantoio for organizing!

At my table: bloggers Giada and Cecilia