Gina Stipo, Author at attheitaliantable.com

February 5, 2015 by Gina Stipo Leave a Comment

Fried Treats for Carnevale

Italians love all things fried, from the savory to the sweet. The time before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which this year is February 18, is especially filled with traditional and seasonal fried sweets. The time is known as Carnevale and culminates on Shrove Tuesday, at which point the decadence ends and the fasting of Lent begins.

Well, not in Tuscany, where they go right from fried doughs for Carnevale to fried rice fritters for the feast of St Joseph in March!

The sweet fried doughs for Carnevale are known by different names throughout Italy: chiacchiere, lattughe (lettuce leaves), and cenci (rags) in Tuscany. There are other fried doughs served all through the year, such as bomboloni (doughnuts) for breakfast, or gnocco in Emilia Romagna, which aren’t sweet but are served with prosciutto di Parma as an antipasto. But the chiacchiere, cenci and lattughe are found only in January and February.

Cenci

2 1/2 cups AP flour
3 eggs
pinch of fine sea salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup sweet liquor (tuaca, cointreau)
1/4 cup water

Mix all ingredients together until a soft dough forms, adding additional flour if too sticky to handle. Let it rest 15 minutes then roll through a pasta machine to form thin strips, adding flour when necessary. Fry in peanut oil and dust with powdered sugar.

January 19, 2015 by Gina Stipo Leave a Comment

Pancetta Arrosto – rich roasted pork belly

Years ago in Tuscany and most of Italy, before fresh meat was readily available for purchase in the grocery store or a butcher shop, fresh meat was rare on the common dinner table. Roasted and braised meats or grilled steaks were only available during the hunting season or in the winter when the pigs were butchered. The rest of the year it was vegetables, bread and pasta, and the protein options were cured meats like salami, prosciutto or pancetta, with the occasion chicken or rabbit for Sunday dinner and special occasions.

January and the winter months were traditionally the time that the pigs were slaughtered, when the cold weather would keep the meat from spoiling before it had a chance to begin to cure. Hams, necks, and bellies and were salted and laid down to become prosciutto, capocollo and pancetta. The head was boiled in spices and lemon and picked over to be made into soppressata. All the rest was chopped and ground to be made into sausages, cured in olive oil, or salami, mixed with fennel, garlic and black pepper.

All that is still done, but in modern, temperature controlled facilities on a year round basis. The seasonality of the pig slaughter has mostly disappeared and with it the appreciation of the rarity of a great chunk of roasted loin, shoulder or pork belly.

During my first winter in Tuscany, one of my most exciting discoveries was roasted pork belly, or pancetta fresca arrosto. To me, the best part of roasted pork was always the fat on the outside, and the cuts had become so lean and dry in the US it had lost its appeal. But all that fat, hot and roasted, with the skin brown and crunchy, was sheer heaven.

Pancetta in Italian comes from pancia, which is the belly of the pig, and can be cured, smoked or raw. The first time I saw a large slab of raw pancetta in the butcher window, rolled and stuffed with rosemary and sage, I knew I’d found dinner.

The pancetta can be rolled on it’s own or rolled around a pork shoulder. Because the pork belly must cook at a high temperature until it’s crunchy and thoroughly cooked, it’s unwise to roll it around a pork loin, which will overcook and become dry.

The easiest way to cook a pork belly, is just to salt it and put it on a bed of sage and rosemary sprigs and whole garlic cloves. Add some white wine to the pan and put it in a really hot oven, at 425-450, until it’s gorgeous with a brown crunchy skin and the juices from the fat running out and making your mouth water. Take it out and put it on a large cutting board for 10 minutes. Chop it with a large chef or butcher knife and serve it with sauteed fennel and winter greens, roasted potatoes and good bread.

You can also get a pork roast and roll the pork belly around it. Salt the shoulder, rub it all over with a paste of fresh rosemary, sage and garlic, and wrap the pancetta around it, skin and fat side out. Tie the roast well and follow the above roasting instructions.

Enjoy the winter! Buon Appetito!

January 17, 2015 by Gina Stipo Leave a Comment

Parmigiana di Melanzane – eggplant parmigiana

Last September, we took a lovely group of people on a food and wine tour of Naples and Campania, one of my favorite regions. It might be because my grandmother came from a small town, Montella, in the mountains to the east of Naples and so the food and language feel familiar to me. But it’s more likely that the fresh seafood, mozzarella, easy-drinking wines, fried food and local pastry like baba and sfogliatelle have won my heart. Not to mention my stomach.

I have made some wonderful friends down there. They are open and fun and love a lively discussion about food. One of the highlights of our trip is always a cooking class with my friend Concetta where we learn the myriad ways of making parmigiana di melanzane – eggplant parmigiana.

A word about the name: while it sounds like a referral to the parmigiano cheese that is put in the dish, many incorrectly assume that it’s a dish originating in the city of Parma, in the northern region of Emilia Romagna. Actually,the origins of parmigiana are neither related to the city of Parma nor to the fact that you might use Parmigiano Reggiano cheese as an ingredient. As my good friend and master chef Odette Fada points out:

“The confusion has been generated by the name. Parmigiana in this context, doesn’t come from Parma or Parmigiano, it comes from the Sicilian language: palmigiana or palmisciana. Sicily was the region where the eggplant first arrived in Italy and from there spread to the entire Peninsula. Parmigiana most likely was born in Sicily, where palmigiana or palmisciana mean “shutters”: “the louvered panes of shutters or palm-thatched or tile roofs that the layered eggplant slices are meant to resemble”. Sicilians have a peculiar way of pronouncing the “r”, which can be confused with “l” and vice versa. And the “chee”
sound frequently becomes a “gee” in southern Italy. For this reason the palmisciana became parmigiana in Italian. This hypothesis is shared by the majority of food writers, either Italian as Eugenio Medagliani or not, as the American Mary Taylor Simeti.”

Eggplant is a summer vegetable and is most commonly used in southern Italy during the hot summer months, almost replacing meat in Campania. There are several different kinds grown, and I’ve been astounded at the variety found in the markets and grocers during august and september, but it seems the favorite in Campania is the long, slender dark purple kind that have few seeds. These are the best to cook with if you can find them.

There is nothing an Italian likes discussing more than food and how to make it, and the proper way to make parmigiana di melanzane, like any good food discussion in Italy, frequently becomes so heated you expect at any moment it will come to blows, dissolving into a real food fight! The biggest bone of contention is whether the eggplant should be dipped in egg and bread crumb, or just fried straight, and family’s split down the middle and take sides over the issue!

Salting is also apparently an option. Some do, some don’t. The point of salting the eggplant is this: an eggplant is made up of tiny cells or chambers, like a sponge. When you salt it, the chambers collapse, releasing water; thus the chambers are prevented from filling again with oil when frying. Some cooks in Campania say that if you get the long, skinny and firm variety, it’s not necessary to salt it. Just slice them thin and proceed with the frying stage. If you are using the big, spongy eggplants, you’ll want to slice them and then salt them well. Put them in a colander in the sink with a heavy weight on top for at least 5 hours if not overnight. Once they’ve given up their water, rinse the salt off well and dry them on paper towels. Then you can continue with frying.

A third option is to blanch the slices in salted water. While this may be a healthier alternative, boiling anything is never as delicious as frying it. End of discussion.

Everyone does agree that the only five ingredients are: eggplant slices, a simple red sauce, mozzarella, parmigiano or grana padano, and basil leaves.

Concetta likes the simple method: slice the eggplant and then fry it immediately. Her mother in law insists that the eggplant should be dipped in egg and flour before frying, and Concetta’s husband agrees. Luckily for us, Concetta is also a scientist and the proposition that we make both kinds and taste for ourselves which we was best was met with enthusiasm on her part.

Once the two parmigianas were made and baked, we sat down to eat. With slices of each in front of us, we tasted and discussed which we liked best. The lighter of the two was the one without all the egg and flour and was voted the best; we all raised a toast to the cooks and to the lesson and continued on with our lunch.

After a little while, I turned from my students to listen to the discussion my Italian friends were having at the other end of the table. They were still talking about the eggplant parmigiana and which method was best. Food discussions in Italy have no beginnings and no ends; they’re continuations, just like life.

Parmigiana di Melanzane – Eggplant Parmigian

4 eggplants, peeled and sliced thin
Peanut oil for frying
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour
Simple tomato sauce
Fresh basil leaves
1-2 lbs whole milk mozzarella, sliced
2 cups Parmigiano

To make the red sauce, heat good quality olive oil in a pot and add tomato sauce and salt. Allow it to simmer 30 minutes.
Heat the peanut oil to 375 degrees. Either fry the eggplant straight out, or dip each slice into the beaten eggs and then dredge in flour and fry each slice until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Prepare a large baking dish with a drizzle of olive oil and a light coating of tomato sauce. Place a layer of fried eggplant in the pan, pressing down firmly. Add a light coat of tomato sauce, some whole basil leaves and a layer of mozzarella and a sprinkle of Parmigiano. After each layer, press the mass down tightly. Continue to layer in this way, making sure that you consistently press the eggplant slices firmly into the pan. In this way, once it’s baked you will be able to slice it and it will maintain its shape.

January 16, 2015 by Gina Stipo Leave a Comment

Stracotto & spezzatino – braising meats to fight the winter cold

Winter in Italy closes in on you. The valley where I lived for 13 years is well known for its fog – la maledetta nebbia – that rolls in off the flat farmland and socks in my little town, a cluster of medieval buildings nestled against the Montagnola hills. It came early in the morning and finally burned off about an hour before the sun set, then returned the next day. I always wanted to fortify myself against it, and frequently turned to the kitchen to cook up something warm and comforting.

Braised dishes are best for arming yourself against winter weather. A big pot of beef roast or pork shoulder simmering in red wine on the stove top is an excellent companion in the kitchen on a cold winter day. Thick stews of lamb or beef that are accented with sage, rosemary and juniper, served over rich polenta and washed down with a deep sangiovese wine, are your compatriots in arms against the worst winter can throw at you.

One of my favorite winter braises utilizes the toughest and cheapest part of the cow, the rump or shoulder, a muscle that gets a lot of exercise and so is full of collagen and tough muscle fiber. Both spezzatino, “little pieces”, and stracotto – “long cooked” – use the liquid of red wine and a long, slow fire to break all that down and turn the meat into luscious, tender and flavorful stews and hearty meals.

To accompany the spezzatino or stracotto, make a polenta and at the end of cooking, beat in butter and grated parmigiano. Slice the meat and serve it on top of the soft polenta accompanied by a rich red wine like Barolo or Chianti Classico.

While spezzatino is made with small pieces of meat, stracotto is made with larger pieces that are then sliced or shredded to serve.

Spezzatino di Manzo (Tuscan beef stew)
This is a hearty and filling winter dish and is best served over polenta. It can also be made with lamb.
2 lbs cubed meat, salted
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp tomato paste
3 cups red wine
½ cup or more olive oil
2 rosemary sprigs
2 bay leaves
4 sage leaves
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 cup crushed tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste
Sauté the meat in a large pot in olive oil until browned, remove the meat and set aside. Add the carrot, celery, onion and garlic to the pan and sauté in olive oil over medium heat until soft but not browned, add the tomato paste and herbs and continue to cook another 5 minutes. Return meat to pan and deglaze with red wine. Cook five minutes, add tomatoes, sea salt and pepper and allow to cook over low heat 2 hours, covered. Stir occasionally, being careful not to allow the bottom to stick or burn, adding a little water if necessary. Serve over polenta.