Category Archives: Recipes

Books for Dogs – Libri per i cani

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As an addendum to my last post about the appalling practice of catching, killing and/or eating songbirds in the north of Italy. This is practiced everywhere in Italy but the Brescia area is a natural place because of the north south valleys that are natural migration routes for the songbirds. I hope anyone who sees this in their area will turn them in. It is illegal. And cruel. A couple people asked for the name of the group so I thought I would publish the link. They take volunteers (but there is a rigorous fitness test). I will just donate some money. Committee Against Bird Slaughter. They also have a Facebook page.
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Yesterday I volunteered for the first time at Books for Dogs/Libri per i Cani. I helped them out years ago, before they had an actual store. It was time I try again. They sell donated items to support two Canili (dog rescues) here. They have all sorts of things. You never know what will come in the door. Could be an Armani designer blouse! Or a lawn mower! Right now it is all about Christmas. So I was just kind of learning the ropes yesterday. I was a bit worried I wouldn’t be able to stand up that long. My back complains usually. But I did fine so I will do it more regularly.
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Today, Sunday, I decided to use the things I bought yesterday at the market before going to volunteer. I got 2 pieces of zucca. That’s the word for most all types of winter squash and pumpkins. I also bought cavolo nero — black kale. I roasted the zucca until it was soft and cut into pieces. I sautéed an onion and garlic, then added the chunks of zucca, a chopped jalapeño and vegetable broth. I simmered for a while until the zucca was completely soft. I used the wand blender to purée. Next I added black beans, corn kernels and chopped green pepper. And finally the chopped kale and a rosemary sprig. I cooked it about half an hour and it was done.

Later tonight I will grill a whole orate on the fire which I built today. It was a good day for a fire. Gray and dreary and chilly. Very cheerful!

Friends visiting!

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October arrived with some kind-of crappy weather. A lot of rain, cooler temperatures and gray skies. But sometimes, the beautiful, washed clean world after the storm is worth the wait. Such clarity!

Unfortunately for our friends Eunice and Mark, the change in the weather coincided with their visit here. I see it will improve going forward. They like Montone, our nearby hill town. They are staying in the hotel in town this time and it is getting mixed reviews from them. They liked the restaurant but the hotel, not so much. They also tried some other places to eat in town and loved L’Antica Osteria in the main square in Montone. It is one of our favorites too.

They came to our house for Sunday Pranzo. We had a simple lunch of a big antipasto plate with cheeses, meats, roasted veggies, and caprese salad. Last of the summer tomatoes, alas! Then we had pasta with my own version of bolognese ragu. There is no accepted “quintessential “ recipe for bolognese. It is hotly argued all over Italy. So that’s why I call it my own. I use meats (veal, pork, sausage, or beef or a combination) this time, beef and sausage, diced carrots, an onion, some garlic and one 15oz can of tomatoes (this would be the controversial bit). I sautéed the meats and then added the carrots, onion and garlic and last, the tomatoes. At this time I begin adding milk. A half-cup at a time. Quite a lot over time. I would say 2+ cups. Simmer and let it cook down and thicken. The longer it is cooked the better. And letting it sit overnight is good too. Anyway, everyone liked it. It is a standby for me.

We encouraged them to do a day on their own on Monday and we met up for a wonderful wine tasting and lunch at Vineria delle Carmine on Tuesday. This is one of the closer vineyards to us. Being in northern Umbria we are away from the big wine areas. Nonetheless this winery has nice wines.

It was a horrible day weather wise. Pouring rain and windy. But we persevered. Once there, and inside it was cozy. We had the Classic lunch which had several courses, but all small portions. We tasted six wines along with the meal. Two whites, a rosé and a light Merlot, and last, two robust reds. They all went well with the courses with which they were paired. Here are some pictures of our lunch.

A rose and a Merlot
After the bread sticks and focaccia this polenta course was beautiful to look at and delicious.
After the polenta an unusual dish, slightly crunchy cooked greens and also had pumpkin seeds. Two sauces.
Two reds. Blends of Merlot , Cabernet Sauvignon and Sagrantino in differing percentages.
Pasta with a delicious Cinghiale Ragu.

The red wines, which were quite big and robust, paired perfectly with the wild boar pasta dish. Very delicious. We all had fun. While we sat there, we watched from our cozy seats, the wild rain and wind storms outside. Thankfully they let up for our walk to the car.

Salmorejo Andalusian Soup

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A note to all. I was asked to publish the recipes, so I put the pickle relish recipe and the Tomato Butter Sauce from a couple posts ago on the Recipe tab in the top menu. I hope you enjoy them!
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Today I am trying a new cold soup. Well, new to me anyway. Someone posted in a group I follow on Facebook that they were using up the bounty of tomatoes in their garden and this is what they made. Being as we are still in this dastardly heat wave I’m stressing my brain to make things that need little or no cooking. Cool cooking at its best! Super easy to make.

We are soooo lucky to live here where the produce is like diamonds, sparkling in the sun. The tomatoes are ruby red and plump with juice. I realized when we were in Germany that there was a huge difference in quality of products between Italy and Germany, which gets their produce primarily from Holland, notorious for its hothouse veggies with zero taste. I guess I am spoiled. I forgot not everyone has what we take for granted here.

So here’s the recipe for Salmorejo Andalusian Soup.

Take a kilo of ripe home grown tomatoes (2.2lbs). I used romas. The original recipe said you didn’t have to peel or seed them, but I decided to parboil, peel and deseed (I did this early morning when it’s not so hot). Apparently if you’ve got a blender you can just throw them in and whiz until even the skin is undetectable, but I only have a processor. Cut into chunks 200 grams (7 ounces) day old loaf of bread. Soak in water until soft and squeeze water out. Add to tomatoes. 2 garlic cloves crushed, add to tomatoes. 1 tablespoon vinegar (preferably sherry, but any will do), add to tomatoes. 120 grams (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil, add. A tablespoon salt and pepper. Blend all together until consistency of yogurt. Chill. When ready to serve, taste and adjust salt and pepper. Optional: serve with a sliced hard boiled egg and some prosciutto on top and drizzle with oil. Yum!

Buon appetito!
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PS, the good news for us is that the heat spell will finally break starting Saturday. Next week I even see one day that’s supposed to be 29 degrees. Wowsa! Maybe we can actually leave the house and do something fun, imagine that! 😳

PPS, Moon tonight! After the rains.

Orecchiette con rapini

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Last night I made probably my favorite dish. I could eat this for every pranzo and every cena. If you asked me what I want for my last meal, it would be le orecchiette con rapini 🙂. In the winter, which is when rapini grows, I snap some up to make this pasta whenever I see it. Yesterday I stopped in the Egyptian market next to us and saw some, nice and fresh. I won’t recap how it is made because I have written about it before, but here is the link orecchiette con rapini and a picture of our pasta last night. It is super easy to make.

We have a cold front coming but the last few days have been springlike. Yesterday started rainy, then turned sunny, then partly cloudy, and then, a thunderstorm rolled through. It made an amazing sunset after it passed. And during the storm I went up to the terrazzo and snapped a couple photos of the rainy, winter terrace. Then the sunset.

Buon weekend!

Long term health cards!

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Today we went to our health department to see about the new Tessere Sanitaria we need to get every January. The new fees are quite a lot higher. €2,000 flat fee per person plus an income based extra amount. It is quite a lot more than we were paying in all the previous years. But we had read that we’re eligible for the health care for free now that we have our PdS Lungo Periodo – or permanent residence. Thing is not many of us immigrants have gotten this long term card yet. You’ve got to jump through a lot of hoops to get it and only after 5 years continuous residence. Also, we were on the early edge of retirees moving here. So, that meant our health department had never seen one before. As you can imagine, many phone calls were made. Much ass covering was done. But in the end we walked out with cards good for five years, AND for FREE! It is a very good day. This card will also give us coverage in all of the EU. Very handy.

Last night I decided to make risotto in the instant pot. I had read it was a great and labor saving way to do it. I had some left over shrimp stock and some shrimp so I adapted the recipe for that. The recipe is here – instant pot risotto. I cut the recipe in half and used shrimp stock instead of chicken. Pretend you see shrimp on top of this…we ate them before I could take a photo! 😋

i went for a little walk today. The weather is pretty nice, the cold is gone and highs are in the 50s in the daytime. Here are a couple pictures. One is the park near us called le pinette. And the other is a cute preschool they built last year. I love the little buildings with big windows and high ceilings and bright colors! Really attractive.

Finally, here is my wonky lemon tree. She’s inside for the winter, or until construction starts. She gave us lots of lemons as always.

I heard about the deep freeze dipping far south — state al caldo!

Cabbage curry soup

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I made a delicious soup today for the second time. I didn’t have a recipe, but this is what I did.

Ingredients

Olive oil
1 stalk celery chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 onion chopped
Sprinkle of pepper flakes (optional)
Half a head of cabbage chopped
1 cup puréed roasted winter squash (I do this ahead and save or freeze it)
Broth (vegetable or chicken) to cover vegetables about 8 cups or more to taste
Optional extra additions as you like. I added a turnip and some sliced mushrooms, and a little left over broccoli.
1 tablespoon curry (hot or mild)
About 200 grams (1/2 lb) of small pasta like orzo or other soup pasta
2 Tablespoons of butter
salt and pepper

Sauté the onion, carrot and celery in oil until soft. Add the chopped cabbage, roasted squash and stock (also any optional veggies). Simmer for 45 minutes. Add the curry and simmered for another 5 minutes. Stir in the pasta and butter and cooked according to the package to al dente. Salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle some good quality extra virgin olive oil if you’ve got some.

I used a special pasta I found called Fregola. It is an artisan pasta made by hand from Sardinia. I really like it. It is small but nice and chewy. Any small pasta will do.

New recipe

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Last night I tried a new recipe (of course with some of my own adjustments/additions!) called Spaghetti quadrati con zucchine. Luther subscribes to a website calle Doctor Wine. He is always sending along recipes that he thinks he would like. When he sends one that I ALSO like I save it. This one was one of these.

It was bit unusual. Beginning prep was to cut a large zucchini (I used yellow summer squash), or a couple of small ones, into strips. And chop up a few cloves of garlic. I also added a few mushrooms. Then you sauté in olive oil until brown and crisp. (I also added pepper flakes for some zip). Add the garlic at the end. This is now ready for the spaghetti at the end.

For the quenelles (for two people) you put a couple of big, rounded spoons full of ricotta in a bowl. I had fresh goat ricotta from the market. Add a quarter cup grated pecorino Romano (or Parmesan) and a drizzle of olive oil and mix up. The recipe called for zucchini flowers but I didn’t have them. If you do, then remove stamens and chop them, then mix in now. Roughly tear fresh basil leaves and mix them in. Form into rounded spoons full. Set aside.

Cook spaghetti until not quite done. Save some water. Drain and added to the previously made squash and garlic along with some water and more torn basil leaves [EDIT – also add more grated cheese now]. Sauté and cook until pasta is al dente. Place in bowls and put a quenelle on top of each portion. Drizzle with more good olive oil. Serve.

It was delicious. 💕

Spring’s bounty!

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Just an addendum to my last post. My socks. 😁

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From time to time Luther sends me a recipe he likes. Truth be told, he sends me at least one a week. They come from the Italian newspaper or from the Dr. Wine site. He complains that I don’t make many of them. I admit, I don’t. Friday, I made a zuppa that he sent. Zuppa di legumi misti, mais, e orzo perlato. It is a mixture of dried beans, farro, lentils (your choice of the mix) with corn and orzo. This is another oddity. Orzo, in the US, is rice shaped pasta. Here, orzo is barley. Here’s a picture. (I added short pasta and potatoes)

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I love this time of year. Gone is the winter produce. Now we see ruby red radishes, piles of fava beans and new peas ready to sbucciare, my new word for today. As in to shell, or to peel. Luther will sbuccia all of them for me, and then I do the cooking part 🙂 There is asparagus in heaps, of course. Beautiful bitter greens like arugula, called rucola here. And lettuces. The baby zucchini are just coming in and the cucumbers. I impatiently await the tomatoes but they won’t be here until July, maybe late June.

Today I bought something interesting from one of our nice cheese mongers. She had in her case containers of Sardinian potato dumplings that she had prepared (she is from Sardinia). All I have to do is boil them and serve with a good tomato sauce with basil. I also bought a container of fresh ricotta.

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Lunch out Saturday! With friends. We decided on a restaurant in Montone, a nearby hill town. This restaurant has been there since we’ve lived here but in typical Italian fashion it was never open when we tried to go. I heard from friends that it is open now, under new management. It is called Taverna Del Verziere. One of the best features of this place is the views from the walls across the valley from their terazza. Spectacular and oh so pleasant on a summer day.

It is a family run place and they were all super welcoming. I was glad I had reserved since it was pretty packed. Their antipasto menu was interesting. We tried a couple new-to-us things. I had the papapomodoro with seasonal vegetables. A typical Umbrian recipe using stale bread soaked in tomato juices. The veggies were either roasted or pickled. Susan got the roasted purple carrot Hummus.

We both enjoyed them. Luther and Gary got the tagliata with lardo for their secondo. It is grilled steak sliced and they put a very thin piece of Lardo on top. Lardo is a speciality of northern Tuscany. Pork belly lard, the purest white, is packed with herbs into giant marble boxes and left to cure for eight months. Then it can be thinly sliced. When it is placed on hot meat, it melts and adds wonderful unctuous flavor.

Montone is a walled town with several gates through the walls. I love this one and the view.

Buona domenica a tutti!

Catching up…

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It’s been a while…so to do some recap. We have been working on the Certificato d’abilita’ and I will report back once we have gotten it. I visited the Saturday mercado which was pretty sparse. The vendors who came had very limited produce because we are at the changing seasons. One vendor, who wasn’t there yesterday, had sweet radishes last week (I know, an oxymoron but it this case true ) and also local asparagus, so I was hoping for that. I was sorry he wasn’t there.. I settled for local potatoes, onions, lettuce and spring onions.

After my shopping we had a meet up with friends who live in Foligno. We hadn’t seen each other since pre-Covid…about four years. We met up at Ristorante UNE for lunch. I posted about this restaurant recently. It did not disappoint. Here are pictures of our lunch.

Gifts from the chef
Pancake stuffed with cheese and topped with grape jelly
Trumpet mushroom with white truffles and sour cream
Local artisanal beans with smoked eel from Trasimeno lake – amazing
Lamb with cauliflower two ways
Dessert – pain perdu with gelato.

Today I made a soup. It is cold and very windy outside. It feels like soup weather. Soon, it won’t be soup weather anymore. The soup is made from a legume native to central Italy, so it is not something a person can make elsewhere. The legume is Cicercchie. I posted about it previously. It must be soaked and rinsed for 24 hours because it has neurotoxins. They are not dangerous if not eaten everyday. If you visit Italy keep an eye out for some.They are delicious. Here is the previous post.

My soup today is super easy. Cook a chopped onion until soft. Add water or stock and soaked and drained (several times) Cicercchie legumes plus 3 peeled and cut into chunks potatoes, salt and a sprig of rosemary. Cook 1+ hours until the soup is thickened. Adjust salt, add plenty of ground pepper. Serve with parsley, good olive oil and cheese if desired. So good, and healthy too.

Buona domenica a tutti!

Minestra di Fagioli – my way

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For our next soup…did I tell you I make at least one soup a week 😁?…Today I made a Minestra di Fagioli but kind of my own adapted version. It will my/our lunch for a few days. It is very healthy, and of course yummy. I did do more than you have to because I made my own stock and cooked the dry beans. But, Hey! I’ve got time. You could use canned stock and canned cannellini beans to save time. I make stock out of many things. This time it was vegetable leavings, you know, the stuff you normally throw away, which I freeze, and the rinds of pecorino cheese which we save for this purpose. The cheese adds quite a lot of flavor. You can even make just plain cheese stock using the rinds, which I’ve done.

I cooked the normal starting ingredients used in most of the world it seems, carrot, celery, onion, in olive oil. Next a couple chopped garlic cloves for 30 seconds. Then I added a sprig of rosemary, a branch of thyme, and a bay leaf. I add the entire branches/sprigs, then remove. Next I added the cooked cannellini beans with cooking liquid (a couple cans worth at least), the stock (about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts), the cleaned, de-stemmed and chopped cavolo nero (black kale sometimes called Tuscan kale in the US), and one potato chopped small. I simmered it for about an hour until the beans and potatoes were softened enough to disintegrate a little into the sauce to thicken it some. Adjust the salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. I served it drizzled with some good olive oil. Ta da!! 🎺🎺

Buon appetito!