Carni e pesci – meat and fish

Pollo o coniglio ai peperoni (chicken or rabbit with peppers, Piedmontese cooking)

~ stefano arturi ~ 14 Comments

Chicken with peppers

One of the great dishes of Piedmont: a braised chicken (but it could be rabbit too, a very popular meat in Piedmontese cooking) with peppers and lots of herbs.  This is classic home cooking done entirely on top of the stove and it follows a usual pattern: the chicken is browned, then wine and aromatics are added, when the chicken is half way done, some mixed peppers go into the pot. By the end, the pan juices are not copious but the few tablespoons left are deliciou and the meat has been infused with the flavor from the herbs, the wine and the peppers. Continue reading →

La genovese (Neapolitan beef and onion braise)

~ stefano arturi ~ 10 Comments
La genovese
La genovese

“La genovese” literally means “The woman/girl from Genoa”. It is in fact a meat dish from  Naples and it has nothing to do with Genova, the capital of Liguria, in North-West Italy. Rather confusing, I agree.

A solid piece of beef is braised for hours in a huge quantity of onions – this is la genovese in a nutshell.  When you taste, smell and savor it, you realize that there is more, much more going on here.  Continue reading →

Anatra in salsa (grilled duck with chopped salame, anchovies, garlic and a little vinegar)

~ stefano arturi ~ 18 Comments

This is dish from Veneto. The duck should be whole, roasted and then bathed with a lively garlicky, mildly vinegary sauce. I rarely “do” whole birds and I decided to use (easily available and convenient) duck breasts instead and to cook them a la piastra, i.e. on a griddle stone. This is almost a ten minutes dish: little work & high rewards on the taste front.  Continue reading →

Paparot (Polenta and spinach soup from Friuli Venezia Giulia)

~ stefano arturi ~ 9 Comments
Paparot - Spinach and polenta soup
Paparot – Spinach and polenta soup

“Paparot”: This must be the most charming name for a dish – a substantial, garlicky soup from Friuli Venezia Giulia: spinach, corn/maize flour and sausage meat. It is one of those dishes where the final result is far greater than the list of its ingredients might suggest. The spinach is first cooked and chopped, then it is added to a base of lardo (or pancetta or butter), garlic and/or sausage meat. When the spinach has absorbed all these lovely, porky flavours (in Italian cookery terms, we call this all-important step insaporire, which translates as “to make tasty”), corn or maize flour is added and then water (or broth, if you have it). The soup is then cooked for a good hour. It’s quite basic, as you can see, and not much to look at, perhaps, but the flavour is very good, if you like this kind of rustic, elementary food.  Continue reading →