Category: Winter

Sformato autunnale di tre verdure (layered autumn three vegetable terrine from Piemonte)

~ stefano arturi ~ 13 Comments

Time to change gear: autumn is here and I want to explore more of the wonderful northern Italian repertoire, which I think lends itself better to this time of the year.

This vegetable terrine hails from Piemonte, or, to be precise, from this tremendous book about Piedmeontese cooking: if you read Italian, do get it. This is not your typical recipe driven cookery book but one where the emphasis is on food as culture.
it is a layered affair of cooked chopped vegetables, with each vegetable layer enriched with eggs and béchamel sauce: an excellent example of that Italian bourgeois , Sunday lunch cooking, now almost disappeared. Continue reading “Sformato autunnale di tre verdure (layered autumn three vegetable terrine from Piemonte)” →

Sfincione di Bagheria (sfincione from Bagheria, a Sicilian pizza)

~ stefano arturi ~ 6 Comments
Sfincione
Sfincione
Sfincione

Sfincione is the pizza of Sicily: contrary to its Neapolitan counterpart, which is generally round, sold in individual portions, with a thick cornicione, a thin centre and not too much topping, sfincione is generally baked in large trays and sold cut up in hefty portions (even if there are also small, individual  sfincioni, called sfincionelli, approximately 300 g each); it is quite thick all over, with a soft and pillowy dough (sometimes a little lard is added to the dough, which I greatly approve of) and it is laden with toppings. It is another thing altogether and something I urge you to explore – sfincione lends itself to domestic home baking much better than Neapolitan pizza. Continue reading “Sfincione di Bagheria (sfincione from Bagheria, a Sicilian pizza)” →

Giri assassunati ovvero bietole ripassate con pomodoro, aglio e peperoncino alla siciliana (Sicilian chards with tomatoes, garlic and peperoncino)

~ stefano arturi ~ 9 Comments

Sicilian chards in tomato sauce
Sicilian cooking is not just opulence and extravagance. This dish of chards  with tomatoes, garlic and peperoncino (chili pepper) is a good example of cucina povera:  a handful of a few basic, cheap ingredients delivers a hugely satisfying contorno di verdura (vegetable side dish).  “Giri” is how chards are named in the dialect of Palermo and “Assassunare” derives from the French “Assaisonner” which means “to season”: in Sicilian culinary terms when something has been sautéed  in oil and garlic, to get impregnated with that lovely flavor,  they say it has been “assassunatu”.

Continue reading “Giri assassunati ovvero bietole ripassate con pomodoro, aglio e peperoncino alla siciliana (Sicilian chards with tomatoes, garlic and peperoncino)” →

Erbazzone o scarpazzone emiliano (Chard and pancetta tart from Emilia Romagna)

~ stefano arturi ~ 16 Comments

Erbazzone is a chard tart with an impeccable pedigree. It comes from Reggio Emilia, a charming town in Emilia Romagna, the land of Parmigiano, balsamic vinegar, tortellini, mortadella, prosciutto di Parma, i.e. one of Italy’s culinary heavens.  It used to be a typical spring dish (when  young, tender chards were available), now it can be prepared almost all year round, because leafy greens seem to be always available (and rather “local” too). I have made erbazzone with spring chards, with older, winter chards, with chards only, with chards and spinach and also with cabbage: it never fails.  Continue reading “Erbazzone o scarpazzone emiliano (Chard and pancetta tart from Emilia Romagna)” →

La genovese (Neapolitan beef and onion braise)

~ stefano arturi ~ 11 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 “La genovese (Neapolitan beef and onion braise)” →