Parmigiana di zucca (Butternut squash parmigiana)

15/01/2023 ~ stefano arturi ~ 11 Comments

Aubergine parmigiana is one of the most famous Italian dishes: layers of fried aubergines, tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano (in its most basic version). It is not, however, the only parmigiana in town: one can make artichoke, courgette, potato, fennel, celeriac, mushroom parmigiana and even a butternut squash one, which I am sharing with you here. The principle is always the same: the chosen vegetable is first cooked and then layered with tomato sauce and cheese. In richer versions, mortadella and sliced hard-boiled egg are added.

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Caponata di zucca (Sicilian sour-sweet butternut squash caponata)

05/12/202211/12/2022 ~ stefano arturi ~ 19 Comments

Sicilian caponata di melanzane is very famous, however it is not the only one. In fact, on a trip to Sicily and after reading the seminal “Profumi di Sicilia” by Giuseppe Coria, I learnt that “caponata” is only a generic term used to describe a dish made of assorted cooked vegetables finished off with a sour sweet condiment, either sugar or honey and vinegar. Continue reading “Caponata di zucca (Sicilian sour-sweet butternut squash caponata)” →

Ragù alla bolognese in pentola a pressione (pressure cooker Ragù Bolognese, even better than the conventional one)

14/09/202218/10/2022 ~ stefano arturi ~ 14 Comments

Ragù

UPDATE September 2022: please check the end of this post

In her last book, even the arch-traditionalist Marcella Hazan said that making egg pasta dough in the food processor is fine. She was finally acknowledging what home cooks and restaurant chefs had probably been doing for a long time, but it was also testament to her intelligence: food and cooking must evolve to stay alive. It would be foolish to ignore that cooking is an ever changing reality that resists being imprisoned in dogmas: we do not eat, cook or think about food one year for the other.

As much as I love traditions and traditional food, I am also very open to “new ways” in the kitchen, as long as they make my life easier and/or my food better. The pressure cooker is a good example. Continue reading “Ragù alla bolognese in pentola a pressione (pressure cooker Ragù Bolognese, even better than the conventional one)” →

Pomodorini scattarisciati – crackling cherry tomatoes (Puglia)

19/06/2022 ~ stefano arturi ~ 18 Comments

Update: summer 2022, Lucca: with top Italian pomodorini this dish is even more spectacular. I noticed they improve after a good rest, i.e. the day after they were even better.

Original version:
It is now summer, or at least this is what the calendar says; it has been raining for days here in London and the sky is grey, an elegant pearly shade of grey, but grey nonetheless. Not fun. To raise my endorphins, I decided to make this Apulian tomato sauce, pomodorini scattarisciati, literally crackling tomatoes (in the local dialect) — vibrant, intensely tomatoey and uplifting.

The cherry tomatoes are fried in a rather indecent amount of oil, on high heat, uncovered until they start bursting. Continue reading “Pomodorini scattarisciati – crackling cherry tomatoes (Puglia)” →

Asparagi in fricassea (Asparagus in an egg and lemon sauce, fricassea-style)

20/05/202220/05/2022 ~ stefano arturi ~ 10 Comments

In Italian cookery terms, when you cook something “in fricassea”, it means that you add egg yolks that you have already mixed with lemon juice to a hot, cooked dish, at the very end, generally off the heat. The yolks thicken and become a velvety, lemony sauce that enrobe the other ingredients. The trick, obviously, is not to scramble them.It is a Northern Italian cookery technique that always delivers a subtle elegance to the final dish.
Typically, it is rabbit, veal, chicken and lamb, that are cooked “in fricassea” , the meat first being braised “in bianco”, without tomatoes.
Some vegetables too can be cooked “in fricassea”: artichokes, peas, mushrooms, carrots, courgettes, broad beans and asparagus.

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