My Italian food
An unusual recipe where toasted hazelnuts replace minced meat. I discovered this idea online, but there is not much information about it – I suspect this is a relatively modern recipe.
The chopped hazelnuts lose their crunchiness, and, with the support of tomatoes, dried ceps, spices and red wine, become a deeply flavoured sauce, as satisfying as a conventional meat ragu’.
This really is a sumptuous condiment for pasta and polenta, which happens to be vegan.
Don’t be fooled by the title – this recipe is actually meatless. I do not know much about Sardinian food and cookery, but whenever I browse through books on the subject, I am surprised by how often (and how creatively) mint comes up in recipes – a herb not generally associated with Italian cooking. This recipe makes the point and it has become a favourite. It is modelled on the way tripe is often cooked in Sardinia, with tomato sauce, mint and sharp pecorino, but with butternut squash taking the lead role.
Read more: Butternut squash tripe-style, i.e. in a tomato, pecorino and mint sauce, from Sardinia – Zucca alla sarda, con pecorino e menta, alla moda della trippa – Crocoriga usu trippaMint can be bossy and it is here kept in place by two equally strong flavours: peperoncino and pecorino cheese. They all play big, loud sisters to the quiet butternut squash, which, nonetheless, manages to retain its sweet identity. An excellent, beguiling dish based on contrasts and yet very harmonious. A discovery.
3-4 portions
600g butternut squash, peeled and sliced into half cm slices (net weight)
One large clove of garlic, finely chopped
A generous pinch of peperoncino
1 x 400g can of crushed tomatoes, plus half its volume in water
50g grated, aged pecorino, plus extra at the table
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
Shallow fry the butternut squash in olive oil. Cook the slices until tender but still holding their shape (because they will undergo further cooking).
Drain on kitchen paper and salt them.
If there is still a lot of oil left in the pan, remove it bar a couple of tablespoons, otherwise add some.
Add the garlic, the peperoncino and stir, watching them with an eagle eye because the pan will be hot and the risk of burning the garlic is high.
When the oil is fragrant and garlicky (which will happen almost immediately), add the tomatoes and the water. Stir and salt lightly: you will add salty pecorino later on, hence go easy.
Simmer uncovered for ten minutes.
Add the pumpkin and simmer for about extra five minutes, turning the slices in the sauce: some will break up and that’ s fine.
Add the pecorino and the mint and stir again, as gently as possible.
Rest for 5 minutes and serve, passing extra cheese at the table.
The dish can be made in advance, but it will thicken as it sits: add some water to bring it back to a looser consistency, when you reheat it.
Notes
Ideally you want a sharp, crumbly Sardinian or Tuscan pecorino, but pecorino romano works too and this is easier to find here in the uk.
According to my Sardinian friend and great chef Andrea, this dish works well also without the cheese.
Non traditional as it is, I might be tempted to add, just prior to serving, some coarse, crisp breadcrumbs, fried in oil.
Italian home cooking 