Food-is-Love Zuppa

We’ve all heard the expression “food is love”. It’s one of those expressions that people throw around, sometimes when grandma feeds them too much, that looses meaning over time. I confess that I didn’t understand the expression at all, until I began spending time in Italy. Then I experienced it.

Early this summer, soon after my arrival at our home in Umbria, I came down with a terrible bout of stomach flu. Probably something I’d picked up on the flight over, it really threw me for a loop. I was alone (my husband hadn’t yet arrived) and within 12 hours I had become so weak I could barely sit up.

This is when Anna Maria, my next door neighbor, decided to give me a call. “Tutto bene?” she asked. “Perchè la tua porta è chiuso ancora?” Is everything ok? Why is your door closed? (Italians often un-shutter doors and windows when they start their day.) I explained that I wasn’t feeling well, and would be staying inside today. (I left out the part that I felt like I was going to die.) “Madonna mia! Arrivo!” she declared. What? She’s not coming over now! I thought. Yes, she was.

A big hug and several Madonna mia‘s later, Anna Maria scurried back to her house to make what she insisted would be my cure. When she returned an hour or so later with a special zuppa, soup, that would save me, I must admit I was skeptical. Plus, I was still reeling at the mere thought of food or beverage. But I followed her instructions to try a few spoonfuls before nightfall, and to sip, sip, sip at the tea.

I ate Anna Maria’s soup that evening, and I continued to eat it for two solid days. Her simple zuppa, filled with tiny, salty pasta stars, tasted better than any meal I’d ever had in my life. She was right! Those little pasta stars were my cure!

Or maybe it was the generous dose of love she’d simmered them in.

Anna Maria’s Food-is-Love Zuppa

• Tiny pasta stars, boiled in salted water
• 1 cup chicken broth (preferably home-made)
• 1-2 T tomato paste
• fresh parsley, chopped
• 1-2 T extra virgin olive oil

Mix the cooked stars with chicken broth and tomato paste, and simmer for several minutes. Add more broth if soup is too thick. Add fresh parsley and olive oil, plus a little salt, if necessary. Serve with love.

Carciofi Meditation

Recently, my husband and I took an evening gità (outing), with our next-door neighbors, Anna Maria and Alberto, to visit some Etruscan tombs. Etruscans inhabited the boot of Italy long before the Romans swept through (so we’re talking ancient), and I just can’t get enough of them! The tombs we visited on this day are located near the town of Sarteano (in southern Tuscany). They were fascinating, beautiful, dark, cool – and a great escape on a hot evening!

It was still quite warm when we returned home, and both Anna Maria and I headed to our respective back terraces to clean and prepare carciofi (artichokes) from our respective gardens for our respective dinners. One of my favorite things in the world is sitting on the terrace cleaning artichokes on a summer evening. Somehow this simple task, that would annoy me under different circumstances, becomes a joy. Sheep bells in the background, sun golden on the olive groves and thoughts of the Etruscans who walked this land 3,000 years ago. It’s carciofi meditation, and I highly recommend it.

Anna Maria is a master at artichoke recipes. Here is one of her favorite ways to prepare carciofi:

• Clean and de-fur small, fresh artichokes (the fresher the better) and cut into thin slices
• Clean, peel several small potatoes (one for one with the artichokes) and cut into thin slices
• Now you’ll need a good olive oil, fresh mint leaves, salt and parmiggiano cheese, grated
• Alternate layers of artichoke and potatoes in a small, baking pan, adding a little olive oil, salt (just a bit), mint and parmiggiano to each layer
• Bake at about 350 degrees until the potatoes and artichokes are fork tender

Angela’s Tuscan Talent

Angela’s family farm is perched on the edge of a hill with an impossibly perfect view of Montepulciano, Tuscany. It’s the kind of view that catches your breath, and this is where Angela was born, raised and now raises her own children. Angela’s life centers around this ancient Tuscan town, but her passion resides in the Tuscan kitchen.

Cooking, Tuscan-style, is second nature to Angela – kind of like breathing – and virtually the only way to learn one of her recipes is to watch her making it. Measurements? Are you kidding? Yet with her expert, relaxed manner, she can turn a basket of tomatoes, a heavy pour of olive oil and a handful of spices into a party for the taste buds. Incredible.

Here’s one of Angela’s favorite sauces … and be sure to serve it the classic Tuscany way, over penne pasta.

Sauce dell’Aglione with Penne (Also know as pasta l’arrabiata, “angry pasta”  because it’s a spicy dish!)

• 4 T Extra virgin olive oil
• 4 Garlic cloves
• 2-4 Pepperoncini (small hot peppers)
• 1 lb fresh, sweet, cherry tomatoes
• 1 glass (or so) red wine
• Salt to taste
• parmigiano reggiano, grated

Heat olive oil in pan. Add garlic and begin to simmer. Add tomatoes, pepperoncini, wine and salt. Leave to simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes begin to burst and reduce. When sauce is slightly thickened, add cooked penne pasta and heat for a few more minutes. Serve hot with grated parmigiano and a drizzle of olive oil.

Grana Padano with Style

News flash: Italian women are stylish. (Let’s just call that an obvious understatement.) But it’s not just style. Italians refer to this as bella figura, which is one of those phrases that doesn’t quite translate. It’s the ability to weave a thread of beauty through what you’re wearing to how you carry yourself to how you act.

Rossana, is the perfect example.  Always cutting a bella figura, Rossana does so against the backdrop of a medieval village steeped in ancient history and steadfast traditions. Incredible, really.  Her secret? I’m still trying to figure that out. But I have noticed she manages to combine simplicity with grace.

Her idea of good eating follows suit. Simple, yet delicious. Here is one of Rossana’s favorite antipasti.

• Grana Padano cheese, sliced into bite-sized chunks (very similar to Parmiggiano Reggiano)
• Sweet ripe pears, sliced into wedges

Enjoy nibbling while you sip a chilled glass of Italian white, like prosecco or Ovieto Classico.

Crepes de la Doriana

Doriana – the bubbly, energetic, creative, Doriana – is Fabro, Italy’s hands-down expert on truffles and mushrooms. But funghi is best in autumn, when truffles and mushrooms sprout from the hillsides of the region, and this is July – hot, dusty, July – when the Sagra della Manfrengole comes to Colonnetta (a neighborhood of Fabro).

During the Sagra della Manfrengole (festival of an ancient, local pasta held in the town’s public park) Doriana can be found serving Crepes de la Doriana to the hundreds of locals who come for the food, music and tradition of it all that lasts for more than a week.

Doriana’s spin on French crepes couldn’t be more Italian … crepes filled with Nutella! Yes, you can instead order them filled with prosciutto ham, truffles or cheese, but the Nutella-filled is classic Doriana.

To make Doriana’s Crepes con Nutella you will need:

• Crepes, warmed (preferably home made)
• Nutella, warmed (Nutella is a hazelnut spread made with milk and a bit of cocoa)

Spread a liberal amount of Nutella on a warmed crepe. Fold over and enjoy … and don’t forget a napkin.

Cari Amici and Fagiolini

Rita Binaglia at work

I am always, always amazed at the depth of enjoyment that Italians exude during meals. Particularly those home-cooked meals on a long summer evening served on a terrace under the stars. Those kinds of meals. Lou and I recently took part in one of those meals with my friend, Rita, and her beautiful family (beautiful inside and out, that is) at their home near Fabro.

Rita is a ceramic artist. She is originally from Deruta, which is basically the ceramic capital of Italy, so her gorgeous ceramic creations are the real deal. And so is her cooking.

During this recent summertime cena (dinner) with Rita and her family, on their terrace under the stars, Rita made the best green beans I’ve ever eaten. I naturally asked how she’d cooked them. “Questi fagiolini?” (These green beans?) she responded. Like it was nothing to whip up  green beans that taste heavenly.  Yes, these green beans.

Rita gave up her secret. Here’s how she cooks up her awesome green beans:

• Boil the beans (these are the slender green beans, by the way) in liberally salted water with a pinch of baking soda. Rita says the soda keeps the beans firm.
• Drain the beans and toss them in a high quality extra virgin olive oil (If you don’t have a high quality olive oil, don’t even bother)
• Add a dash of bitter-sweet, white wine vinegar (you may have to hunt this down in a specialty store)

That’s it. Enjoy with good friends and a good vino under the stars.

“Un Cappuccino, Mamma Gatta?”

Mamma Gatta after latte

Mamma Gatta (Mama Cat) was the first friend I made when we bought our home in Italy six years ago. I was sitting on the edge of our then crumbling terrace, surveying our then jungle of a garden, when I felt a nudge at my side. And there she was. At the time I didn’t know if she was a “he” or a “she”, but we were instant friends regardless, and I don’t think she minded that I called her Orange Cat. It would be some weeks before I would know her real name, Mamma Gatta, and that she was sneaking over from our neighbor’s house to visit.

Since then Mamma Gatta and I have spent many an evening together surveying the garden, (thank goodness, the garden is no longer a jungle and the terrace is no longer crumbling) and she often appears first thing in the early morning when I open our sportellone to take in the day. Those morning visits usually include a saucer of latte or maybe a little foam from my cappuccino.

Mamma Gatta appreciates good, frothy foam. I, of course, appreciate the entire cappuccino, because nothing, but nothing, says “Italy” like a cup of cappuccino. That is other than vino, pasta, truffles, cheese, olive oil …

About Cappuccino:

• The proper cappuccino is 1/3 expresso, 1/3 milk and 1/3 froth (Which somehow Italian bariste blend together perfectly with their effortless spin and pour technique)
• Cappuccino is a morning drink only … after 10:00am it’s espresso only
• The word cappuccino means literally “little hood”