As a child, I was a somewhat picky eater.  Mostly, it involved picking out the vegetables, and finding discreet ways of discarding them.  Eggplant was one of those foods which meant an extra half hour at the dinner table for me as I had to come up with other ways to get rid of it than feeding it to the dog who was smart enough not to eat it either.  It finally took living in Italy (and maybe growing up) to get me over my eggplant phobia.

It all started with verdure grigliate.  It’s very often a contorni or side dish choice on Italian restaurant menus.  And when you order the mixed grilled vegetables, you usually get eggplant, zucchini and red peppers; a lovely and beautiful combination.  When it’s prepared so simply; grilled, then drizzled with olive oil, it’s quite delicious.  Of course the fact that you’re sitting in a beautiful Italian piazza, across from the one you love with a glass of wine in the other hand doesn’t hurt either.  Back in the U.S., I tried making it this way and something was lost in the translation…..I no longer liked eggplant.

So, back to Italy again.  (No, I don’t go to Italy just to force myself to eat eggplant.  That would be silly….or would it?)  I had an opportunity to go to Sicily with my husband on a business trip.  What an amazing trip!  We ate our way from one end of the island to the other.  We saw some pretty fabulous sights as well and then ate some more.  Oh, and some business happened. But one of the best food things that happened was that I fell in love with eggplant again!  We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that was newly opened.  It was so obvious; fresh paint on the walls, everything brand new, etc.  They were thrilled to have some business and foreigners at that.  The owner kept bringing us things to try and every time he set something on the table he told us that papa made it.  The very first thing he brought us was a bowl of warm caponata with a basket of bread.  Eggplant love.

Here’s your list of ingredients:

1 large eggplant
Salt
Olive oil
½ of a medium onion, chopped
1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes in their own sauce (preferably Italian imported)
Green olives, pitted and sliced (As many as you like.  I actually used a combo of green and black.)
2 T. capers, rinsed
2 T. pine nuts, toasted
2 T. raisins
Fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp of red wine vinegar mixed in a small bowl with 1 tsp of sugar to dissolve

Most recipes for caponata start with peeling and cubing the eggplant and deep frying it.  I’m not so keen on deep frying.  Not only is it not good for you, it’s just so darn messy.  So we’re still going to peel and cube our eggplant, but then, we’re going to drizzle it with salt, let it sweat out its excess moisture, then drizzle it with olive oil and roast it.  I really wanted my caponata to taste like its ingredients, so sweating the eggplant keeps it from getting watery.  Roasting really brings out the earthy flavor of so many vegetables and it’s generally my favorite way to serve them.  So preheat your oven to 400 degrees and let’s get started.

Peel and cube your eggplant.  Spread the cubes out over a layer of paper towels.  Sprinkle liberally with salt and let them sweat while you chop up some other ingredients.  They need about 30 minutes to sweat.  Very soon, you’ll see them release their little beads of perspiration.  After about 30 minutes, gather them up in the paper towels to absorb the excess moisture, and toss them back out onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Drizzle them with a bit of olive oil, rub them all around a bit and put the pan in your hot oven for about 15-20 minutes.  When they come out they’re beautiful little golden spongy cubes ready to absorb all the yummy flavors you’re about to add to the caponata.

Next up; a large skillet.  Drizzle some olive oil in there and when it gets hot, toss in your chopped onions.  Saute until they are nice and wilted then add the combo of capers, pine nuts, raisins and olives.  When it’s all nicely mixed, add in your tomatoes.  Simmer for about 5 minutes to let all the flavors meld, then add your cubes of roasted eggplant.

Simmer for another 10 minutes or so to thicken it up.  Then add the vinegar/sugar mixture to the pan.  Increase the heat a bit for just a moment to really get everything all mixed together.  Add your chopped fresh basil and remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for about 30 minutes before serving.  You're done!

Caponata can be served warm, cold or at room temperature.  It’s served as an appetizer with bread or as a relish accompaniment to meats.  It really has everything to offer; soft eggplant and crunchy pine nuts; salty hits of olive with sweet hits of raisin, but it has that vinegar/sugar flavor going on in the background.  Best of all, it’s one of those things that seems to taste even better the next day, so make a big batch.  I hope you too experience....Eggplant Love.


Buon Appetito!

My last blog post recipe was about making wine braised short ribs; an Italian comfort food.  I must be in need of comforting, because here’s another classic Italian comfort food recipe; this time for Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta with Beans).  I’d always heard about this dish, but rarely ever saw it on an Italian menu as it's one of those classic home cooking recipes. And I must admit, I always thought the combination of pasta and beans to be a little heavy in the starch department, so when I did see it, I picked something else.  Mistake, mistake, mistake.  Live and learn.

This recipe comes direct from an Italian friend, Giovanna Caprara.  Giovanna cooks from scratch for her family all the time.  Lucky them.  When she makes this recipe, she makes the pasta from scratch and uses dry beans that she’s soaked the night before.  I've taken the liberty of making a few shortcuts.  This recipe is so delicious even with my little cheats; it must be truly amazing the way she makes it.

You’ll need three pots for this dish.  Please don’t let the number of dirty pots deter you from making it; it’s still a simple recipe.  Plus, hopefully you have a dishwasher husband like I do.  Thank you dear.  

Let's get started.  Here are the basic ingredients:
broken flat pasta, two handfuls
1 small onion
1 carrot
2 ribs of celery
olive oil 
a can of beans 
1 clove of garlic
1 package of cubed pancetta
a lovely tomato or a can of diced tomatoes
fresh rosemary
a pinch of red pepper flakes
1 quart of vegetable broth

Pot #1:  Get your water on to boil for the pasta.  I will be using dry pasta.  Giovanna says we must use something flat, like broken fettucine.  I found pasta that looks like the long edges of lasagna, flat with a bumpy edge.  Once your water is boiling, add in your coarse salt, break your pasta up into it, and cook until it is al dente, then drain.  On to the next pot.

Pot #2:  This should be a larger pot, as everything will end up in this one.  Once again we start with our Holy Trinity of vegetables; chopped onions, carrots and celery.  Saute these in some olive oil for a few minutes until wilted, and then add your can of beans.  Stir to mix, then take off the heat and set aside.  On to the next pot.

Pot #3:  This should a medium saucepot.  Drizzle pan with olive oil, and heat.  Add pancetta cubes, a good pinch of red pepper flakes, and the smashed garlic clove.  Saute for a bit and add chopped fresh rosemary, and a 15 ounce tin of diced tomatoes (or fresh if you have nice ones available).  Cook for about 3 minutes, then add 1 cup of hot vegetable broth.  Let that simmer for about 10 minutes, then discard the garlic clove, and remove from heat.

Let’s go back to Pot #2 now.  With an immersion stick blender (one of my best friends), puree about one third of the veggie/bean mixture.  We want to thicken up our dish, but still leave lots of texture.

Now it is time to combine the contents of all three pots into pot #2.  First, add your drained, cooked pasta to your partially pureed bean/vegie pot.  Then, scrape the contents of Pot #3 (the pancetta/tomato mixture) into Pot #2 with the vegies and beans and pasta.  Oh my gosh, it smells so good, doesn’t it?  Put your filled pot back on the heat and add more hot broth to it.  Basically, you can add as much broth as you like, to adjust how thick you would like your dish to be.  Traditionally, it’s not a soup really, so don’t thin it out too much.  It should be the consistency of a stew.  

Well, by now the kitchen must smell heavenly.  You're starving, aren't you?  Ladle the pasta e fagioli  into pasta bowls, top with grated parmesan or pecorino and serve.

Buon Appetito e grazie a Giovanna!

Don’t you love dishes you can pop in the oven or simmer on the stove for hours?  They require some initial prep, but then become worry-free, making them great meals for entertaining and for relaxing dinners at home.  These kinds of meals tend to consist of comfort foods and I think all cultures have them.  The Italians certainly do.  Here’s a simple recipe for Wine Braised Short Ribs.  It’s one I’ve adapted from a special issue of Saveur Magazine called Authentic Italian from 2007.  I’ve simplified it, and changed the variety of wine as well as the cut of beef.

The original recipe calls for the use of Amarone wine.  Don’t get me wrong; I LOVE (underscore/bold!!) Amarone, but it can be a bit spendy.  So I’m using a bottle of Neprica instead from the Tormaresca winery in Puglia. This wine is readily available in the U.S. and very reasonably priced.  Really, any dry red wine will do for this dish.  

Let's get started.  Get out a nice braising pot and pour in half a bottle of your red wine.

The ingredients are quite simple.  In addition to your bottle of wine, you’ll need:

1)  The Holy Trinity of vegetables; carrots, onions and celery….and a clove of garlic.

2)  The aromatics: lemon zest, fresh rosemary and sage, and two bay leaves.

3)  Boneless short ribs (I used about a pound and a half) salt and pepper, about 1 ½ cups of vegetable or beef broth and some olive oil.

The recipe begins with the vegetables.  Just chop them all up and mince your garlic clove.  Slide it all off your cutting board into your pot of wine.

Next, we’ll add some aromatics.  Zest half of a lemon, mince up some fresh rosemary and fresh sage, and add two whole bay leaves.  Again, slide it all off into the wine pot with the vegetables.

Generously season your short ribs with salt and pepper then nestle them down into the wine pot.  Add the 1 ½ cups of broth and drizzle a nice dose of olive oil over the whole thing.  See how easy this is?

Your work is just about done.  Bring it to a simmer over medium high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and let it simmer away for 3-4 hours, until the meat is very tender.  Now you can start sipping on the remainder of the bottle of wine :)  Every once in a while, you can turn the meat over.  When it’s done, remove the meat to a plate with tongs.  Use an immersion blender stick to puree some of the veg.  Put the meat back in and turn up the heat again without covering the pot, to reduce the sauce and thicken it up a bit.  This takes just a couple of minutes.

Ta-dah!  It’s ready!  Make sure you have a nice loaf of bread to serve with it….you’ll want to sop up every bit of the rich sauce.  A hearty dish like this deserves a hearty red wine.  We served a Montefalco Sagrantino from Colpetrone, another of my very favorite Italian wines.  (If you're not familiar with it, you will be if you're coming on the October tour.)  Buon Appetito!

I have recently received word that the lovely hill town of Orvieto is having a food festival on the day the October tour is scheduled to visit. Get your taste buds and your wallets ready; we'll be sampling and purchasing!


Oh, and get your cameras ready as well.....you won't be able to stop snapping.