For those of us who haven’t yet made it to Tuscany or those of us who probably never will, Patrizia Chen guides us through growing up in the coastal city of Livorno with “Rosemary and Bitter Oranges” (Scribner, $24.95). Her gentle memoir chronicles growing up, eating, cooking and surviving World War II in the Italian region that has becomes so immensely popular in recent years. She also describes flavors not usually combined in the average American kitchen, such as fennel and leeks or chocolate and pear pudding.
Cesare Casella provides a more in-depth look from inside a Tuscan kitchen with “True Tuscan” (HarperCollins, $24.95), based on growing up in his family’s trattoria in Lucca. The chef and author’s restaurant earned a Michelin star after he took over from his parents. Most of the pasta shapes he calls for are available in well-stocked grocery stores. So you can have fun with Ruffled Pasta with Shrimp and Beans. Or put artichoke hearts to new use, baked with potatoes and sea bass. And for salad of a different sort, serve roasted beets tossed with dressed chard and beet tops.
– Ellen Sweets
RECIPES
Ruffled Pasta with Shrimp and Beans (Creste con Gamberi e Canellini)
From “True Tuscan: Flavors and Memories from the Countryside of Tuscany.”
Our slight modiciation of the classic combination of shrimp and beans is here combined with another classic, pasta. Look for boxes of commercial ruffled pasta, but you can also substitute any short pasta you like. You can use canned cannellini beans if you don’t have time to cook dry beans. Just rinse them slightly to remove some of the salt. Wine suggestion: a full-bodied white such as a Chardonnay blend, like Fontanelle. Serves 4-6.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 375.
Toss garlic cloves with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and salt to taste. Bake on a baking sheet, shaking occasionally, about 30 minutes, or until soft. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until just under al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Set aside.
Coat the bottom of a pan large enough to hold all the ingredients with 1/4 cup of the remaining olive oil. Add the roasted garlic, sage leaves, anchovies, and half of the crushed red pepper and saute over medium heat until the anchovies break apart and dissolve, 5 to 7 minutes.
Add wine and reduce by half.
Add beans and the bean cooking water and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
Puree half of the bean mixture in a food processor to smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl. Using the back of a fork or a potato masher, slightly crush the remaining beans and add them to the pureed bean mixture. Set aside.
Wipe the pan clean and coat it with the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add the minced garlic, the remaining crushed red pepper and parsley and saute over medium heat until the garlic begins to color, about 5 minutes.
Add the shrimp and saute until they begin to turn pink, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the bean mixture and the cooked pasta. Toss to combine, adding some of the reserved pasta water if the mixture seems very thick. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes for the pasta to absorb some of the sauce. Toss with the grated Parmesan cheese and serve.
Sea Bass with Potatoes and Artichokes (Branzino con Patate e Carciofi)
From “True Tuscan: Flavors and Memories from the Country side of Tuscany,” this recipe is about Italian-style flexibility. Though fish and potatoes define the dish, the “accent” vegetable reflects the season. So you can substitute almost anything from asparagus to zucchini. Artichokes contrast with the sweetness of the potatoes, but you can experiment with what you find at the farmer’s market. Remember that the “flexible” vegetable will only be in the oven for about twenty minutes, so it might have to be precooked. You can use steamed frozen artichoke hearts, which are not quite the same, but an easy substitute. Look for whites from the area of Maremma, like Litorale Vermentino. A Pinot Grigio would be good, too. Serves 4.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 400.
Fill a bowl with water. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the water and add the lemon halves too. If using baby artichokes, peel the outer leaves until you reach the part where the leaves are mostly a creamy yellow. Cut the top inch off the artichoke and trim away the stem so that you are left with a golf ball-sized heart. Slice into 1/4-inch pieces and place in the lemon water. (For globe artichokes, remove the tough outer leaves and cut the artichokes into wedges. Remove the choke and the soft curly leaves above it. Slice the place in the lemon water). Set aside. Drain before using.
In a large bowl combine artichokes, potatoes, garlic, rosemary, basil, tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Add olive oil and toss to coat.
Place the potato mixture in a large ovenproof baking dish, add the vegetable stock, and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. Spoon out a quarter of the vegetables into a bowl. Reserve.
Season the fish with salt and pepper and rub the fillets with a little olive oil. Arrange the fillets on the potato and artichoke mixture and add the wine. Cover the fish with the reserved potato mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through. Serve.
Roasted Beet Salad (Barbarossa)
From “True Tuscan: Flavors and Memories from the Countryside of Tuscany.” The author’s mother made a salad like this – minus the ginger and horseradish when her family had a garden. “She would boil the beets, which you can do, too, but I like them better roasted,” says Patrizia Chen. Serves 6.
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400
Wash and trim beets, leaving an inch or so of greens to minimize bleeding. Put the beets in a shallow baking dish, pour in 1/2 cup water, and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake until a fork slides in and out of the beets easily. Check the golden beets after 30 minutes; they cook faster than the red, which will take 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Keeping the yellow and red beets separate, peel them, and cut into 1-inch cubes. Toss each kind of beet with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 1/4 cup of the red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons of the grated ginger, and salt and pepper to taste.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the Swiss chard or beet tops and blanch for 3-4 minutes. Drain and squeeze out excess water. Toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Arrange Swiss chard or beet tops on a serving platter and top with the red and golden beets. Garnish with grated horseradish and serve.
Chocolate and Pear Pudding (Budino di Cioccolato e Pere)
From “Rosemary and Bitter Oranges,” this is one of the dishes author Patrizia Chen, her brother and sisters asked Emilia, their cook, to make most frequently. It is easy, and it can be prepared the day before. When the pudding is cool, refrigerate it, but bring it to room temperature before serving. Keep in mind that the baking time will be slightly different depending on the mold you use (heavy or light, metal or ceramic). Serves 6.
Ingredients
Directions
Peel, halve, and core the pears. Put them in a saucepan with sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Add water to cover, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the pears are tender when pierced with a knife. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pears to a plate to cool, then cut into bite-sized pieces.
Preheat oven to 350.
Bring milk to a boil in a medium saucepan. Finely chop the chocolate, and put it into a bowl. Pour about 2/3 cup of the hot milk over the chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Add chocolate mixture to the saucepan, along with amaretti, savoiardi, and sugar. Whisk over low heat for 10 minutes, or until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool at room temperature.
Butter a 9-inch Bundt pan, and dust with sugar, tapping out the excess. Fill a roasting pan with 2 inches of hot water.
When the chocolate mixture is cooked, whisk in the eggs one by one, followed by the almonds, cinnamon, and diced pears. Pour the mixture into the mold. Put the mold into the roasting pan and carefully transfer to the oven. Loosely cover the mold with aluminum foil, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Remove the foil, increase the oven temperature to 400, and bake for 10 minutes more. Tap the pan lightly; the pudding should be set but still a bit wobbly. Remove from the oven, and let cool to room temperature.
Baked Fennel and Leeks (Finocchi e Porri al Forno)
From “Rosemary and Bitter Oranges.” It is important to choose “female” fennel bulbs; they must be fat and firm. Always select perfectly white bulbs, as a change in color usually means they are old. Serves 6.
Ingredients
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat.
Trim away the base and feathery leaves of the fennel bulbs and cut them lengthwise into 8 wedges, discarding the outside layer of leaves. Wash them. Salt the boiling water, add the fennel, and cook for about 5 minutes. Drain, pat dry, and set aside.
Cut off the base of the leeks and trim away the darkest green parts. Pull off the first two outer layers and discard. Thinly slice crosswise with a sharp knife. Put the leeks in a colander and wash them thoroughly under running water. Drain well and pat dry.
Preheat oven to 375.
Coat fennel with flour, shaking off the excess. Arrange it in a lightly buttered 12-inch ovenproof serving dish.
Saute the leeks in 3 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring, until they are translucent. Scatter them over the fennel. Cover with Parmesan, season with salt and pepper, and dot with the remaining 5 tablespoons butter.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until the top is golden. Serve hot.
