The Flavors of Abruzzo

Berry picking

Mary — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:13:11 +0000

When I was growing up, late summer was the time to go blueberry picking. We would head off into the woods armed with buckets and covered in insect repellent. Of course, we knew where the big bushes were that would give us the biggest yield. Returning home with buckets full of blueberries, we would then set about cleaning them. Some would get frozen and some would get used right away and some, of course, got eaten on the spot. Years later I would go to the blueberry farm and buy blueberries in bulk, but it just wasn’t the same.

Here in Abruzzo, there are no wild blueberries, but we have the next best thing…blackberries. The difference is though that blackberries have thorns, so you have to be careful.

Now is peak blackberry time, so you often see people walking up and down the country roads armed with buckets and bags to collect the wild blackberries. They seem to grow very well along the roads, as a matter of fact.

We had to join in the fun of course. But, we have blackberries on our land, so we didn’t have to traipsing down any unfamiliar back roads. Of course, the idea was to collect some and freeze them, but we never got to that point.

Luigi quickly discovered that blackberries are very tasty and decided to join in the fun. He figured out by himself which ones he was supposed to pick.

None of the ones he picked ended up in the bucket though.

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Cheese and Salami Savory Pie

Mary — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:15:12 +0000

Although the savory pie, or torta rustica, is a traditional Easter dish, it also lends itself well to summertime since it is served at room temperature. That means you can cook it ahead of time in the early morning when the temperatures are still relatively cool and keep it refrigerated until about an hour before you plan to eat it.

Since it’s a cook ahead dish, it’s also great for potlucks or buffets. A word of warning though; this particular pie has lots of calories since it’s loaded with cheese and salami. But, it’s yummy and just one small piece will fill you up.

I used a ready-made pie crust. You can either make your own or do like I did and cheat. You can also put a crust on the top if you’d like.

As you’ll notice, I do not have any salt added to the recipe. That’s because all of the cheese and salami contains enough salt. If you add any more it will be unpleasantly salty. In fact, you should check your salami and if it is overly salty, choose another type.

Ingredients

1 ready-made pie crust
8 ounces ricotta cheese
5 ounces mild provolone cheese, cubed
5 ounces scamorza (or mozzarella) cheese, cubed
4 ounces salami, cubed
4 eggs
1/3 cup grated parmigiano and pecorino romano cheese

Preheat oven to 320 degrees.
Separate the eggs and beat the whites until they make peaks.
Stir the egg yolks and ricotta together, then add the other cheeses and salami.
Fold in the egg whites.
Line a pie pan with the pie crust, then spoon the filling into the crust.
I like to give it a rustic look by just folding the edges of the crust over the filling.
Bake at 320 for about 45 minutes or until the top is brown. Cooking time may vary.
Allow to cool before serving.

Oh, and just because it’s round, don’t get hung up on cutting it in wedges.

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Gita Italiana

Mary — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 06:50:48 +0000

Michelle at Bleeding Espresso has been hosting a virtual tour of Italy over on her blog and I was honored that she asked me to take part. Today it’s my turn to introduce you to Abruzzo. So, hop on over and check it out. And if you haven’t done so already, read about some of the other areas of Italy.

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Crispy Oven-Baked Zucchini

Mary — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:05:54 +0000

Several years ago, I worked as an IT Call Center Manager. Many of you may not realize it, but it’s actually a very stressful job or, at least, it was where I worked. Our calls ranged from the mundane to the critical where we had a store with all of the registers not working and customers lined up 10 or more deep. Not only that, but there were numerous expectations that needed to be met regarding how many calls were answered, how quickly they were answered and how many tickets each worker closed per day.

As you can probably imagine, one of the biggest parts of my job was finding a way to keep morale up. Over time I developed several methods and some of them were often kind of silly. One of those I came up with one night when I was searching for something on the internet and found out that every day is National *something* day. So, I printed up the list each month and let everyone on my teams know what day it was and, if it was something that we could celebrate in some crazy, goofy way, we did.

I remember laughing when I ran across “National Sneak Some Zucchini On Your Neighbor’s Porch Day”. Having grown zucchini in my garden, I knew why it deserved its own day. If you’ve grown your own, I can see you nodding your head too. Once you reach a certain point, you have a zucchini glut. That’s when all the recipes that you can find or dream up come into play – and you still end up with some left over.

Unfortunately, I missed it this year – the “official” day is August 8, but we still have lots of zucchini, so I’m still cooking my old faves and experimenting.

This recipe is a good one for those who love fried zucchini but are trying to find a way to make it healthy. Let’s admit it, fried zucchini is delicious, but it’s also laden with fat and calories. This oven fried zucchini is crispy and delicious, so I think you’ll add it to your repertoire as I have.

Crispy Oven-baked Zucchini

Ingredients

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup grated parmigiano cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chopped basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chopped parsley
1 egg
1 medium zucchini
olive oil

Preheat oven to 425.

Mix the first 7 ingredients together in a rimmed plate. Feel free to experiment with the spices.

Beat the egg in a small bowl (I like to add a drop of milk to the egg as well although I didn’t include that in the ingredients).

Slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch rounds.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and either spray it with olive oil or put about a tablespoon on the sheet and spread it around.

Dip the zucchini in the egg and then coat with the flour mixture. Arrange them on the cookie sheet. If you have a spray bottle for your olive oil, go ahead and spray just a little bit on the top.

Bake for about 10 minutes per side until golden brown and enjoy.

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Mrs. Clean where are you?

Mary — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:30:00 +0000

Did you know that Italians have the cleanest homes in Europe?

That’s rather daunting for a slacker like me. Yes, I admit it, I don’t have the cleanest house around and I definitely don’t measure up to the rest of the Italians. So, it’s no surprise when I say that I feel rather self-conscious when we have company. If it’s a planned visit, I try to go around beforehand and clean as much as possible to give the impression that the place is spotless, but a 2 year old toddler usually ruins all of my preparations anyway.

Before you get the wrong idea though, my house is not a virtual pigsty either. I just don’t spend my entire life cleaning which is what a lot of Italian women seem to do. I don’t have the time to get up on a ladder or a chair and polish the light fixtures every few days. No, I’m not exaggerating.

It may sound incredible, but there are quite a few Italian women who start cleaning their houses from top to bottom on Monday – and when I say top to bottom I mean top to bottom, what we would call spring cleaning – then when they finish, they start all over again. That’s all they do. So, what else do they do besides work and clean? Beats me.

I can’t do it. I would go crazy. Besides the fact that I need to work and the fact that I have a toddler who I would rather spend time with than clean, I also need to have some intellectual pursuits or I will dissolve.

So, my stainless steel sink doesn’t shine like a mirror, instead it has lots of water spots on it. My oven door and kitchen cabinets have toddler fingerprints, there are toys scattered here and there and my “office” is the catch-all for everything that doesn’t have it’s own place, the ironing that I don’t have time to do and all of the things I have to keep out of sight of Luigi. Enter at your own risk.

I may not have the cleanest house in the world, but I made my son giggle today, read him a story, read some information that I found interesting on the internet, wrote a blog post and did some other work. Now, I just have to remember to tell myself that, the next time I have a surprise visit and notice that there are some crumbs on the floor. Horrors!

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Homecoming month

Mary — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:00:46 +0000

They come in droves and the population of all the little towns in the area triples and even quadruples. These misplaced Abruzzese now live in various places like Milan, Bologna, Florence, or even further away like Belgium, France, Germany, Australia and the United States.

They, or in some cases their parents, left in search of work or a “better life”. Some left years ago when poverty was the norm here and some left just recently because they were looking for something, maybe a better career or the possibility of earning more.

Yet, they have not lost that link to their home town and seem to feel a strong pull to return every summer during August, the Italian vacation month.

I often wonder if, when they return, they are disappointed in what they find. Do they find it boring here after life in the city? Granted, there are festivals and sagras throughout the month that they can enjoy and the beach is nearby for those who want to lay in the sun, but there are no traffic jams or large shopping centers and we don’t have all the activities available that you would find in a large metropolitan area.

What we do have is clean air, peace and quiet, fresh produce and friendly people. The ones who come home may be referred to as “turisti”, but they’re welcomed with open arms by the people of the town.

There is the fear that these small towns are slowly dying off. Year after year people move away. Some don’t go very far, moving closer to work which may only be a half hour away by car, but that still is a decrease. In the meantime, the population of the towns becomes older and fewer children are born. The average in my town is about 4 children per year.

I often wonder what would happen if all that talent didn’t move away. If instead they used their intelligence and enterprising abilities here and helped the towns grow in other ways. But then, what would happen to the towns? Would that sort of growth ruin their character?

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Crispy Risotto Croquettes

Mary — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:35:26 +0000

I promised a second dish made from my leftover tomato and pepper risotto. First though, I have to give credit to my inspiration.

There are two different dishes that consist of fried balls of rice here in Italy. One is the supplì and the other is the arancino. The supplì is more of a football that is made out of rice mixed with meat sauce. The rice is then formed around a piece of mozzarella cheese, dipped in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs and fried.

Arancini on the other hand are a well-known Sicilian dish where rice flavored with butter and cheese is molded around a tomato meat sauce with peas and then dipped in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs and fried.

My risotto croquettes are similar, but not exactly the same as these two recipes, especially since it includes peppers which is part of neither one.

The other difference is that I don’t use the flour and egg; instead I dip the rice balls directly into the breadcrumbs. They still get nice and crunchy on the outside and aren’t as messy to prepare ’cause let’s get honest here, just forming the rice gets your hands pretty darn messy. Add dipping in flour and egg and you’ll be washing your hands for 15 minutes straight in order to get it off.

My recipe made 8 rice croquettes

Ingredients

Leftover Tomato and Pepper Risotto
8 mozzarella cubes (about 1 inch square)
breadcrumbs
oil for frying

Quite simply, just form the chilled risotto into balls around the mozzarella cheese, roll in breadcrumbs to coat and then cook in the hot oil. Turn once to make sure they are evenly browned, drain on paper towels and enjoy.

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Don’t give me that!

Mary — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:21:33 +0000

OK, so I’ve got a gripe. What is it with people who think they can just give things to your child?

I know that most of the time it’s not done to be nasty, but sometimes I just wish people would stop and think first.

The other day I wrote about Luigi being sugar sensitive. Obviously I don’t give him candy. But, the other day as I was walking through the market I heard someone say his name and by the time I had turned around to see who it was, she had already bent down and given Luigi a wrapped toffee. He turned around and gave it to me so I put it in my pocket and told him I would give him something else later which sparked a full out tantrum.

One thing led to another and it was not easy getting the child back home. Every once in a while he would get rubber legs and throw himself down on the ground. Then I would pick him up and carry him for a while, then he wanted to get down and the cycle continued.

Obviously the lady was just trying to be nice, but what if she were giving him something with nuts in it and he was deathly allergic?

Think people!

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Tomato and Pepper Risotto

Mary — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:18:59 +0000

Every day we’ve got a glut of garden produce. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, but besides freezing and canning, I’ve been using them in various dishes. It’s nice to know where the produce came from and how it was grown.

On one of his last trips out to the garden O brought back a crate of tomatoes (San Marzano) and peppers. So, I decided to make a two part dish out of it. One part I’ll talk about today and the other we’ll discuss later. Obviously, I made a larger amount than we could eat so that I would have some left overs.

The flavor of this risotto reminds me a lot of Spanish rice and it was a nice change from the usual pasta.

Ingredients

5 or 6 San Marzano or Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 small green peppers, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic
2 cups rice
6 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup grated parmigiano cheese
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil

Set your vegetable broth to simmer in a saucepan.

In a large pot, melt the butter along with the olive oil, add the onion and garlic and simmer until the onion is translucent. Now add the pepper and tomato and continue to simmer until the tomato has softened. Add the rice and stir to coat with oil. Now, using the typical method of cooking risotto, add a ladle full of broth at a time and cook, stirring occasionally until the broth has been absorbed, then add more broth, and so on until the rice is cooked. This process will take about a half hour.

Once the rice has cooked, stir in the parmigiano cheese and serve.

Put the remainder of this recipe in a container and refrigerate for the next dish.

Enjoy!

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Hold the sugar

Mary — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 12:06:48 +0000

It seems the Luigi is very sensitive to sugar. We didn’t discover this right away because we actually don’t give him very much sugar to begin with, so it wasn’t obvious. He doesn’t get any packaged cakes, no sugary cereal and we’re not constantly giving him candy like I notice other kids eating. Maybe it should have been more obvious because of that and we just had our blinders on though.

Once he reached about 5 months of age, his sleep habits deteriorated and have been pretty bad since then, waking 3 or 4 times per night and having trouble going back to sleep. I chalked it up to several things, the fact that he started teething at five months, then we moved from one house to another, then it was back to teething, then he had a cold, and so on. Teething was really the main culprit and once he got his two year molars things calmed down quite a bit. Now he only wakes up once a night.

That is, except when it’s a night from hell. We couldn’t figure out why, but certain nights he would wake up screaming and it would take him hours to calm back down. We were sure it was nightmares, but couldn’t figure out what was causing them and why they only happened once in a while. Then, the other evening while we were visiting his Nonna, two neighbor kids came in eating ice cream cones. Knowing that he would be upset that he didn’t have one, she got one out of the freezer and gave it to him. It was one of those sugary ones with chocolate on top and a wafer cone. He ate most of it and I mentioned to O that it might take a while for him to get to sleep after all that sugar.

Lo and behold, that was one of the worst sleep nights yet. We were up with him half the night. It’s a terrible feeling when you can’t find a way to help him and, poor kid, he didn’t know what he wanted to do. He must have had 10 drinks of water and went from O to me and back again before we finally got him calmed down.

The next morning we discussed it and came to the conclusion that it must be the sugar. We’ve basically cut it down to very little and nothing after 6 pm, but then our suspicions proved to be true when we went to a friends for dinner. They had some ice cream for dessert and I let Luigi have a very small piece. You guessed it, more nightmares.

Since then, I allow him only a small amount of jam (homemade) with his toast in the morning and some fruit juice in the afternoon which, unfortunately, does contain some sugar. It seems to be only refined sugar though because eating fruits and carbs doesn’t bother him.

He’s a little calmer….Well, sometimes. He’s going through the “gimme” stage right now so anytime he sees a toy he wants we go through a rough spell. But, all in all, he’s a calmer kid.

So, no more sugar in our house.

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