The Flavors of Abruzzo

When I was about 4 years old, we went to my grandmother’s house for dinner one night in the middle of the week. Once we sat down at the table, she spooned a lumpy yellow semi-liquid substance on my plate and topped it with a spoonful of tomato sauce. I won’t tell you what it looked like to my 4 year-old eyes, but I do remember that I burst into tears when I saw it.

Now, it might seem strange that I burst into tears, but as a child I was expected to eat whatever was put on my plate. Time has dimmed the memory to the point where it seems almost to have been a dream, but I have witnesses, so I know it actually did happen. I don’t remember for sure whether anyone was able to convince me to taste it or not, but I do remember that my grandmother then substituted that plate for a bowl of her version of Italian wedding soup which she made for every holiday. It’s surprising that she did so considering how strict she was, but maybe my grandfather talked her into it.

That was to be my first encounter with polenta…..and my last for many years to come. It was one thing that I decided did not fit the mold of “good Italian food”. Of course, my grandmother was from southern Italy and didn’t make the classic polenta that you hear so much about, but I didn’t know that. I just knew that polenta was something that I did not want to see on my plate.

Fast-forward a few (ok, several) years and here I am in Italy. I’ve heard a lot about polenta and have heard people say how good it is. The way they describe it seems to have little in common with how my grandmother served it, so I thought I would try it. I have to say, I still wasn’t impressed. It just seemed so tasteless to me.

Recently, I thought I would give it another try after seeing a few recipes that interested me. But, instead of cooking the polenta in hot water, I added some flavor to it. Instead, I cooked it in half milk and half broth. The result was fantastic as a side dish with pork tenderloins and braised beet greens. The recipe was too much for us to eat, so I took half of it and put it in a dish to cool, then cut it into pieces the next day, sautéed it in olive oil and served it with eggplant, peppers and zucchini. The result was a fantastic vegetarian meal.

Ingredients

1 lb corn meal
5 cups vegetable broth
4 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter

Heat the milk and broth to almost boiling. Using a whisk, gradually add the polenta to the hot milk mixture, whisking as you go. Once all of the corn meal has been added to the pot, lower the heat. The cornmeal will thicken and you will need to stir it often for about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary. This will all depend on how salty your broth is.

Stir in the butter, then remove half of the cornmeal and spoon it into a cake pan, smoothing the top to make the layer even.  Allow to cool and then refrigerate for the following day. The remainder of the cornmeal is great as a side dish with braised greens.

The next day, remove from the refrigerator, cut into wedges, then sauté in a hot frying pan with a little olive oil or butter.

Another fantastic version of this is made with cheese. For that version you will need:

1 lb corn meal
5 cups water
4 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup grated mixed pecorino romano and parmigiano cheese

Follow the directions above except that at the end of the cooking time stir in the cheeses along with the butter.

This is one of the recipes I made for Luigi’s party. The mixture is rather unorthodox for Italians and some loved it while others wouldn’t even taste it. But, it’s a recipe that I found years ago in a cookbook and I used to make it whenever we had a potluck at work, where it always got rave reviews. Unfortunately, I don’t remember what cookbook I found it in, but if someone out there wants to take credit, let me know. (Oh, and by the way, as you’ll see from the ingredients, I don’t think it counts as low fat, but it’s very tasty.)

The recipe calls for pesto sauce and, since it only uses a small amount, you can get away with some jarred sauce. For Luigi’s party I made a mega-batch, so I made homemade pesto. You can’t beat the flavor.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups short pasta (like penne, twists, bow ties)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons pesto sauce
1 tablespoon sour cream
6 oz cooked chicken breast
1-2 celery stalks
1 cup red grapes (seedless is better, if possible)
1 carrot

Dressing:
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

I’m going to assume that you have some poached chicken breast just hanging around. If not, poach some up a few hours before you need it so that it has time to cool.

Mix the dressing and set it aside until the pasta is cooked. Once the pasta has been cooked, drain it, transfer it to a bowl, mix in the dressing and allow it to cool.

While the pasta is cooling, mix the mayonnaise, pesto sauce and sour cream in a bowl. Cut the chicken into strips, cut the celery into narrow slices, halve the grapes and remove any seeds and cut the carrots into matchsticks.

Once the pasta is cool, add the chicken, celery, grapes, carrots and mayonnaise mixture and stir to mix thoroughly. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

This is best if you let it sit for a while so that the flavors are fully blended, so cover it tightly and refrigerate it for a few hours before eating.

(Sorry, I don’t have a picture, but I haven’t made this since the party because we were eating leftovers for days.)

I know, it sounds like a starch attack, doesn’t it. But actually, in Italy you often find potatoes paired with pasta or even sliced thin and put on top of pizza. (White pizza that is, not pizza with tomato sauce). Pizza with potatoes does sound a little strange, but what could be weirder than pizza with pineapple and Canadian bacon? But, today is not the day to discuss pizza topping choices. It would make a good subject though because it takes me forever to choose my pizza at the local pizzeria since they have so many choices.

No, today we’re talking about pasta and the reason I decided to try pasta with potatoes and speck is that I happened to have some speck that was calling out to me to make something new and, of course, some potatoes. I had heard of the dish, but wasn’t quite sure what all was involved. After an internet search that gave me several different recipes – some that included beer of all things, and others that called for leeks (which I didn’t have) or included tomato sauce (which I didn’t want to use in this recipe), I decided to just wing it and come up with my own version.

(By the way, this is not a dish from Abruzzo, it’s more from the northern part of Italy where speck is made)

It turned out to be quite good and tasty, so give it a try. Speck is a wonderful smoky dried ham which is very flavorful. I think I even prefer it to prosciutto (gasp!). But, if you can’t find it where you are, you might try a slab of hickory smoked bacon cut into small cubes.

Ingredients

1 onion
125 grams (4.4 oz) of speck
2 medium potatoes (boiled whole)
½ cup cream (you could also use fat-free sour cream for a lighter version)
200 grams short pasta (like ditalini)
1 Tb olive oil
½ cup white wine
salt

While your pasta water is boiling, peel the boiled potatoes, quarter and slice into ½ inch slices. Dice onion and speck (or hickory smoked bacon).

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and cook over medium heat, once the onions start to soften, add the speck and allow cook for another minute or two. Pour in the wine and allow it to cook off. Add the potatoes and cook until heated through. Once the potatoes are cooked, add the cream and stir to coat everything. Taste for salt and adjust accordingly.

Add the cooked pasta, stir to mix well and serve.