leek

Umbrian lentils with honeynut squash and vegetables / lenticchie umbre con zucca e verdure

| Simona
A plate of Umbrian lentils with honeynut squash and dark leafy greens
Small lentils with big personality
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the memoir Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.1 The book is a collection of 40 short essays, each centered on a specific food, ranging from fruit (lots of fruit, including rambutan, figs and mango), to spices (cinnamon, vanilla — cannella, vaniglia) to dishes, like lumpia and leche flan. Using the title food as starting point, each essay blends memories, meditations on aspects of life, and information about the food, in an evocative, lyrical language. The title aptly describes the way the book is presented and read.

Before selecting this book for our club, I knew and appreciated the author’s poetry, but was not familiar with her essays. I like how she uses a food to start a thread that weaves through memories with factual details sprinkled in. Reading most of the essays engendered a similar process for me. For example, the opening essay on rambutan made me travel to the Big Island and its wonderful farmers’ market, where, among many other fruit, you can find clusters of sweet, juicy rambutan.

clusters of rambutan
rambutan at a farmers’ market on the Big Island

The book doesn’t include recipes and rather than by one of the foods, I was inspired by the time of year and the food memory it elicited. To celebrate the New Year (Capodanno), I followed the tradition of eating lentils. My mother always prepared a pot of the delicious small lentils typical of my home region, lenticchie di Castelluccio. She cooked them with local sausages, another typical food.

I usually bring back a bag of lentils when I visit Italy. Besides the famous Castelluccio lentils, Colfiorito lentils are also grown in Umbria. They are likewise small, fast cooking and deeply flavored. Below is a photo from my favorite store in downtown Perugia, Antica Spezieria e Drogheria Eredi Bavicchi,2 where I purchase this and other specialty legumes.

Colfiorito lentils
Colfiorito lentils, Umbrian delicacy

Besides the lentils, the dish includes honeynut squash and an assortment of leafy vegetables. For the latter, I use what I find at the farmers’ market, trying to create a balanced mix of flavors. Examples include: rainbow chard, red beet greens, radicchio di Treviso. Having one component of the dish variable means each time I make the dish it tastes unique. Note that in the case of rainbow chard and red beet greens, I cook also the stems, which I particularly like.

Umbrian lentils with honeynut squash and vegetables

Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Time to cook the lentils 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the lentils
  • 1/2 cup / 100 grams / 3 1/2 ounces Castelluccio lentils OR Colfiorito lentils OR other small lentils (like de Puy or black beluga) sorted and rinsed
  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons / 270 ml water
  • 1 garlic clove unpeeled
  • 1 small bay leaf
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the dish
  • 4 ounces / 112 grams leek white and light green portion, clean weight (set aside the darker green portion to make broth or stock)
  • 8 ounces / 225 grams honeynut squash
  • 2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound / 450 grams combination of vegetables (mostly leafy greens): for example, rainbow chard, Swiss chard red beet greens, radicchio di Treviso, salad turnip greens
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 teaspoon Harissa spice mix
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or to taste

Equipment

  • lidded 5-Qt cast-iron Dutch oven

Method
 

  1. Place all the ingredients for the lentils except the salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook on low heat, covered, until lentils are tender.
  2. Check after 20 minutes and estimate the time necessary to complete the cooking. If the lentils look dry, add 1-2 tablespoons of hot water.
  3. When the lentils are done, add the salt and stir. Remove from the heat, retreive and discard the garlic and bay leaf and set aside.
  4. Cut the leek in half lengthwise and slice into 1/8 inch / 3 mm half-moons. Rinse well in a colander, then place in a bowl and fill it with cold water. With your hands, swirl the leek to clean, then scoop out of the water with a sieve or slotted spoon and drain in a colander.
  5. Peel and deseed the squash. I use a sturdy swivel vegetable peeler to peel the squash and a grapefruit spoon to remove the seeds.
  6. Cut the squash into small bite-sized pieces, no more than ½ inch / 1.25 cm.
  7. Wash and drain the vegetables, leaving a bit of water clinging to the leaves. Separate the stems from the leaves of chard and red beet greens and chop the stems.
  8. Halve the leaves lengthwise, stack 5-6 at a time and cut them into 1-inch / 2.5-cm wide ribbons.
  9. Warm up a lidded 5-qt cast-iron Dutch oven. Add the olive oil. When hot, add the leek, stir well, cook for 1 minute, then turn down the heat. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 4 minutes, stirring often and making sure the pan does not become dry.
  10. Add the garlic and Harissa to the pan and stir well.
  11. After 1 minute, turn up the heat to medium, add the cut squash and stir well. Turn down the heat, cover and cook for 2 minutes.
  12. Turn up the heat to medium, add the chopped stems, stir well and cover. Turn the heat down and cook until the squash is just tender, 6 minutes.
  13. Turn up the heat to medium, add the sliced leaves and cover. Turn the heat down and let the leaves wilt for 1 minute, then stir well.
  14. Cover and cook the vegetables on gentle heat for 10 minutes or so, until tender, stirring every now and then.
  15. Turn up the heat to medium, add the lentils and their liquid (the amount should be small) to the pan and stir well. Cover and turn down the heat to low.
  16. Continue cooking for 4 minutes or so, until the lentils are heated through.
  17. Add the sea salt, give it a final stir and take off the heat. Serve warm.

Notes

If you purchase rainbow or Swiss chard with long stems included, use up to 6-7 inches / 15-18 cm for this dish and save the rest for another dish. Do not discard them: they are delicious, and so are red beet green stems.
A plate of Umbrian lentils with honeynut squash and dark leafy greens
Earthy flavors, great nutrition
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

This dish brings me to my home region and makes me feel I keep alive an ancient tradition.

1 The book’s page on the publisher’s website
2 The Antica Spezieria e Drogheria Eredi Bavicchi
3 An unpeeled garlic clove is called uno spicchio d’aglio in camicia (where in camicia literally means: with the shirt on)

Click on the Play button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post

Cook the Books logoThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by me, Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

Copyright © 2007 – 2026 Simona Carini. All rights reserved.

delicata squash stuffed with fagiolina del Trasimeno and leeks / zucca ripiena di fagiolina del Trasimeno e porri

| Simona
delicata squash stuffed with fagiolina del Trasimeno (cowpea) and leeks / IMG_1486

dinner, plain and simple
(linen by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty1, the current selection of the Cook the Books club, is a captivating read and a book difficult to describe in a few words: world history, food history, personal memories, travels all play a part in the story, which has an epic reach, encompassing centuries and large spaces, using the author's family tree as guide.

Even before reading the book, I knew Twitty is a great story teller, whether he talks about a specific dish or is inhabiting the lives of his enslaved ancestors. I understand his need to know, his stubborn following all the threads that tie his life to those of his forebears. It as a special kind of religious pilgrimage. Whatever your specific interests, you will find the book fascinating, as it weaves foodways into the quilt of people's migration, mostly (though not all) forced.

fagiolina del Lago Trasimeno / Lake Trasimeno cowpea / IMG_3057

white and "rainbow" fagiolina varieties
(linen by La FABBRICA del LINO)

While the book includes a number of recipes, I decided to mirror the woven stories and make something that would represent my own journey from Perugia (Italy), where I was born and grew up, to Milan, where I lived for almost 10 years, to Northern California, where I have been living for over 20 years. A special connection to the book is provided by fagiolina del (Lago) Trasimeno, a legume typical of my home region of Umbria, which is a cultivar of cowpea2, Vigna unguiculata, closely related to black-eyed peas, one of the crops brought from Africa to America on slave ships. Besides being pretty, fagiolina is a pleasure to eat: tender, buttery and flavorful. I buy it at the Antica Spezieria e Drogheria Eredi Bavicchi3 in Perugia, one of my favorite stores in the world. 

Growing up, I never ate leeks: my mother didn't cook them nor did any of my relatives. I "discovered" leeks when I moved to Milan, thanks to one of my roommates who made a killer leek gratin. When available, I purchase leeks at the farmers' market and can eat industrial quantities of the delicately flavored member of the allium family.

Candystick Dessert Delicata squash / IMG_1491

Candystick Dessert Delicata squash
grown by Shakefork Community Farm

Zucca is another ingredient that was absent in my early life's diet for the same reason as leeks. It appeared in some meals I had while living in Milan, since it is an ingredient of traditional northern Italian dishes, like risotto and tortelli. I would see wedges sold in grocery stores, but I wasn't a cook back then and the unfamiliarity always won. After I moved to California, I learned to appreciate the many varieties of winter squash and pumpkins grown by local farmers and I am always ready to taste new ones. Most recently, Candystick Dessert Delicata squash4, grown locally by Shakefork Community Farm5. Its thick flesh has a delicious date-like flavor.

fagiolina del Trasimeno and leeks / IMG_1484

delicate fagiolina meets delicate leeks

So here is my quilt dish: fagiolina and leeks as stuffing for delicata squash, with some fresh chèvre to brighten the combination (omit the cheese to make a vegan version).

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Delicata squash stuffed with fagiolina of Lake Trasimeno and leeks

Ingredients:

  1. 1/2 cup / 3.25 ounces / 92 g fagiolina del Trasimeno (either white or rainbow variety)
  2. 1 1/2 cups / 350 ml water
  3. 1/2 small onion, halved
  4. 1/2 garlic clove
  5. A small bay leaf
  6. A handful of parsley stems
  7. A 1-inch / 2.5 cm piece of kombu (optional)
  8. 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
  9. 8 ounces / 225 g leek, white and light green portion, clean weight (set aside the dark green portion to make broth or stock)
  10. 2 tablespoon / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  11. Leaves of a handful of fresh thyme sprigs
  12. Fine sea salt, to taste
  13. A pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  14. 2 medium delicata squash: I used the Candystick Dessert variety
  15. 2 ounces / 56 g fresh chèvre

Note: there are four parts to the recipe. The first three can all be made ahead of time. The fagiolina and leek mix is enough to stuff 4 squash halves and serve 4 people.

Cook the fagiolina
Rinse the fagiolina. Add fagiolina and all the aromatics (ingredients #3 through 8) to the water. Stir, cover and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let the fagiolina cook, covered, until it is tender. Let the fagiolina cool in the broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them.

Cook the leeks
Cut the leek(s) in half lengthwise and slice into 1/8 inch / 3 mm half-moons. Rinse well in a colander, then place in a bowl and fill it with cold water. With your hands, swirl the leeks to clean them well, then scoop them out of the water with a sieve or slotted spoon and drain them in a colander.

Warm up a cast-iron skillet, then add the oil. Add the leeks, stir well and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the thyme leaves and stir well and cook for a couple of minutes. Cover the skillet and cook on gentle heat until the leeks are soft, stirring every now and then. (The time it takes depends on how fresh the leeks are.) Sprinkle a pinch of salt and the black pepper and stir.

Add the fagiolina to the leeks and stir well. There should be 2 tablespoons / 30 ml of its cooking broth in it (drain the excess if needed). Cook for a couple of minutes, then take off the heat. Adjust the salt as needed.

Roast the squash
Preheat the oven to 375 F / 190 C. Cut a thin slice of squash to remove the stem, then cut the squash in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and strings (a grapefruit spoon is my favorite tool to do this).

Place the squash, cut side down, on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat. Bake the squash 35-40 minutes, or until soft (easily pierced with a pointed blade).

Finish the dish
Preheat the oven to 375 F / 190 C. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

Crumble the cheese, divide it into 4 equal parts and distribute into the cavity of each squash half.

Divide the stuffing into 4 equal parts and pile it into the cavity of each squash half, pressing down with a spoon to make it stable. Bake the squash 12-14 minutes, until hot throughout. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and serve the squash immediately.

One of the nice characteristics of delicata squash is that, if not stored for long, the skin is edible. To eat the squash half, I slice it crosswise, then cut each slice in half.

1 The book's website
2 History of cowpea on wikipedia
3 Antica Spezieria e Drogheria Eredi Bavicchi
4 Candystick Dessert Delicata Squash details
5 Shakefork Community Farm website

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

zucca ripiena di fagiolina del Trasimeno e porri

or launch the zucca ripiena di fagiolina del Trasimeno e porri audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by me, Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

Mlla122I contribute my dish also to My Legume Love Affair #122, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen, and hosted this month by Renu of Cook with Renu.

The roundup of the event.

FTC disclosure: I have received the linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting the product on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

cowpea, fagiolina, leek, squash, Italian food

recipe: delicata squash stuffed with fagiolina del Trasimeno and leeks

| Simona

Print Friendly and PDF
 

zuppa di porri, barbabietola rossa e sedano rapa / leek, red beet and celeriac soup

| Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

leek, red beet and celeriac soup
The soup started with the purchase of some beautiful leeks and celeriac at the farmers' market. My first experiment was to make my leek and potato soup (zuppa di porri e patate) substituting some of the potatoes with celeriac. The result was nice, but I didn't feel like I had made something new, so for the next try I chose to remove potatoes altogether from the equation and add a roasted red beet (barbabietola rossa).

consider celeriac
I find celeriac (also called celery root and a few other names) fascinating and I realized it is also photogenic: I titled the black and white version of this photo "The universe is complex: consider celeriac."

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Leek, red beet and celeriac soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb red beets (one large or two smaller)
  • 1 lb leeks, weighed after the dark green leaves have been removed (save them to use in making stock or broth)
  • 1 lb celeriac (in my case, two)
  • Olive oil
  • 3 cups of homemade light chicken stock, or vegetarian option
  • Water, as needed
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (sale e pepe), to taste
  • Fresh juice of half a lemon

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Scrub the beet(s), wrap in foil, place on a baking sheet, and bake until easily pierced with a knife. Let cool until easy to handle, then slip off the skin. Slice as if you were making a beet salad. (If you buy beets with their greens still attached, cut the greens an inch above the beet, then proceed with the preparation.)

Cut the leeks in half lengthwise, cut into 1/8-1/4-inch slices and rinse well in a colander. Warm up some olive oil in a soup pot, then add the leeks and stir well to coat. Let cook for a few minutes, then cover and continue cooking while you scrub, peel and cut the celeriac into chunks approximately the size of the pieces of red beet. Add celeriac to the leeks, stir, then cover and let cook gently for 10 minutes or so, stirring often.

Add the red beets, the stock and enough water to just cover the vegetables. Cover, bring to a boil and then adjust the heat to maintain a lively simmer. Cook until the celeriac is soft (i.e., it can be easily mashed with the back of a spoon against the side of the pot). Remove from the heat, then purée with an immersion blender. Add water to obtain a soup of the desired consistency. Adjust salt and pepper, then add the lemon juice. Stir, then let the soup rest for a while before tasting to verify that the amount of lemon juice was sufficient to brighten the flavor of the soup. Making the soup at least a few hours before you are planning to serve it will give it enough time to rest and ripen.

Reheat the soup, taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Serve with some cheese as topping (freshly grated or crumbled, depending on the kind of cheese you choose) and/or some cooked grains (like hull-less barley) added. In the photo at the top, I show the soup accompanied with Salt-and-Pepper Cookies.

Whb304 This is my contribution to edition #304 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Chris of Mele Cotte.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

zuppa di porri, barbabietola rossa e sedano rapa

 or launch the zuppa di porri, barbabietola rossa e sedano rapa audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

[jump to Comments]

leek, red beet, celeriac, soup

Newrule

zuppa di porri, barbabietola rossa e sedano rapa

leek, red beet and celeriac soup
Questa zuppa è cominciata con porri e sedano rapa acquistati al farmers' market. Come primo esperimento ho preparato la mia zuppa di porri e patate sostituendo parte delle patate col sedano rapa. Il risultato mi è piaciuto, ma non mi sentivo di aver fatto qualcosa di nuovo e così per il secondo esperimento ho tolto le patate del tutto e ho aggiunto una barbabietola rossa cotta al forno.

consider celeriac
Il sedano rapa mi affascina ed è anche fotogenico: ho intitolato la versione in bianco e nero di questa foto "L'universo è complesso: consideriamo per esempio il sedano rapa."

Ingredienti:

  • 450 g barbabietola rossa
  • 450 g porri, pesati dopo aver rimosso le foglie verde scuro (tenetele da parte e usatele per fare il brodo)
  • 450 g sedano rapa (nel mio caso, due)
  • olio d'oliva
  • 700-750 ml di brodo di pollo leggero o vegetale fatto in casa
  • acqua, q.b.
  • sale e pepe nero macinato fresco a piacere
  • succo di mezzo limone

Scaldare il forno a 190 C. Pulire bene la barbabietola (o barbabietole), avvolgere in pellicola di alluminio e cuocere in forno fino a quando è facile perforarla con una lama. Lasciar intiepidire e poi rimuovere la buccia. Fare a pezzi come se si dovesse preparare un'insalata. (Se comprate barbabietole con ancora attaccate le foglie, tagliare i gambi 3 cm sopra alla radice e poi proseguire con la preparazione.)

Tagliare i porri a metà per il lungo e poi a fette di 3-6 mm. Sciacquare bene in un colapasta. Scaldare dell'olio d'oliva in una pentola da zuppa e aggiungere i porri. Mescolare bene e poi lasciare cuocere per alcuni minuti, mentre pulite, pelate e tagliate a pezzi il sedano rapa (all'incirca grossi come i pezzi di barbabietola). Aggiungere il sedano rapa alla pentola, mescolare, coprire e cuocere a fuoco dolce per 10 minuti, mescolando spesso.

Aggiungere alla pentola i pezzi di barbabietola rossa, il brodo e abbastanza acqua da coprire le verdure. Mettere il coperchio e portare a bollore, poi regolare il calore per mantenere un leggero bollore. Cuocere fino a quando il sedano rapa sia morbido (cioè potete schiacciarlo con il dorso di un cucchiaio di legno contro la parete della pentola).

Togliere la pentola dal fuoco e ridurre le verdure a purè con il minipimer. Aggiungere acqua quanto basta per ottenere una zuppa della consistenza desiderata. Regolare sale e pepe e aggiungere il succo di limone. Mescolare e lasciar riposare la zuppa per un po' di tempo prima di verificare che la quantità di limone sia sufficiente a far risaltare il sapore della zuppa. Preparare la zuppa almeno alcune ore prima che dobbiate portarla in tavola le dà abbastanza tempo per riposare e maturare.

Riscaldare la zuppa, assaggiare e, se necessario, regolare il condimento. Servire con del formaggio (grattugiato fresco o sbriciolato, a seconda del tipo di formaggio scelto) e/o dei cereali cotti (come orzo mondo). Nella foto in alto, ho accompagnato la zuppa con dei biscotti salati.

Whb304Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 304 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Marta di Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.