stew

roasted eggplant with tomato sauce and yogurt / melanzane arrosto con sugo di pomodoro e yogurt

| Simona

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versione in italiano

roasted eggplant with tomato sauce and yogurt
eggplant and tomatoes: summer on a plate
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The combination of eggplant and tomatoes is a favorite of mine. A summer dish I particularly enjoy is my version of parmigiana di melanzane, where I roast the two main ingredients and use two types of cheese1. A few years ago, I made a Persian dish that brings together eggplant and tomatoes with yellow split pea1. Eggplant is a popular vegetable in the Middle East, as baba ganoush lovers may know. Recently I discovered a couple of eggplant recipes from Afghanistan, including Borani Banjan, a dish made with slices of fried eggplant (melanzane fritte) simmered in tomato sauce and served topped with yogurt.

eggplant, tomatoes, onion
farm fresh ingredients and my homemade yogurt
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

I found versions in which the eggplant is roasted2 (the garlic too) or grilled3 (the onion too).  My version takes inspiration from those and adds some personal touches. I made it a few times to try different options and below is my current favorite.

Print-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for Roasted eggplant with tomato sauce and yogurt

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 pounds / 20 ounces / 560 grams eggplant (globe eggplant or similar)
  • 6 ounces / 170 grams fresh red or Walla Walla onion
  • 2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4-6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
  • 1 tablespoon / 15 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 pound / 450 grams fresh, ripe, juicy tomatoes
  • 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 4 ounces / 1/2 cup / 112 grams low-fat or whole milk plain yogurt
  • water to dilute the yogurt, as needed
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or thyme leaves

Heat the oven to 400 F / 200 C.

Line two baking sheets (or one baking sheet and one cookie sheet) with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Trim the eggplant and cut them crosswise into slices 1/2 inch / 1.25 cm thick. Drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over the slices and toss them with you hands. Distribute the slices on the prepared baking sheets, leaving a bit of space around each slice.

Cut the onion lengthwise into slices 1/4 inch / 0.6 cm thick. If the slices are long, cut them in half crosswise. Drizzle 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over the slices and toss them with you hands, separating the layers. Distribute the onion on the other prepared baking sheet or the cookie sheet.

Wrap the garlic cloves into aluminum foil, 2-3 cloves per small packet. Place the packets on the same sheet as the onion.

Place the sheets in the oven next to each other or the one with the onion on a rack above the other. Roast the vegetables for 15 minutes.

Take the sheets out of the oven. With a fork, flip the eggplant slices and with a spoon, toss the onion (make sure it does not burn). Put the sheets back in the oven, switching their position. Bake for 10 minutes. Take the sheets out of the oven. Let the vegetables cool for a few minutes, then transfer the eggplant onto a plate and the onion into a bowl. Unwrap the garlic cloves.

In the meantime, chop the tomatoes and place them in a bowl with their juices.

In a large, deep skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium-low heat. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring, until it turns pale golden, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, paprika, turmeric, sea salt and pepper and bring to a lively simmer. Cover and cook, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes have broken down and become saucy, 6 minutes or so.

Squeeze the roasted garlic from the skin and place it into a small bowl. Mash with a small fork, then add the yogurt, stir and mash some more to make sure the garlic blends into the yogurt. If needed, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the yogurt is the consistency of thin pancake batter and can be drizzled. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Add the onion to the tomatoes and stir well. Nestle the eggplant slices into the sauce and spoon some of the sauce over them. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the eggplant slices are very tender and have absorbed some of the sauce, but still retain their shape, 5 minutes or so. Remove from the heat and let cool.

To serve, divide the eggplant and their sauce among individual plates, drizzle the yogurt on top and sprinkle the mint or thyme. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 4

1 From briciole’s archive: Roasted eggplant with tomatoes and cheese and Eggplant and yellow split pea stew
2 Recipe for Afghan Roasted Eggplant (Borani Banjan) on the blog All that’s Jas
3 Recipe for Afghan-Style Grilled Eggplant With Tomato Sauce, Yogurt and Herbs in the Washington Post

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

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.

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graph divider

melanzane arrosto con sugo di pomodoro e yogurt

roasted eggplant with tomato sauce and yogurt
melanzane e pomodori: l’estate sul piatto
(tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)

Arrivati alla lettera M del nostro viaggio nel mondo degli ingredienti ho scelto di preparare un piatto con le melanzane, una delle mie verdure preferite, particolarmente abbinate ai pomodori. Cercando un piatto tradizionale di uno dei paesi dove non siamo ancora state, ne ho trovati un paio dall’Afghanistan, tra i quali Borani Banjan: fette di melanzana fritte, ripassate in sugo di pomodoro e servite con sopra dello yogurt.

eggplant, tomatoes, onion
ingredienti freschi dal mercato dei produttori e yogurt fatto in casa
(tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)

Ho trovato versioni nelle quali le melanzane sono cotte al forno1 (e anche l’aglio) o sulla griglia2 (e anche la cipolla). La mia versione si ispira a queste ricette e aggiunge qualche tocco personale. L’ho fatta diverse volte per provare dettagli diversi e qui sotto è la mia preferita. Vi ricordo che 1 cucchiaio = 15 ml e 1 cucchiaino = 5 ml.

Ingredienti:

  • 560 grammi di melanzane globose
  • 170 grammi di cipolla rossa
  • 2 cucchiai / 30 ml olio extra-vergine di oliva
  • 4-6 spicchi d’aglio non pelati
  • 1 cucchiaio / 15 ml olio extra-vergine di oliva
  • 3 spicchi d’aglio, pelati e tritati
  • 450 grammi di pomodori freschi, maturi e sugosi
  • 1/2 cucchiaino di paprika dolce
  • 1/4 cucchiaino di curcuma in polvere
  • 1/4 cucchiaino di pepe nero macinato fresco
  • 1/2 teaspoon di sale fino
  • 112 grammi di yogurt bianco intero o parzialmente scremato non dolcificato
  • acqua per diluire lo yogurt, q.b.
  • 2 cucchiai di foglie di menta or timo tritate

Scaldate il forno a 200 C.

Foderate due placche da forno con tappetino da forno di silicone o carta da forno.

Tagliate le melanzane per largo a fettine spesse 1,25 cm. Spruzzate 1 cucchiaio e mezzo di olio d’oliva sulle fettine e mescolatele con le mani per oliarle. Distribuite le fettine sulla placca più grande lasciando un pochino di spazio intorno a ciascuna fettina.

Tagliate la cipolla per lungo a fettine spesse 0,6 cm. Se le fettine sono lunghe, taliatele a metà per largo. Spruzzate 1/2 cucchiaio di olio d’oliva sulle fettine e mescolatele con le mani per oliarle, allo stesso tempo separando gli strati. Spargete la cipolla sull’altra placca.

Avvolgete l’aglio nella carta stagnola, 2-3 spicchi per pacchetto e mettete i pacchetti sulla placca con la cipolla.

Infornate le placche una accanto all’altra o mettendo quella con le cipolle un livello sopra a quella con la cipolla. Cuocete le verdure in forno per 15 minuti.

Sfornate le placche. Con una forchetta, girate le fettine di melanzana e con un cucchiaio mescolate la cipolla. Rimettete le placche in forno scambinado la loro posizione. Cuocete per 10 minuti. Sfornate e fate intiepidire le verdure per qualche minuto, poi trasferite le melanzane su un piatto e la cipolla in una ciotola. Scartate gli spicchi d’aglio.

Nel frattempo, tagliate a pezzi i pomodori e metteteli in una ciotola con il sugo che rilasciano.

In una padella larga e profonda, scaldate 1 cucchiaio di olio d’oliva a calore medio-basso. Aggiungete l’aglio tritato e cuocetelo, mescolando, fino a quando sia biondo, 1 minuto circa. Aggiungete i pomodori, la paprika, la curcuma, sale e pepe e portare a leggero bollore. Coprite e cuocete, mescolando frequentemente, fino a quando i pomodori siano ridotti ad un sugo, circa 6 minuti.

Sbucciate l’aglio arrosto e mettetelo in una ciotolina. Schiacciatelo con una piccola forchetta poi aggiungete lo yogurt e mescolate in modo da incorporare la crema d’aglio. Aggiungete acqua, 1 cucchiaio alla volta, fino a quando lo yogurt abbia la consistenza della pastella e potete spruzzarlo. Coprite e tenete in frigorifero fino a quando state per utilizzarlo.

Aggiungete le cipolle ai pomodori e mescolate bene. Mettete le fettine di melanzana nella padella e con un cucchiaio copritele con del sugo. Coprite e cuocete a fuoco basso fino a quando le melanzane siano molto tenere e abbiano assorbito parte del sugo, ma mantengano la loro forma, circa 5 minuti. Togliete le verdure dal fuoco e fatele intiepidire.

Dividete le melanzane e il loro sugo su piatti individuali, cospargetele di yogurt e distribuite la menta o timo. Servite le melanzane calde o a temperatura ambiente.

Porzioni: 4.

1 Ricetta per Afghan Roasted Eggplant (Borani Banjan) sul blog All that’s Jas (in inglese)
2 Ricetta per Afghan-Style Grilled Eggplant With Tomato Sauce, Yogurt and Herbs sul Washington Post (in inglese)

Un mondo d'ingredienti logolettera M logoContribuisco le mie melanzane dall’Afghanistan alla lettera M di Un mondo d’ingredienti evento creato dall’instancabile Aiu’ di Trattoria Muvara

FTC disclosure: Ho ricevuto gli articoli di lino gratuitamente dall’azienda produttrice (la FABBRICA del LINO). Non ho ricevuto e non riceverò alcun compenso per presentarli sul mio blog. Le opinioni espresse nel post sono interamente personali.

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

Ethiopian red lentil stew / stufato di lenticchie rosse etiope

| Simona

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versione in italiano

Ethiopian red lentil stew / Misir Wot
a bowl of rich flavor
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Food Americana by David Page1: The Remarkable People and Incredible Stories behind America’s Favorite Dishes, including pizza, barbecue, fried chicken (pollo fritto), ice cream. I found the book interesting as it draws a lively picture of each food and also lets people speak: chefs, historians, restaurants’ customers and more. Each chapter ends with a recipe.

Inspiration for something to make could not come from the foods described in the book as I basically don’t eat any of them,2 but the reading got me thinking about how living in the U.S. has brought me into contact with cuisines from around the world, of which the Ethiopian one is a favorite. So I decided to make a favorite dish among those that are served at Ethiopian restaurants when you order the vegetarian combo, which consists of an injera (the traditional flat bread made with teff flour) spread on a large plate and topped with small mounds of various dishes, one of which is Misir Wot (or Misir Wat), a spicy red lentil stew.

niter kibbeh
one of the ingredients is niter kibbeh, spice-infused butter

As I started reading various recipes, I realized there was more to the dish than red lentils and berbere, the traditional Ethiopian spice blend, which I’ve been using for years in my kitchen. First, I learned about niter kibbeh, butter infused with spices which is used for cooking in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The recipe I followed is in the blog Hunt Gather Cook3: I made 1/4 of it and used red onion instead of shallots, which I could not find at the grocery store (they are not in season).

Then, in the recipe for misir wot4 that I chose to follow more closely among all those I consulted, I learned about mekelesha, another spice blend used in making the stew. While I made both niter kibbeh and mekelesha, I decided to skip making berbere5, as I have some and want to finish it before making more. As I am cooking Misir Wot for myself only, I halve the recipe I reference below and I use niter kibbeh instead of the vegetable oil it calls for.

ingredients to make Misir Wot
Clockwise from the left: nigella seeds, niter kibbeh (melted), mekelesha, berbere and red lentils

Once you have the various elements, the dish does not take long to make. However, the recipe I most closely followed4 recommends to let the dish rest for hours or overnight to allow the flavors to blend.  The spices also mellow a bit. This is usually a great suggestion for stews and soups, and it is something to incorporate in the planning.

Print-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for Ethiopian red lentil stew (Misir Wot)

Ingredients for the niter kibbeh:

  • 4 crushed cardamom pods
  • 1/4 inch / 0.6 cm cinnamon stick
  • 1 whole clove
  • 4 ounces / 112 grams unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon minced red onion (the original recipe calls for shallots, but they are out of season)
  • 1/2 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 scant teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground fenugreek

Toast the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon in a small dry pan over medium heat until they smell aromatic, about a minute.

Cut the butter into small cubes. Put the butter and all the other ingredients (including the toasted spices) into a small saucepan with a heavy bottom. Let the butter and spices come to a bare simmer over low heat. Depending on your burner, turn the heat further down to keep the bare simmer. Cook gently for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat when you see browning. For me this happened at about 22 minutes. I think if you make a larger quantity, the time will be longer.

Cut a small piece of cheesecloth, double it and line a tea strainer with it. Strain the butter through the cheesecloth into a small, clean glass jar. The spiced butter lasts months in the refrigerator and can be frozen.

Ingredients for the mekelesha spice blend:

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom (cardamomo)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (cannella)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (chiodi di garofano)
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (pepe nero)

Blend the spices in a small, clean jar. You will use a small amount of mekelesha, so once done, it will be ready for future misir wot batches or other stews and curries.

Ingredients for the red lentil stew:

  • 4 1/2 ounces / 125 grams dried split red lentils
  • 2 tablespoons niter kibbeh (if you use vegetable oil instead, the dish is vegan)
  • 4 1/2 ounces / 125 grams red onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 -inch piece peeled fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 small clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2-2 teaspoons berbere (see Note below)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nigella seeds (it is easy to grind whole seeds using a mortar and pestle)
  • 1/4 cup / 60 ml warm water for the onion
  • 1 1/2 cups / 350 ml warm water, plus more as needed, for the lentils
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon mekelesha spice blend

Note: whether you buy it or make your own, berbere‘s spiciness varies by blend and personal perception. If you are unsure, use 1 1/2 teaspoons to start with, then, depending on the result, increase it to 2 teaspoons the next time.

Place the lentils in a mesh strainer, and rinse until the water runs mostly clear.

In a 8-inch / 20 cm-wide saucepan, warm the niter kibbeh over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until it smells aromatic, about 1 minute. Stir in the berbere and nigella and add a splash of water. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Uncover, stir, add another splash of water and cook for 5 minutes. Repeat the process once more. If the onion is very dry at the end, add a splash more water.

The slow, long cooking of the onion with berbere truly makes the dish: at the end, the onion is reduced to an intensely aromatic, almost creamy mass.

Add the lentils and half the sea salt and stir well. Add 1 cup / 240 ml of the warm water. Cover, turn up the heat to medium and bring the mixture just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and maintain a gentle simmer. Stir occasionally and add warm water a bit at a time to ensure the lentils cook through and don’t dry out. You should use about 1 1/2 cups / 350 ml of water total.

Cook until the lentils are tender but not mushy, 10-12 minutes, stirring in the mekelesha when the lentils are almost done. You can gently mash some of the lentils against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle the remaining sea salt and stir.

Remove the pan from the heat. You can serve the stew now, but it will taste better if you let it cool and refrigerate it overnight, then reheat it and serve.

Makes 2 servings (2 cups)

1 The book’s page on the publisher’s website
2 The chapter on Mexican cuisine mentions mole. From briciole’s archive: mole poblano.
3 Recipe for Niter Kibbeh on Hunt Gather Cook, by Hank Shaw
4 Recipe for Misir Wot in the Washington Post, which includes the recipe for mekelesha spice blend, adapted from “Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions from the Horn of Africa,” by Yohanis Gebreyesus with Jeff Koehler (Kyle Books, 2018)
5 Recipe for berbere in the Washington Post

Click on the 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.

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graph divider

stufato di lenticchie rosse etiope

Ethiopian red lentil stew / Misir Wot
un piatto ricco di sapore
(tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)

Arrivati alla lettera L del nostro viaggio nel mondo degli ingredienti ho scelto di preparare Misir Wot (o Misir Wat) un piatto con le lenticchie rosse tradizionale dell’Etiopia che era nella mia lista da molto tempo:

Se andate a mangiare in un ristorante di cucina etiope, potete ordinare il misto vegetariano, che consiste in un pane injera (il tradizionale pane piatto, morbido e un po’ spugnoso fatto con la farina di teff) con sopra mucchietti di vari piatti, uno dei quali è appunto Misir Wot, lenticchie rosse stufate speziate.

niter kibbeh
uno degli ingredienti è niter kibbeh, burro speziato

Quando ho cominciato a leggere varie ricette mi sono resa conto che avrei avuto bisogno non solo di lenticchie rosse e berbere, il misto di spezie tradizionale della cucina etiope che uso da anni (è ottimo per insaporire verdure). Prima di tutto niter kibbeh, burro infuso con spezie utilizzato in Etiopia ed Eritrea per cucinare. La ricetta che ho seguito è dal blog Hunt Gather Cook1: ne ho preparato 1/4 e ho usato cipolla rossa invece dello scalogno che non ho trovato nel negozio dove faccio la spesa (non è stagione).

Poi mekelesha, un altro misto di spezie che appare nella ricetta per misir wot2 che ho scelto di seguire più da vicino tra tutte quelle che ho consultato. Ho preparato niter kibbeh e mekelesha, ma non berbere3, perché ne avevo abbastanza e volevo finirlo prima di fare la mia versione. Dal momento che preparo Misir Wot per me sola, nella mia ricetta dimezzo le quantità della ricetta e utilizzo niter kibbeh invece dell’olio vegetale.

ingredients to make Misir Wot
in senso orario da sinistra: semi di nigella seeds, niter kibbeh (fuso), mekelesha, berbere e lenticchie rosse

Una volta che avete gli ingredienti pronti, cuocere il piatto non richiede molto tempo. Ma la ricetta che ho seguito più da vicino4 raccomanda di far riposare le lenticchie per diverse ore o durante la notte per dare tempo ai sapori di mergere. Questa raccomandazione è in generale ottima nel caso di stufati e zuppe ed è un elemento da incorporare nella pianificazione. Vi ricordo che 1 cucchiaio = 15 ml e 1 cucchiaino = 5 ml.

Ingredienti per niter kibbeh:

  • 4 baccelli di cardamomo schiacciati
  • 0,6 cm di bastoncino di cannella
  • 1 chiodo di garofano
  • 112 grammi di burro
  • 1 cucchiaio di cipolla rossa tritata (la ricetta original richiede scalogno, ma non l’ho trovato da comprare)
  • 1/2 spicchio d’aglio tritato
  • 1/2 cucchiaio di zenzero fresco grattugiato
  • 1 cucchiaino scarso di origano secco
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di curcuma in polvere
  • 1/4 cucchiaino di fieno greco in polvere

Tostate a secco il cardamomo, il chiodo di garofano e la cannella in una padellina a fuoco medio fino a quando diventano aromatici, circa un minuto.

Tagliate il burro a cubetti. Mettete il burro e tutti gli altri ingredienti, comprese le spezie appena tostate, in un pentolino con il fondo pesante. Scaldate a fuoco basso fino a bollore minimo. Cuocete per 30 minuti. Togliete dal fuoco quando vedete che il burro comincia a imbrunire. Nel mio caso questo è successo dopo 22 minuti di cottura. Credo che se utilizzate più burro, il tempo necessario sarà più lungo.

Tagliate piccolo pezzo di garza alimentare, piegatelo in due e usatelo per foderare un colino. Versate il burro nel colino e fatelo colare in un barattolino di vetro. Il burro speziato si conserva per mesi in frigorifero e potete anche congelarlo.

Ingredienti per il misto di spezie mekelesha:

  • 1/4 cucchiaino di cardamomo in polvere (possibilmente macinato fresco)
  • 1 cucchiaino di cannella in polvere
  • 1/4 cucchiaino di chiodi di garofano in polvere
  • 1/4 cucchiaino di pepe nero macinato fresco

Mescolate le spezie in un barattolino di vetro. Userete solo una piccola quantità di mekelesha ma l’avrete pronto per futuri misir wot batches e altri piatti.

Ingredienti per le lenticchie:

  • 125 grammi lenticchie rosse decorticate
  • 2 cucchiai di niter kibbeh
  • 125 grammi di cipolla rossa, tritata
  • un pezzetto da 1,25 cm di zenzero fresco grattugiato
  • 1 piccolo spicchio d’aglio, tritato
  • 1 1/2-2 cucchiaini di berbere (vedi Nota in basso)
  • 1/4 cucchiaino di semi di nigella in polvere (è facile macinare i semi di nigella in un piccolo mortaio e pestello)
  • 60 ml di acqua riscaldata, per cuocere la cipolla
  • 350 ml di acqua riscaldata, un po’ più se necessario, per le lenticchie
  • 1/2 cucchiaino di sale fino, diviso
  • 1/4 cucchiaino di misto di spezie mekelesha

Nota: l’intensità del berbere varia. Se non siete sicuri, per cominciare utilizzate 1 1/2 cucchiaini e poi, a seconda del risultato, la volta successiva aumentate la dose a 2 cucchiaini.

Mettete le lenticchie in uno scolapasta a rete e sciacquatele fino a quando l’acqua sia limpida.

In una pentola bassa di 20 cm di diametro, scaldate il niter kibbeh a fuoco medio-basso. Aggiungete la cipolla e cuocetela per 10 minuti, mescolando di tanto in tanto. Aggiungete l’aglio e lo zenzero e cuocete per 1 minuto, mescolando di continuo. Spargete il berbere e la nigella sulla cipolla, mescolate e aggiungete un po’ dell’acqua calda (1 cucchiaio). Coprite la pentola, e cuocete a fuoco basso per 10 minuti. Scoperchiate, mescolate, aggiungete un altro po’ dell’acqua calda e cuocete per 5 minuti. Ripetete un’altra volta. Se la cipolla è secca alla fine della cottura, aggiungete un altro po’ dell’acqua.

La cottura lenta e lunga della cipolla con il berbere è importante per la riuscita del piatto: al termine la cipolla è ridotta quasi ad una crema molto aromatica.

Aggiungete le lenticchie e metà del sale e mescolate bene. Versate 240 ml dell’acqua calda sulle lenticchie, coprite la pentola, e portate a ebollizione su fuoco moderato, poi riducetelo a basso e mantenete un leggero bollore. Mescolate di tanto in tanto e aggiungete il resto dell’acqua un po’ alla volta per fare in modo che le lenticchie cuociano completamente senza mai rimanere secche.

Cuocete le lenticchie fino a quando siano tenere ma non del tutto disfatte, 10-12 minuti. Aggiungete la mekelesha quando le lenticchie sono quasi pronte e mescolate. Se volete, potete schiacciare un po’ delle lenticchie con un cucchiaio di legno contro la parete della pentola. Aggiungete il resto del sale e mescolate. Togliere la pentola dal fuoco.

Potete servire le lenticchie immediatamente, ma saranno più buone se le fate raffreddare e le tenete in frigorifero durante la notte. Riscaldatele e servitele. Sono davvero ottime.

Porzioni: 2.

1 Ricetta per Niter Kibbeh sul blog Hunt Gather Cook, di Hank Shaw (in inglese)
2 Ricetta per Misir Wot sul Washington Post (in inglese; comprede la ricetta per il misto di spezie mekelesha) adattata dal libro “Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions from the Horn of Africa” (Etiopia: ricette e tradizioni dal corno d’Africa) di Yohanis Gebreyesus con Jeff Koehler (Kyle Books, 2018)
3 Ricetta per berbere sul Washington Post (in inglese)

Un mondo d'ingredienti logolettera L logoContribuisco il mio Misir Wot con lenticchie rosse dall’Etiopia alla lettera L di Un mondo d’ingredienti evento creato dall’instancabile Aiu’ di Trattoria Muvara

 

FTC disclosure: Ho ricevuto gli articoli di lino gratuitamente dall’azienda produttrice (la FABBRICA del LINO). Non ho ricevuto e non riceverò alcun compenso per presentarli sul mio blog. Le opinioni espresse nel post sono interamente personali.

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

bean, fennel and mushroom stew / stufato di fagioli, finocchi e funghi

| Simona
bean, fennel and mushroom stew / IMG_2821

a delicious combination of flavors
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our Cook the Books Club selection, the novel The Language of Flowers1 by Vanessa Diffenbaugh takes place in places familiar to me: San Francisco and Napa Valley. The book tells the story of young Victoria, who, after bouncing from one foster family to the next, ages out of the system and ends up homeless. The novel goes back and forth between the present and a time in the past when Victoria's foster mother was Elizabeth, a winegrower in Napa, who wanted to be a caring mother for Victoria, though the girl's behavior is quite challenging.

In the present, Victoria finds work in a flower shop in San Francisco (owned by Renata), where her gift for working with flowers and in particular matching flowers to people shines. She learned the language of flowers (linguaggio dei fiori) from Elizabeth, who grew up in a flower farm. For the most part, the story kept my attention: it is difficult not to hope for Victoria to finally establish some healthy relationships, and Diffenbaugh's writing is appealing, delicate and evocative.

The book includes a dictionary associating flowers to their meaning. At the farmers' market I saw some beautiful fennel, a plant that blooms tall with flowers similar to those of parsley (both plants are umbellifers, they have umbrella-shaped flowers). According to the dictionary, the meaning of fennel is strength. I like that!

fennel with fronds / IMG_2817

farm-fresh fennel with fronds

Around the same time, one evening I had dinner with a friend and we shared a dish called White Bean Ragout2 (white beans braised with fennel, wild mushrooms, tomatoes, herb brown butter, charred broccolini). It was excellent and made me decide to create a personal version using dry Coco Nero (black coco) beans3, beech mushrooms, fennel and oven-roasted tomatoes.

Coco Nero beans / IMG_2816

Coco Nero beans (with a couple of "guests")
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

I loved the result and immediately made a second batch, relying on Early Girl tomatoes' long season. All the ingredients came from the farmers' market, which I consider a bit like the flower market where Renata gets her supplies and where Victoria meets Grant, Elizabeth's nephew and the only person who speaks the language of flowers at her level.

brown beech mushrooms / IMG_2813

brown beech mushrooms at the farmers' market

Another excellent stew added to my repertoire! The recipe can be made with other varieties of beans that are good in stews. After I ran out of Coco Nero beans, I used beans riso bianco di Sarconi ("white rice" from Sarconi, a town in Basilicata, Italy). When the supply of Early Girl tomatoes I have been relying on finally dries up, I plan to try using used canned fire-roasted tomatoes. 

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Bean, fennel and mushroom stew

Ingredients:

  • 4 ounces / 113 g dry Coco Nero beans (or a variety of beans good in stews)
  • 2 cups / 475 ml water
  • 1/2 small onion, halved
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • A small bay leaf
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 pound / 450 g Early Girl tomatoes OR one 14.5 ounces / 411 g can of fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
  • 3 tablespoons / 45 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 ounces / 113 g red onion, finely diced or quartered and thinly sliced (clean weight)
  • 4 ounces / 113 g fennel, stalk trimmed, quartered, cored and thinly sliced lengthwise (clean weight)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 ounces / 113 g brown beech mushrooms
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
  • A few grinds of the pepper mill, or to taste
  • 1 tablespoon minced fennel fronds

Notes: 1. I do not soak dry beans before cooking them. 2. The beans and roasted tomatoes can be prepared ahead of time.

Place the beans in a saucepan with the water, onion, garlic, bay leaf and salt. Bring the water to a lively boil, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are tender. Taste them once the skin is no longer wrinkled and estimate if/how much longer they should cook. Check the beans at regular intervals and add some hot water, as needed to keep all the beans moist.

Let the beans cool in their cooking broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their broth until ready to use.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 F / 177 C. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat. Halve each tomato crosswise and place on the baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and transfer the tomatoes to a bowl. Once cool, cut each piece in half or into quarters (depending on size). Note: skip this step if using canned fire-roasted tomatoes and just add the tomatoes where the recipe instructs you to do it.

In a Dutch oven or sauté pan, warm up the olive oil on medium heat, turn down the heat to medium-low and cook the onion for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add the fennel, stir and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. Cover and continue cooking until the fennel is tender.

Add the garlic, stir and cook for one minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir, cover and continue cooking for 5 minutes, regulating the heat so as to maintain a gentle boil.

Halve the mushroom cluster and cut off the base, making sure not to remove any edible part. With your hands, separate the cluster into individual mushrooms. Set aside.

Add the beans and their broth to the pan. If it is dry, add 1/4 cup / 60 ml of water, stir, cover and continue cooking for 5 minutes, regulating the heat so as to maintain a gentle boil.

Add the mushrooms and stir well. Cover and cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes, stirring well after 2 minutes.

Sprinkle the sea salt and pepper, then taste to adjust salt. Sprinkle the fennel fronds and stir. Take the pan off the heat and serve the stew warm. Enjoy!

Serves 4

1 The book page on the author's website.
2 Cafe Brio menu
3 Thanks to La Tercera farm in Bolinas for growing special produce (Coco Bianco beans were featured in an earlier post)

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

stufato di fagioli, finocchi e funghi

or launch the stufato di fagioli, finocchi e funghi 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 Debra of Eliot's Eats. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

Souper Sundayslogo And I am contributing my fruit salad also to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Cook the Books club co-host Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

 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.

beans, fennel, mushroom, tomatoes, stew

recipe: bean, fennel and mushroom stew

| Simona

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ceci al pomodoro per FBAH / chickpeas with tomatoes for FBAH

| Simona

food bloggers against hunger

“Nearly one in five children in America lives in households that struggle to put food on the table” (source).

This is not a statistics I just learned. I have been sensitive to the problem of food insecurity in this country for quite some time. The Alameda County Community Food Bank and Food for People are two organizations close to my heart and so is Share Our Strength.

The recent documentary A Place at the Table from Participant Media—the same studio that brought us Food Inc.—follows three families struggling with food insecurity, and sheds light on the problem of hunger in America. I believe hunger is a problem that can be solved and education and awareness are good first steps to solve it. I plan to watch the documentary soon (click here to watch the trailer). In the meantime, I have let my representatives in Congress know that I support protection of federal programs that aim to provide food to children and I hope you will do that as well.

For my participation to Food Bloggers Against Hunger, a day dedicated to raising awareness about food insecurity, I would like to mention two programs I am familiar with created by Food for the People: Plant a Row for the Hungry and Backpack for Kids. The former allows gardeners to share the bounty of their harvest who then get access to fresh produce, while the the latter ensures that children have nutritious food during the weekend, when they are not in school.

I am extremely lucky that in my life I have never suffered from food insecurity. However, I don’t take food for granted. Both my parents experienced the food insecurity caused by WWII, so they instilled in me a deep respect for food in its entire life-cycle, from growing it to making sure that none of it is wasted.

chickpeas with tomatoes and dried apricots

chickpeas with tomatoes and dried apricots

The event organizer asked us to share a budget friendly recipe “featuring reliable pantry staples and ingredients that are accessible in most supermarkets.” My contribution is a recipe from my archive that is flavorful, nutritious, and inexpensive: chickpeas with tomatoes and dried apricots (ceci al pomodoro con albicocche secche).

There is a story behind this recipe, which makes it particularly dear to me: you can read it in the original post. For my most recent rendition of the recipe I used dried chickpeas rather than canned ones.

Ingredients, using organic (bio1) wherever possible (see note after the recipe):

  • 1 cup / 6 oz. / 170 g dried chickpeas (see below for how to cook them) OR two 15 oz. cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • a cup of diced dried and unsulphured apricots
  • one large onion (about 1/2 lb / 225 g), chopped
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cumin  from seeds toasted in a dry skillet until they smell aromatic
  • 1 teaspoon of dried oregano (origano)
  • 1 14.5 oz. can of fire-roasted crushed tomatoes OR fire-roasted diced tomatoes with their juice OR diced tomatoes with their juice
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced

How to cook chickpeas
Drain the chickpeas. Put them in a saucepan, cover with 2 quarts of fresh water, and boil for 10 minutes. Skim off any foam that collects on the surface, then lower the heat. Add 1 onion, quartered, 2 sprigs of parsley and 4 garlic cloves. Optionally, add a 5-6 inch piece of kombu. Simmer, partly covered, until the chickpeas are almost tender, about 45 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons salt, and continue cooking until the chickpeas are completely tender but not mushy. Strain, reserving the broth for soups. (Source: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison)

How to prepare the dish
Place diced dried apricots in a small bowl and cover them with hot water.

Spray a large skillet or sauté pan with olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add the onion and cook in the warmed pan over low heat with cumin. Rub oregano with your fingers on the palm of your hand then add to the pan. After about 15 minutes, when the onion is translucent, add chickpeas, tomatoes and apricots, drained. If using crushed tomatoes, rinse empty can with 1/4 cup / 60 ml of water and pout that into the pan.

Raise the heat until the mixture starts bubbling, then lower the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, covered. Add garlic, cook another 5 minutes, uncovered, then turn off the heat, cover and keep warm until you are ready to serve the dish, the sooner the better.

I like to serve this with a side of polenta, though in my most recent rendition (shown below), I served it with a side of mixed greens (rainbow chard, kale and collard greens).

chickpeas with tomatoes and dried apricots

chickpeas with tomatoes and dried apricots

I am afraid I have no great photos, but trust me, this recipe is great.

Here are the prices for the main ingredients:

  • organic dried chickpeas: $1.09
  • organic diced tomatoes: $1.19
  • organic onion: $0.70
  • organic dried apricots: $1.06

The total is $4.04. I realize this does not include the cost of the spices and of the aromatics to cook the chickpeas. However, the dish serves more than one person or one person for more than one meal. One thing the price-conscious buyer does is keep an eye on sales. For example, the organic tomatoes I used were on sale when I checked the price, so I bought an extra can.

Please, take the time to visit other blogs participating in this initiative. They are listed on the Food Bloggers Against Hunger page on The Giving Table site. A great thank you! to Nicole for organizing this event. If each of us does something, together we can do a lot towards solving the problem of food insecurity.

1 Short for: da agricoltura biologica (organically grown).

image from 3.bp.blogspot.comThis is also my contribution to MLLA #58, 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 Claire of Chez Cayenne. 

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

ceci al pomodoro con albicocche secche

or launch the ceci al pomodoro con albicocche secche 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.]

chickpeas, garbanzo beans, apricots, tomatoes

torta salata “nella pentola” con pollo / chicken pot pie revisited

| Simona
DSC_0496

"antique" pot pie (partially cut)

This is my first experience with pot pies. As far as I know, we don't have a name for it in Italian: torta salata nella pentola is the literal translation (pentola is Italian for pot). For my rendition, I used a small soufflé dish.

This pot pie was inspired by Susan The Well-Seasoned Cook, who after Thanksgiving suggested to use leftover turkey to make a pot pie. There was no turkey on our table on Thanksgiving: I cooked other dishes, a story for another day. I called my pot pie "revisited" because I honestly wasn't very attracted by the concept of pot pie until Susan's suggestion made me revisit my attitude — and with good results!

But her suggestion immediately sparked the idea of turning leftovers into something new and appetizing. Here is what I used:

I basically assembled the ingredients and put the result in the oven.

bean, mushroom and chard stew

zimino di fagioli

Leftover zimino di fagioli + leftover roast chicken =

pot pie filling

= the pie filling

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Take a 4 1/2-inch soufflé dish and add leftover zimino di fagioli. Do not overfill the dish.

Add some leftover roast chicken, mostly breast, diced and stir it in.

Take 1/4 of  the amount made by the recipe for "alternative" puff pastry (about 3 oz. / 83 g), roll it and use it to cover the dish, sealing well around the edge. (While I have not tried making the recipe with regular puff pastry, I don't see why it would not work with it.)

Make some egg wash: Lightly beat one egg with a tablespoon of water. Apply some egg wash to the puff pastry surface and put the dish in the oven. Bake until the surface is nice and golden (25 minutes or so). Let rest a few minutes before serving. The recipe makes a big portion or two small ones.

I took a number of photos of both pot pies I made when I took them out of the oven, and none of them was good enough. The nicest photo was taken after I had made a small cut on the surface to reveal the filling.

image from 2.bp.blogspot.comI am submitting this post to the November edition of Monthly Mingle that has Pot Pies as theme. The event was created by Meeta of What's For Lunch, Honey? and is hosted this month by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

torta salata "nella pentola" con pollo

or launch the torta salata "nella pentola" con pollo 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.]

pot pie, beans, chard, mushrooms, chicken

zimino di fagioli / bean, mushroom and chard soup

| Simona
bean, mushroom and chard stew

comfort food for rough days

For the current edition of Cook the Books, we are reading Heartburn by Nora Ephron (1983). I had heard about the book, so I was glad to see it on the Club's list. The writing is witty and engaging, and as a reader, you really want to know how the story will unfold. It was easy to go from cover to cover, chuckling here and there, and cheering at the final scene, when a lime pie is sacrified on the altar of justice.

While I don't want to diminish in any way the importance of the book from a sociological perspective (it was published almost 30 years ago), as a reader, I was not left wanting for more. The shallowness of the characters makes them forgettable.

One aspect of the novel that I liked a lot is the way the recipes are woven into the text, part of the narrative of the protagonist, Rachel Samstat, who is a successful cookbook author. I wasn't particularly inspired to try any of the the recipes, though. In reading the story, I was more focused on thinking: what would I do if something like that happened to me? "That" means discovering that your husband is in love and having an affair with a woman you know, while you are pregnant with your second child and the first one is a toddler.

When I am upset, cooking in and of itself is helpful, in that it makes me focus on something other than whatever it is that is causing an emotional tornado. And I tend to cook dishes that are comforting to me, something hot and with lots of vegetables, often a soup. The recipe I am presenting here is a classic example. I had made it a few months ago once and even took a photo (see below), but forgot to write down the details. I really liked it, so I went back to it.

DSC_0131

last spring's version

The inspiration for my zimino di fagioli came from a recipe called zimino di ceci that I read on the Accademia Italiana della Cucina site. The dish is traditional in Liguria and it is made with chickpeas (ceci). This version of the recipe by Clifford Wright includes an explanation of the name of the soup, which is sometimes called ceci in zimino.

DSC_1450

speckled bayo beans

I like chickpeas, but I prefer to use beans (fagioli), because I have access to a variety of great organic beans of local production, like the speckled bayo on the photo, which are very good in soups.

The original recipe uses dried mushrooms (funghi secchi) and that's what I used the first time I made the dish. However, I am not a big fan of dried mushrooms, so when I took up the recipe again, I decided to use a mix of fresh mushrooms, including some locally grown oyster mushrooms. The photo below shows the mushrooms on their growing medium.

farmed oyster mushrooms

farmed oyster mushrooms

I recently signed up for a special winter CSA share. I will tell you more about this soon. For now, suffice to say that I have access to some gorgeous rainbow chard (bietola). In the balance of ingredients, with respect to the original recipe, I chose to give much more prominence to the chard and a bit more to the mushrooms.

rainbow chard

it doesn't get any fresher than this

Ingredients:

  • 3.5 oz / 1/2 cup / 100 g speckled bayo beans; alternatively, I would have used borlotti or canario [see below how to cook beans with aromatics]
  • Olive oil
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped + half a leek, white and light green portion, cut into half moons and carefully rinsed (save the darker green portion to make broth or stock) [the original recipe calls for an onion, thinly sliced]
  • A celery rib, finely chopped
  • A garlic clove, thinly sliced
  • 8 oz. / 225 g mixed fresh mushrooms: I used half oyster and half cremini, sliced
  • 1 cup strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, since they were made last year and frozen) [the original recipe calls for 3-4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped]
  • 10.5 oz. / 300 g rainbow chard, weighed after the long stalks are removed (save those and use them to make a gratin)
  • Sea salt, to taste

How to cook dry beans
The way I cook beans for further use comes from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (Beans with Aromatics). After soaking half a cup of dry beans for several hours or overnight in enough water to cover them by about an inch (I use two cups), empty the whole bowl into a saucepan and add

  • Half of a small onion (or a quarter of a medium one), halved
  • A bay leaf
  • A small clove of garlic, sliced
  • A couple of sprigs of fresh parsley

Bring the water to a lively boil quickly, and keep it there for five minutes, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are ready. How long this takes depends on the type of beans and their freshness. Let them cool in their broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their cooking broth until ready to use.

How to cook the soup
Warm a bit of olive oil in another saucepan, then add shallot, leek and celery and stir well. Cook for a few minutes, then add the garlic.

After a couple more minutes, when the garlic smells fragrant, add the mushrooms and stir. Turn up the heat a bit. When the mushrooms start releasing water, stir well for a minute, then add the tomatoes and stir well.

Bring to a simmer, then add the beans, drained, and stir. Add the chard leaves, cut into ribbons 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) wide and stir. It is fine if the chard leaves have water clinging to them. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the chard is nice and tender, adding some or all of the bean cooking liquid to make a (rather dense) soup or, if you prefer, some water or vegetable broth.

Adjust salt and serve immediately.

Serving options:

  1. The original recipe suggests serving the soup with croutons.
  2. I have toasted a couple of small sliced of bread, put those on the bottom of a bowl and ladled the zimino on top (like in the photo on this page).
  3. As you can see from the photo above, in my earlier rendition, I served the zimino with some freshly grated cheese sprinkled on the surface.
  4. The last option is a suggestion for repurposing leftovers and it deserves a post of its own: chicken pot pie.

I am not sure Rachel Samstat would like my zimino di fagioli, since it is something quite different from the dishes she describes in the book. On the other hand, considering how much misery living in her "set" has caused, maybe she ought to consider a change of scenery and a change of cuisine.

CtB This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Simona of briciole (that would be me). You can find the guidelines for participating in the event here, and here is the announcement. This post contains the roundup of the event.

ImageMLLAI am also submitting this to My Legume Love Affair 53, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Simona of briciole (that would be me — again). This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

zimino di fagioli

or launch the zimino di fagioli 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.]

soup, beans, chard, mushrooms, Italian recipe

Novel Food #14: funghi, fagioli e castagne / mushrooms, beans and chestnuts

| Simona

What are you reading now? I am finishing The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl, a very interesting novel. It brought back memories of studying Dante's Divine Comedy in school. I have not read it since, but episodes from it came back to mind easily while reading the novel.

Thus began the announcement I wrote for edition #14 of Novel Food, the culinary/literary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started in the fall of 2007. Reading about Dante means thinking about Florence, the city where he was born, that he loved, and from which he was banned for political reasons, an event that forced him to be a guest elsewhere and learn "how salty other people's bread tastes" (Par. XVII, 58-59).

I honestly have not taken Dante in my hands after finishing high school. I am still not sure that making students spend hours over the poem is the best way to make them appreciate it. What is certain is that while my memory of pages from Purgatorio and Paradiso is nil, I can recite lines from Inferno, where the characters are deeply human in their frailties and sins. In particular, it is difficult to forget the opening words:

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita,
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura
ché la diritta via era smarrita.

Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

or the ominous words Dante reads upon the entrance to Inferno, which ends with the famous line

Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'intrate.

All hope abandon, ye who enter in!

(Longfellow's translation comes from this page: for each section of the original, click on Current English link at the bottom to see Longfellow's translation. What I like about this site is that you can also see the illustrations for the poem from Gustave Doré, Salvador Dali and Sandro Botticelli, and also maps of Inferno, which is divided into circles.)

One more word on Dante. In an enjoyable article published earlier this year on the English newspaper The Independent, the poet is number 13 among Italy's top 15 cultural exports. (However, I must correct the Italian in #2: it is Il dolce far niente.)

On to the novel: The Dante Club is set in Boston and Cambridge, MA, almost 600 years after Dante's birth (1265) and the protagonists are well-known literary figures of the time, starting from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, at work on the first translation of Dante's Inferno (the first book of the Divina Commedia) for the American public. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., James Russell Lowell and publisher James Thomas Fields are the other main characters, together with Nicholas Rey, the first black Boston policeman and of course the murderer, who, as the book proceeds, gets nicknamed Lucifer.

The Dante Club revolves around a series of gruesome murders. The author does a great job in maintaining the suspense, even when pieces of the puzzle start to get clear to the reader. The cold Boston winter contributes to the creation of a nightmarish atmosphere that keeps the reader hooked until the last chapter.

The story is gripping and well-told and the cast of characters includes interesting men and women. The underlying thread is the completion of the translation in time to be submitted to the celebration of Dante's anniversary. As always, when I choose a mystery for my post, I am afraid to reveal more and in so doing spoil the enjoyment. (This page has the full plot, so don't go there if you plan on reading the mystery.)

IMGP7033w

Inspired by the book, I first thought of replicating a medieval recipe (like I did with a Roman recipe in the previous version of Novel Food), but instead, as I was thinking about Dante in exile, wandering around in the fall and winter, I thought about chestnuts (which, turned into flour, are used in Tuscany to make a cake called castagnaccio), gathered in the woods of central Italy and mushrooms, another product of the woods. And so I decided to share here a dish that is a personal elaboration of a recipe a dear relative described to me a few years ago. The most important change I made to it was substituting the original chickpeas (ceci) with beans. Instead of using Italian cannellini, I reached for locally grown canario beans, but cannellini would of course work just as nicely.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for funghi, fagioli e castagne

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup of dry beans (canario or cannellini), soaked overnight and then cooked as described below
  • 1/2 lb chestnuts
  • a bay leaf
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large onion (about 3/4 lb), chopped 
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary needles (rosmarino)
  • 1 lb white mushrooms (or a mix of various kinds: it would be great if it included some wild mushrooms), cleaned and sliced
  • sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste

The way I cook beans for further use comes from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (Beans with Aromatics). After soaking half a cup of dry beans for several hours or overnight in enough water to cover them by about an inch (I use two cups), empty the whole bowl into a saucepan and add

  • Half of a small onion (or a quarter of a medium one), halved
  • A bay leaf
  • A small clove of garlic, sliced
  • A couple of sprigs of fresh parsley

Bring the water to a lively boil quickly, and keep it there for five minutes, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are ready. How long this takes depends on the type of beans and their freshness. Let them cool in their broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their cooking broth until ready to use.

Besides the beans, cook the chestnut in advance. With a pointed blade, make a slit in the shell without cutting through the meat. Place chestnuts in a saucepan, cover abundantly with water and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and simmer until they are tender. Peel a large one and verify that it is cooked. Keep the chestnuts in the cooking water and take out one at a time to peel. Use a sharp knife with a pointed blade to remove the shell, then the skin. Set aside. (If a chestnut breaks, while being handled, it is fine, as it will be chopped later anyway.)

To prepare the dish, generously spray a deep sauté pan with olive oil and warm it up. Add the onion, garlic and rosemary and cook gently for 12-15 minutes, stirring often. When the onion is soft and translucent, turn up the heat slightly and add the mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the drained beans and 1/4 cup of their broth, cover and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Coarsely chop the chestnuts and add them to the pan. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, mix thoroughly and serve hot.

DSC_0010_1

I always serve this dish alongside polenta. And I will soon fulfill my promise to devote a post to this traditional Italian dish. I start making polenta before I start cooking the dish, so that, by the time the former is ready, about 50 minutes later, the latter is also ready. In the photo above, the accompaniment is leftover polenta, sliced and warmed up in an oiled skillet on both sides, so a crisp skin forms.

Dante could not have eaten polenta as we know it, since during his lifetime corn (mais or granturco) was yet unknown in Europe. However, the Greeks, Romans and others who lived in Italy in ancient times made puls by cooking farro, millet (miglio) and other grains or chestnut flour in water or milk, then added legumes, vegetables, eggs and cheese for a nutritious meal. I imagine Dante ate versions of those dishes, so here is another connection.

Small_NFlogo This is my contribution to the 14th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I have started some time ago (this time I am hosting solo as Lisa is taking a break from blogging).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

MLLA41LogoSThe lovely canario beans make this post suitable for My Legume Love Affair 41, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Simona of briciole (that is, me).

This post contains the first part of the roundup and a link to the second part.

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

funghi fagioli e castagne

or launch the funghi, fagioli e castagne 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.]

beans, mushroom, chestnut