For 6 servings
1 cup very thin noodles, angel hair or thinner, hand-crushed into ⅛-inch fragments
⅓ cup flour
1 egg yolk
The mashed potatoes made from this recipe (also see Ahead-of-time note)
Vegetable oil
1. Combine the crumbled noodles and flour in a dish.
2. Mix the egg yolk into the mashed potatoes. Shape them into 1-inch balls and roll them in the crumbled noodles and flour.
3. Put enough oil in a skillet to come ¼ inch up its sides, and turn on the heat to high. When the oil is quite hot—it should sizzle when you put in a croquette—slip in as many potato balls at one time as will fit loosely, but without crowding the pan. Cook, turning them, until a brown-gold crust forms all around. Transfer with a slotted spoon or spatula to a cooling rack to drain or to a platter lined with paper towels. Repeat the procedure until all the croquettes are done, and serve while still piping hot.
Potato and Ham Croquettes, Romagna Style
For 6 servings
The mashed potatoes made from this recipe (also see Ahead-of-time note)
1 egg plus 1 yolk
6 ounces prosciutto, chopped very fine
Vegetable oil
Flour, spread on a plate
1. Combine the mashed potatoes with the egg, the additional yolk, and the chopped prosciutto, working the ingredients into a uniform mixture.
2. Shape the mixture into small patties about 2 inches across and no more than ½ inch thick.
3. Pour enough oil into a skillet to come ¼ inch up its sides and turn the heat on to high.
4. Dredge the patties in the flour, one patty at a time on both sides, lightly pressing it into the flour with your palm and shaking off the excess. When the oil is quite hot—it should sizzle when you put in a croquette—slip in as many potato patties at one time as will fit loosely without crowding the pan. Cook, turning them, until a brown-gold crust forms all around. Transfer with a slotted spoon or spatula to a cooling rack to drain or to a platter lined with paper towels. Repeat the procedure until all the croquettes are done, and serve while still piping hot.
Pan-Roasted Diced Potatoes
THE IDEAL ROAST potato has a thin, crackly crust sheathing an interior of the most yielding tenderness. Dicing the potatoes smaller than bite-size, as in this recipe, speeds up the process and multiplies the benefits by producing from each potato many soft centers, each with its perfectly crisp crust.
For 4 to 6 servings
1½ pounds round, waxy, boiling potatoes
Vegetable oil
Salt
1. Peel the potatoes, dice them into ½-inch cubes, wash them in two changes of cold water, and pat them dry with a cloth towel.
2. Choose a skillet that can accommodate all the potatoes fairly loosely, pour in enough oil to come ½ inch up its sides, and turn on the heat to medium high. As soon as the oil becomes hot enough to sizzle when you drop in a single potato dice, put in all the diced potatoes. Turn the heat down to medium and cook at a moderate pace until the potatoes feel tender when prodded with a fork, but are still pale, not having yet formed a crust. Take the pan off heat, remove the potatoes from the pan, using a slotted spoon or spatula, and allow them to cool completely. Do not empty out the oil from the pan.
3. When you are nearly ready to serve, put the skillet with the oil over high heat, and when the oil is very hot, put the potatoes back in. Cook them until they form a light nut-brown crust on all sides, sprinkle with salt, transfer to a warm platter with a slotted spoon or spatula, and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time note You can prepare the potatoes up to this point an hour or two in advance.
Baked Potatoes, Onion, and Tomatoes, Apulian Style
For 6 servings
2 pounds potatoes
2 cups onion sliced very thin
1 pound fresh, ripe, firm tomatoes, skinned raw with a peeler, all seeds removed, and cut into small dice
¾ cup freshly grated romano cheese
Oregano, 1½ teaspoons if fresh, ¾ teaspoon if dried
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
An oven-to-table baking dish, 13 by 9 inches, or one of comparable size
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Peel the potatoes, wash them in cold water, and cut them into slices no thicker than ¼ inch.
3. Put the potatoes in a bowl together with the onion, tomato, grated cheese, oregano, salt, pepper, and ½ cup water. Toss several times to mix the ingredients well.
4. Use about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to smear the baking dish. Turn out the entire contents of the bowl into the dish, and level off. Pour in the remaining olive oil.
5. Place the dish on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven and bake for about 1 hour, until the potatoes feel very tender when prodded with a fork. Turn the potatoes over every 20 minutes or so. After taking the dish out of the oven, let it settle for about 10 minutes before bringing to the table. The potatoes should be served warm, but not scalding hot.
Sliced Potatoes Baked with Porcini and Fresh Cultivated Mushrooms, Riviera Style
For 4 servings
A small packet OR 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted
The filtered water from the mushroom soak
1 pound small, new, waxy, boiling potatoes
½ pound fresh, firm, white button OR cremini mushrooms
An oven-to-table baking dish, no larger than 11 inches by 7 inches or its equivalent
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic chopped very fine
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Salt
1. Put the reconstituted mushrooms and their filtered water into a small saucepan, turn on the heat to medium high, and cook until all the liquid has boiled away. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 400°.
3. Peel the potatoes, or if very new rub their skins off, wash them in cold water, and cut them into ¼-inch slices.
4. Slice off and discard a thin disk from the butt end of the fresh mushrooms’ stem without detaching the stem from the cap. Wash the mushrooms rapidly in cold running water, taking care not to let them soak. Pat gently, but thoroughly dry with a soft cloth towel. Cut them lengthwise into slices the same thickness as the potatoes, keeping stems and caps together.
5. Choose a baking dish in which all the ingredients will fit without being stacked any higher than 1½ inches. Put in the olive oil, garlic, potatoes, the porcini and the sliced, fresh mushrooms, the parsley, and several grindings of pepper. Toss several times to mix the ingredients evenly, and level them off with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Place the dish on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then add salt, toss to distribute it well, return the dish to the oven and continue baking until the potatoes are tender, approximately another 15 minutes.
6. After taking the dish out of the oven, let it settle for a few minutes before bringing it to the table. If you find there is more oil in the dish than you’d like, spoon away the excess before serving.
Potatoes with Onions, Tomatoes, and Sweet Pepper
HERE IS A DISH that is as hearty and satisfying as a meat stew, without the meat. It begs for good, crusty bread to sop up the delicious juices.
For 6 servings
1 sweet yellow bell pepper
2 cups onion sliced very thin
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
1½ cups fresh, firm ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped, OR canned, imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1½ pounds round, waxy, boiling potatoes
Salt
1. Split the pepper open, remove the seeds and pulpy core, and peel it, using a swiveling-blade peeler. Cut it lengthwise into ½-inch-wide strips.
2. Choose a saute pan that can ac
commodate all the ingredients, put in the onions and the olive oil, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until the onions wilt and become colored a light gold, then put in the yellow pepper. Cook the pepper for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the cut-up tomatoes with their juice, adjusting the heat to cook at a slow, but steady simmer.
3. While the tomatoes are cooking, peel the potatoes, wash them in cold water, and cut them into 1-inch cubes.
4. When the oil floats free of the tomatoes, add the potatoes, turn the heat down to very low, and cover the pan. Cook until the potatoes feel tender when prodded with a fork, about 30 minutes, depending on the potatoes. While cooking, turn the contents of the pan over from time to time. Add several grindings of black pepper, taste and correct for seasoning, and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time note The dish can be prepared entirely a day in advance. Reheat gently and thoroughly in a covered pan.
Pan-Roasted Potatoes with Anchovies, Genoa Style
For 6 servings
1½ pounds round, waxy, boiling potatoes
2 flat anchovy fillets (preferably the ones prepared at home)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Salt
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into ¼-inch-thick slices. Soak the slices in a bowl of cold water for 15 minutes, drain them, and pat thoroughly dry with a cloth towel.
2. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently contain the potato slices stacked about 1½ inches high. Chop the anchovies to a pulp, put them in the pan together with the oil and butter, turn on the heat to very low, and cook the anchovies, using the back of a wooden spoon to mash them against the sides of the pan, until they begin to dissolve.
3. Add the sliced potatoes and a few grindings of pepper. Turn the potatoes over completely 2 or 3 times to coat them well. Turn the heat up to medium, cover the pan, and turn the potatoes occasionally while they cook. After about 8 minutes, uncover, and continue cooking, turning the potato slices from time to time, until they are tender and form a very light brown crust, another 15 minutes or so.
4. Taste and correct for salt, add the garlic and parsley, turn the potatoes over several times, then transfer the contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.
Treviso Radicchio with Bacon
OF THE SEVERAL varieties of red radicchio discussed in detail in Fundamentals, the sweetest, hence the most desirable for cooking, is the late-harvested one with spiky spear-like stalks that comes into season late in November. It is seldom seen outside Italy, where it is highly prized and rather expensive, so that one usually must turn to the elongated variegato di Treviso, whose shape resembles that of a small romaine lettuce. When even this kind is not available, one can use the far more common round Chioggia variety, preferably late in the year when it is less bitter.
Taste the radicchio raw: If you find it more bitter than you’d like, use ½ pound Belgian endive to 1 pound radicchio, a combination that will tip the balance toward milder flavor.
For 4 servings
1½ pounds radicchio
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
¼ pound bacon, cut into narrow strips
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1. If the radicchio root is very long, trim it down and pare the remaining stub all around to expose the tender core. Pull off and discard any blemished outer leaves. If using the elongated variety, or Belgian endive, cut it in half, lengthwise; if using round radicchio, cut it into 4 wedges. Make 3 or 4 parallel, lengthwise incisions in the root end. Wash in several changes of cold water, and spin or shake dry.
2. Choose a saute pan or skillet that can subsequently accommodate all the radicchio and endive, if any, snugly, in a single layer. Put in the olive oil and bacon and turn on the heat to medium. Cook the bacon, turning it occasionally, until its fat dissolves, but without letting it become crisp.
3. Add the radicchio and optional endive, turn it over a few times to coat it well, turn the heat down to low, and cover the pan. Cook until the vegetable feels tender at the base when prodded with a fork, about 25 or 30 minutes, depending on its freshness. Turn it from time to time while it’s cooking.
4. When done, add salt and pepper, turn it in the pan 2 or 3 times, then transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time note It’s possible to cook the dish through to the end several hours in advance. Before serving, reheat gently, but thoroughly, in the pan or in the oven.
Baked Radicchio
THE CLASSIC WAY of cooking radicchio is to grill it over charcoal or in a broiler, following the method used for grilling Belgian endive. But grilling accentuates the bitterness of this vegetable, and one should restrict the procedure to the milder, elongated, late-harvested winter variety. Baking in olive oil, on the other hand, is kinder to radicchio, and can be adopted even for the round, cabbage-like heads.
If you wish, you can mitigate radicchio’s astringency by using it together with Belgian endive, 1 part of the latter to 2 parts of the former, as suggested in the immediately preceding recipe. Of course, you can replace radicchio altogether and use only Belgian endive, which you’ll find to be quite delectable when cooked in this manner.
For 6 servings
About 2 pounds radicchio, preferably the long Treviso variety OR radicchio and endive, as suggested above
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
1. Thirty minutes before you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 400°.
2. Trim, split, score, wash, and shake dry the radicchio, or the Belgian endive, as described in the preceding recipe.
3. Choose a baking pan that can accommodate all the vegetable snugly in a single layer. Put it in with the cut side facing down, add salt and pepper, and all the oil, distributing it evenly.
4. Put the pan in the preheated oven. Turn the radicchio and optional endive over after 10 minutes, cook another 6 or 7 minutes, and turn it again. Cook it for about 10 minutes longer, until its base feels tender when prodded with a fork. Allow to settle a few minutes before serving. It is also good at room temperature.
Ahead-of-time note Baked radicchio can be made several hours in advance and reheated in the oven before serving.
Spinach Sautéed with Olive Oil and Garlic
IF A SINGLE Italian vegetable dish deserves to be called classic, it is this version of spinach, which epitomizes the simplicity, directness, and heartiness that know no regional barrier and characterize good home cooking throughout the nation.
You should not easily settle for anything but fresh spinach, because that is what you really ought to have to achieve the flavor of which this dish is capable. On the other hand, if good, fresh spinach is not available, you can turn to frozen leaf spinach. However incomplete may be the satisfactions it brings, it is a tolerable alternative.
For 6 servings
2 pounds fresh, crisp spinach OR 2 ten-ounce packages frozen whole leaf spinach, thawed
Salt
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1. If using fresh spinach: If it is very young, snap off and discard just the hard end of the stems. If it is mature, or if you are in doubt, pull away and discard the entire stem. Soak and rinse the spinach leaves in several changes of cold water.
Cook the leaves in a covered pan with 1 tablespoon salt to keep their color bright and no more water than what clings to them from their soak. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes, depending on the spinach. Drain well, but do not squeeze it, and set aside.
If using thawed frozen spinach: Cook with a pinch of salt in a covered pan for 1 minute. Drain and set aside.
2. Put the garlic and olive oil in a skillet, and t
urn on the heat to medium high. Cook and stir the garlic until it becomes colored a nut brown, then take it out. Add the spinach, tasting and correcting it for salt. Cook for 2 minutes, turning it over completely several times to coat it well. Transfer the spinach with all its flavored oil to a warm platter, and serve at once.
Oven-Browned Tomatoes
IF YOU HAVE never seen how an Italian cook bakes tomatoes at home, you may be startled to find that these tomatoes cook down so long that they come out of the oven looking deflated and blackened around the edges. They are neither burnt nor dried out, however. They have shed the excess water that dilutes their flavor, and their juices are pure essence of tomato. They are delicious to eat on their own or together with other summer vegetables or with simple meat dishes. See serving suggestion.
For 4 to 6 servings
9 fresh, ripe, round tomatoes of medium size
3 tablespoons parsley chopped very fine
2 teaspoons garlic chopped very fine
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Wash the tomatoes and cut them in two at their widest point.
3. Choose a baking dish that can accommodate all the tomato halves snugly, but without overlapping. They can be squeezed in tightly because they will shrink considerably. Arrange them with their cut side facing up, and sprinkle them with the parsley, garlic, salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Pour the olive oil over them and place the dish on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Page 58