Winter salads and plentiful apples...

Autumn is definitely upon us, later than we are used to 'back home' but we are feeling the first of the cold weather just as we come to the end of November.  This week's bag has given us plentiful greens in the shape of broccoli, lettuce (lattuga), swiss chard (bietole) and escarole (scarola).  Some recipe ideas for these, from Italy and the UK, have been shared in previous posts, all of them giving you the possibility of cooking up some warming, wholesome dishes!

As well as cooking escarole, it is wonderful in winter salads, to serve alongside roasted or grilled meats and fish, or as a starter. Here are ideas for some:

• Toast a generous handful of walnuts, tear up the washed escarole leaves, thinly slice a small red onion, shave some parmesan and make a dressing of red wine vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Toss all the ingredients together with the dressing.
• Mix the torn leaves with a white wine vinegar, dijon mustard and olive oil dressing, seasoning to taste.  Crumble in blue cheese such as gorgonzola or roquefort. Take a firm but ripe pear, peel, core, halve and cut into thin slices, then add this to the salad with either toasted walnuts, pecans or croutons, or any combination of these.  Toss together and serve.  
• Feta cheese can also work well in these recipes, as can the addition of some crisped pancetta or streaky bacon.

'Scarola' is also used widely in local recipes here in Naples and southern Italy.

• In a bean soup: http://www.scordo.com/…/…/escarole-and-bean-soup-recipe.html
• In a 'pie' using bread or pizza dough: http://memoriediangelina.com/…/pizza-di-scarola-escarole-…/…
• As a side dish or antipasto: http://www.grouprecipes.com/…/scarola-tiepida-con-uvetta-e-…

The small, red 'melannurca' and delicious organic apples

Apples have been a talking point this week, as we have been discovering the 'mela annurca' (also knows as 'la melannurca campana'), a small, red apple grown in the Campania region and which has 'IGP' (protected geographical provenance) status.  It reminded some of apples they had eaten straight from the tree in their childhood and it has a distinctive taste, small size and many claims to health-giving benefits!  We have had wonderful, organic apples in the past few weeks, so here are some recipe ideas shared within the community and a few more (see also the previous blog post with Italian Apple Cake recipes).

• With thanks to Emma Greenhill, here is the 'Best Ever Apple Crumble' recipe from Delia Smith http://www.deliaonline.com/home/Print-Recipe.html?PID=5900
• Apple Snow is a lovely dessert, this 'luxury' version uses cream: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/applesnow_66346  and this one doesn't: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/10449887/Apple-snow-recipe.html
• For a simple apple sauce that you can freeze and serve with roast pork http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/applesauce_1310
• If you are feeling festive, here is an apple-based Christmas Chutney recipe from Nigella Lawson http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/christmas-chutney
• Assia Miale Colturi shared an Italian Apple Pie recipe: 

You will need 200g brown sugar, 350g plain flour, 3 eggs, 150ml of flavourless oil, 125g plain yoghurt, 16g sachet of 'Pane degli Angeli' style dried yeast for cakes, 5 or 6 small apples, a tsp of cinnamon and a lemon.  

Thinly slice the apples, place in a bowl with the lemon juice and some extra sugar. In another bowl, add all the other ingredients apart from the yeast and mix well.  Dissolve the yeast with a small amount of milk then add to the rest of the ingredients. Add the apples and cinnamon, give it all a final mix then put the mix into a greased and floured round baking tin and bake for 30 or 40 minutes at 180/200 degrees depending on your oven.

Comfort Food for the Family...

As the sunny days are turning into slightly chillier nights, it feels like time to be thinking about wholesome and nourishing comfort food. This week's wonderful delivery of vegetables brought some fantastic ingredients for a few Italian autumn treats.  We have looked at ideas for 'scarole' (escarole greens) and 'zucca' (squash) in previous blog posts, but this week we had 'cime di rape' (turnip top greens - nothing goes to waste here!) and more delicious apples.  Both of these immediately made me think of a couple of favourite recipes, a pasta dish and a traditional cake...

'Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa' is a well-known pasta dish from Puglia, using orecchiette pasta named after the 'little ears' they are meant to resemble.  While this is traditionally made with orecchiette, you can,of course, use other pasta that you already have at home, such as penne or fusilli.  Orecchiette are traditionally made with 'semola di grano duro', which is semolina flour, readily found in Italian food stores and delis.  You can make your own (recipe and tutorial here: http://www.marthastewart.com/925955/step-step-orechiette ) or buy them as fresh or dried pasta.  Any version will do, it just depends on how much of a food snob you want to be!

Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa (adapted from 'Bocca Cookbook', Bloomsbury 2011)

500g cime di rapa
300g fresh orecchiette or 250g dried
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
5 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp crushed dried chili flakes
freshly grated Pecorino cheese to serve (optional, or use parmesan if that is what you have)

This recipe serves 4 as a starter and 2 as a main, but increase according to numbers and appetites!

-Prepare the cime di rapa: pick the leaves off the stem, leave any under 10cm whole, whilst larger ones should have the tough midrib removed. Rinse well.
- Set a large pan of salted water on to boil and then add the greens, cooking for around 10 minutes until fully tender with no crunch to them (keep checking after about 8 minutes).
- You can boil another pan of salted water simultaneously for the pasta, which will probably cook in the time it will take you to make the cime di rapa sauce.  Cook the pasta according to the pack instructions, probably 4 to 5 minutes if fresh and twice that time if dried.
- Drain the greens thoroughly in a colander while you heat a frying pan over a medium heat, adding the garlic and oil, frying until the garlic is starting to colour. Add the chilli, then a few seconds later the drained cime di rapa and mix it in to infuse the greens with the flavours.
- Drain the pasta, saving a few tablespoons of the pasta water.
- Add the pasta to the pan of cime di rapa and saute the pasta and greens together, seasoning with salt and pepper, then adding a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water.  Cook together for a minute, and serve with the grated pecorino (or parmesan) if you wish.

For other 'cime di rapa' ideas:
Braised with chilli - http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/cook/recipe/braised-cime-di-rapa-with-chilli-20111018-29wqn.html
Served with parmesan - http://cookalmostanything.blogspot.com/2011/11/cime-di-rapa-al-parmigiano.html

Italian Apple Cake - Torta di Mele

Different to English apple cakes, this really is something to try out now that all the gorgeous new season apples are on their way to us.  Here are a few recipes to choose from:

The Nigella Lawson recipe:
http://www.muffinandcoffee.com/torta-di-mele-italian-apple-cake/

A recipe by Anna del Conte, Italian food writer of great note, using olive oil:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/apple-cake-anna-del-conte-51712411

A version from Tuscany, with pine nuts:
http://www.organictuscany.org/recipes/torta-di-mele/

Autumn flavours southern Italian style...

This week's veg bag has arrived during a very sunny start to November, much welcomed by those of us who ventured to more northerly climates over the half-term holidays!  Two ingredients are very typical of southern italian households, friarielli (a type of bitter broccoli) and cachi (persimmons or sharon fruit).

Friarielli are a bitter broccoli, known in the US as 'broccoli rabe'.  They are delicious but can be an acquired taste. To cook them, trim the tougher, lengthier stalks so that you are left with tender, leafy greens then simply boil until soft to the bite and drain thoroughly.  The traditional, local way to eat them is to warm up some olive oil, thinly sliced garlic and chili flakes then to toss the friarielli in this mixture, seasoning with salt to taste.  Even more traditional is the cooking method of preparing the oil mixture with plentiful olive oil, then to cook the broccoli in the oil until tender.  A recipe for this method  is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/dining/292mrex.html?_r=0


Persimmons in particular have always reminded me of Italian Autumn and my parents used to seek them out in the international markets in London. Once ripe, they can quite simply be eaten as an everyday fruit (just leave them in the fruit bowl for a few days to ripen further). Wash them thoroughly, remove the stem, cut a small cross into the top of the fruit then try to peel back the thin skin with a sharp knife (or your fingers when they are ripe) and eat the flesh inside. You can also just cut it into wedges and while the skin is edible, it can be very bitter and leave a 'fuzzy' feeling in your mouth!  The other method is to cut off the top and scoop out the flesh with a teaspoon, just as if you were eating a boiled egg.

Some ideas for persimmon recipes, such as a starter with bresaola (cured beef); roasted with pork; in salads; grilled as a dessert; in a white chocolate bread pudding or steamed pudding, can be found here:
http://www.marthastewart.com/275469/persimmon-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide

You can also use persimmons to make a pickle, for salads, with mascarpone and cured ham or with cheese.  This recipe is from "The Modern Preserver" (Vintage Books, 2015):

Ingredients:
4 persimmons
240ml white wine vinegar
120ml rice vinegar
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
a pinch of saffron strands
1 tbsp of sea salt

These quantities make 3-4 250ml jars

Method:
Top and tail the persimmons and peel off the skins. Slice into 1cm-thick discs and then cut each into 6 wedges.
Put the rest of the indgredients into a medium, stainless steel pan and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt.
Pack the persimmon wedges into warm, dry sterilised jars then pour in the warm brine to fill to about 5mm below the rim.
Gently tap out any air bubble and top up with more brine if necessary.
Seal, leave to cool and store in the fridge.
Keep in a cool, dark cupboard for 3-5 days before opening.  Keeps for up to 6 months unopened and needs to be refrigerated and eaten within 4 weeks once opened.