Well, I probably shouldn't do this, but I've started another Blog. Like I don't already spend too much time at the MacBook. As some of you might have guessed, I like to cook and I love to eat. So I thought I'd share my recipes, humble as they may be and a look at "What's for Dinner at Our House." The plan is to be discovered by the Food Network for my cooking show, which hubby has titled: "Cranky Franky's in the Kitchen".
Am I ready for critics? Probably not. I know my instructions are not always clear or precise. Let me know if something doesn't make sense. Anyhow, if you're interested, check out "Dinner's Ready"
COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Friday, October 29, 2021

Ciambotta (or Giambotta) con Salsicce

Ciambotta is a vegetable stew popular in Southern Italy, particularly in Calabria. It is similar to ratatouille which is made with eggplant, summer squash, sweet peppers and tomatoes. My Ciambotta has a few additional items that are not traditional (mushrooms, sausage) plus the very traditional ones potatoes which I'm not especially fond of in a tomato dish) which also can vary depending on the season and what one has on hand.
 
In the photo below, clockwise from top left: 2 cubed eggplants, sliced portobello mushrooms, fresh peeled garden tomatoes, chopped onion and sweet peppers, chopped garlic and crushed hot red peppers, 3 medium cubed zucchini, center stage 2 diced potatoes.
 

 Whoops, almost forgot the parsley and sweet basil

Also added some sweet grape tomatoes and of course extra virgin olive oil, 1 can of tomato paste, one can of diced tomatoes, salt, pepper, a splash of red wine


 
Simmer the  garlic and hot pepper in the olive oil 
Add the onion and sweet peppers and saute for several minutes
Add the potatoes and continue to cook on medium heat
Add the zucchini
The crushed fresh tomatoes and grape tomatoes went in next
Then parsley and plenty of basil
In a separate skillet saute the eggplant in olive oil. Note: eggplant will soak up oil like a sponge so it will be necessary to add a bit more olive oil, but just enough to get the bottom of the pan slick.
Saute on medium to low heat until the eggplant begins to brown slightly.
 Add the eggplant to the ciambotta

Add more olive oil to the skillet and saute the mushrooms. Mushrooms will soak up oil but not as much as the eggplant. 
 
When the mushrooms give up some juices, add a little black pepper and a splash of red wine
Add half the can of tomato paste and let it simmer on low for a few minutes.
Transfer the mushrooms to the ciambotta and add the rest of the tomato paste and a full paste can of water to the skillet. (Note: I only added half a can of paste at first because I thought a full can might be too much...but decided the whole can would work).
Saute some Italian sausages; I then sliced them and browned the slices a little before adding them to the ciambotta.

Here is the ciambotta simmering on low for the next hour or so. This dish will be even better tomorrow or portions can can be frozen for another day. A big loaf of Italian bread and a glass of wine. Buon appetito!
You can also serve it over pasta, but the crusty bread is quite enough for me.

 I use a heat diffuser under my big pot to keep it heating evenly without burning.


Homemade Italian Bread of course...gotta soak up all that good sauce.
A little parmegiano reggiano.



2 comments:

Russ Manley said...

Looks lovely. I was a bit skeptical until you threw in the Italian sausage; mmm, that could work. I'll pass this on to the house chef for his review.

Frank said...

Looking at that photo of the table I confess that our table is not as elegant as yours...even on holidays. I guess it's my peasant ancestry that comes through no matter what.