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.

Turkey Tetrazzini alla Casa

My philosophy of cooking is that a recipe is merely a suggestion. 

Most everything I cook is del giorno (or d'jour for you French chefs) based on what I have on hand. Or alla Casa - the way I do it at my house.

We recently had Turkey Tetrazzini at a friends' home and it was delicious.  As I had leftover turkey from Christmas dinner, I figured I'd give it a try...sort of. I looked up recipes on the web. Ok, well, I use those as suggestions.

So I got a pot boiling for the fettuccine (had no egg noodles) and put some broccoli in the microwave to cook al dente. (We eat a lot of broccoli).

I just happened to have about a half pound of Baby Bella mushrooms (small Portabellas) so I sliced them up and put them into my cast iron skillet along with a sliced onion and two chopped cloves of garlic and plenty of olive oil. 

I also happened to have one small eggplant (I recalled Pasta alla Norma). So that got peeled, diced and sautéed in the skillet as well. As things got cooked to soft I added about two tablespoons of butter. (I never understand recipes that call for unsalted butter, then add salt) and let that melt into the mixture.

Olive oil, garlic, onion, mushrooms, eggplant

Then I added about two or three tablespoons of flour (I never measure) to coat the veggies and absorb the butter like doing a roux. I looked for an open bottle of white wine, alas I only had a little dry vermouth, about two fingers left in the bottle, so that got added and mixed in to begin the sauce. Then a large splash of 2% milk (cream is way too heavy for me). The sauce thickened. Added pieces of turkey meat to heat in the sauce.

We had a little take-out container of sour cream in the fridge, about three tablespoons, and that went in along with some more milk to thin the sauce as it was thickening.

I had about 1/3 of a container of ricotta cheese, so that too went into the sauce. A little salt and pepper and finally Turned off the heat and added a few tablespoons of grated parmigiano (or was that Romano cheese that I grated last week?)

Butter, Flour, Vermouth, Sour Cream, Milk, Ricotta

When the pasta was al dente I drained it over the broccoli in a large colander (to re-warm the broccoli) and returned it to the pot. I spooned the Tetrazzini sauce over it and tossed it well.

DINNER'S READY! 

More grated cheese at the table and Leon and I pigged out. Found some white wine in the garage (where it is cool).

I think we both went for thirds tonight. 

Served with Fettuccine and Broccoli

Vegetarian Onion Soup With Mushrooms - Gratinee

This vegetarian onion soup soup is delicious and filling and did I say vegetarian.  No beef or chicken broth. 

I used about 10 cups of sliced onions, 10 ounces of sliced white mushrooms, olive oil, butter, dry vermouth (or a dry white wine) parsley, salt, pepper and shredded cheese - muenster and extra sharp cheddar (or include some swiss or whatever cheese you have on hand.  American cheese is not cheese - avoid it).  And some crusts of French or Italian bread.

Brown the onions in 2 batches in a very large skillet (or in 3 or more batches depending on the size of your skillet) over high heat in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter, stirring often to get all the onions caramelized.  

Remove the onions and brown the mushrooms in the same pan, add a little more olive oil, if needed.

Combine the onions and mushrooms in the skillet and over high heat, add one teaspoon of salt and one cup of dry vermouth or other dry white wine.  (If your skillet is not large enough - do this in 2 batches, halving the wine and salt for each batch)

Add a few grinds of black pepper (optional).

Bring to a boil and simmer until the alcohol evaporates and the liquid takes on a nice golden brown color, about 6 or 7 minutes.

Transfer the whole mixture to a large (about 3 quart) sauce pan and add 8 cups of water.

Add 2 or 3 teaspoons of salt (to taste).

Bring the soup to a boil, add a handful of chopped parsley (optional) and simmer for 45-60 minutes.

Grate or shred about 3 ounces of cheese per serving.  I like a combo of very sharp cheddar, muenster and swiss.  But I've used Gouda, Fontina, Jarlsberg or other good cheeses as well.  You can make up to eight servings (more or fewer, depending on the size of your oven-proof soup bowls).

Put a few crusts of good bread on the bottom of each soup bowl.  If the bread you have is not crusty, you can toast it lightly.

Ladle on the soup, with a good serving of the onions and mushrooms, over the bread.  Top with the cheese and place the bowls on a cookie sheet(s) to prevent spillage in the oven.

Place into a 450 degree oven until the cheese is melted and starts to brown and bubble.  Remove from oven and serve.

CAUTION: Contents are HOT.  Do not burn your mouth - let the soup cool a bit, and be careful!

Simple ingredients

Saute the onions in Olive oil and butter

Saute the mushrooms in olive oil and butter

Get the onions nicely caramelized
- a little more than above example

Combine the onions and mushrooms

Add the wine, 1 tsp salt and simmer

Transfer to a pot, add water, salt, parsley, simmer

Individual bowls of soup with melted cheese

Serve with a nice glass of wine. 

This soup, alone or with a salad, is a great meal.

Dinner's ready!

Savory Bread Pudding - or Refrigerator Dump

Here's another frugal meal from my kitchen to yours.

It's clean out the fridge day.  Lets see, a half a basket of mushrooms, some cooked zucchini, two small baked potatoes, some stale rye bread, a small butternut squash out on the porch, a few slices of crispy bacon, some muenster and cheddar, eggs, milk.

It'll be a savory bread pudding.  Dice and roast the butternut squash, saute the mushrooms with a little onion, dice up the potato, dice up the bread and soak it in 2 cups of milk with 3 eggs.  Salt and pepper to taste, a little dash of nutmeg.  Put the bread in a buttered casserole, add all the veggies on top.  Pour any egg mixture over the top. You can mix it all together, but let's not mix it all up and see how it comes out.  

Bake for 30 minutes, grate the cheeses and spread the cheese all over. Crank up the heat and give it another 30 minutes in the oven.

Dinner's Ready!   

Not a gourmet meal but it was tasty and used up a lot of odds and ends in the fridge and cupboard. Nice With slices of pear and a glass of white wine.  (Can anything with melted cheese and bacon be bad?)  There's even a bit left over for breakfast.