I have touched on the term CUCINA POVERA before and it translates to peasant’s kitchen but it’s more nuanced than that. It takes on the (not so new) no food waste concept - which I am trying to live by and basically have to due to the isolation and limited public transport in this commune. The origins are out of necessity and began with a humble loaf becoming stale!
Dishes that come to mind are Panzanella (Bread salad), Ribollita and Pappa al Pomodoro ( both are a stale bread based soups). I haven’t made any soups or stews which are indeed a staple in Tuscan cuisine, but for me it’s more of a cold weather, warm hug and in this heat it hasn’t been a natural go to. I’ll think on it. I love using leftovers and a good fridge clean out for items on their last legs is always a bit of inspiration that can lead to either an amazing, or a learning, experience. Reminds me of trying to make a chicken last for a week of meals with two ever hungry although fussy teenagers.
Easy Leftover Pan Dish - any left over veggies or meat, eggs and cheese/dairy I’ve used
1 Eggplant cubed and salted
1 Zucchini
1 Onion
3 Eggs
2 Garlic cloves
Handful of Spinach
Zucchini flowers
Mozzarella
Salt and Pepper
Salt eggplant for about an hour then rinse. Into a saucepan with olive oil goes finely diced onion and garlic, once softened add eggplant and zucchini and lastly spinach. Beat 3 or 4 eggs with 3/4 cup of dairy of your choice it can be milk, cream, yoghurt or a combo of dairy to be used up ( I used a some cream and a bit of milk, and a handful of grated parmesan) season with salt and pepper and add into pan and simmer. Once it starts to solidify put on any toppings. I used zucchini flower and mozzarella and it looked soooooooo good. Then pop it under grill until golden and melted. Delish!
STRATA
(It is the same recipe as above with the addition of stale bread which has been soaked in milk or water.)
Americans have stolen this stale bread leftover dish but its origins are from Italy. It’s basically the same dish as above but with the addition of milk soaked stale bread and it’s cooked in the oven. You could call it a bread quiche perhaps. I’ve cut the crust off bread to save to make a rough breadcrumb as a pasta topping for another cook.
Soak leftover bread in milk overnight or for a few hours. Add bread, spinach and any other meat or veggie leftovers to a baking dish then cover with egg/dairy/cheese and seasonings /herbs of your choice. Cook in a 180* oven for around 45minutes. I have also made this in a slow cooker for a pot luck dinner and it turned out great!
So I didn’t get a chance to turn the heat down on the oven, a storm hit and as I was trying to secure a shutter the other was blown in a gust and cracked me right in the skull resulting in tears and an egg head, so dinner was a little over done but still tasted the goods, to be fair I do prefer the un breaded version although Mat likes the addition.
GNOCCHI DI PATATE - CON FUNGHI PORCINI
Gnocchi di patate or potato dumplings is one version or gnocchi. I was planning on ricotta gnocchi but the fridge ran out of ricotta. You can even use just flour and water, although this recipe will need about 10 minutes of needing..
Gnocchi di patate calls for simmering potatoes with the skin on. Then peeling them while still warm, then pushing them through a sieve before adding flour and a egg to make the dough. Knead the dough until it becomes more consistent and doesn’t come apart . Perhaps 5 minutes or so. The dough is then rolled into long finger shapes and cut into basically rounded cubes (pillows). They can be cooked like this or they can then be rolled on a board or down a fork or down the inside of a straight grater. I’m keeping it rustica!
750 g. di patate potato
200 g di farina 00 flour
1 uovo egg
sale salt
for the sauce
butter, onion, garlic, rosemary, salami (optional)), mushrooms, This is where I used the crushed and toasted bread crumbs, as a crunchy topping! Prego!
Everyone keeps raving about the porcini mushrooms around Mount Amiata but we’ve had no luck in finding any fresh ones, so have some frozen to make this meal. Mat was talked into some Italian sausage (of course he was) that I’ll pop in as well.
Each item is added to the pan in order of ingredient listed, until smelling delicious!
Potato Crust Quiche with Pickled Cucumbers
Leftover crushed spuds from the gnocchi call for some more inventive cucina povera inspiration, by using it as a pie crust for another fridge clean out before a little trip to Siena.
Use leftover mash to smoosh around a pie tin and fill with veggies or leftovers (here tofu and zucchini and zucchini flowers make everything look bellissimo) before adding 2 eggs and 3/4 c of dairy (I used about 3/4 c yoghurt and some grated cheese) . cook for 30-40 mins more if using a large tin.
I am going to make a quick cucumber pickle to use up the VERY bitter cucumbers i bought last week.
I’ll chop the end off that’s closest to the vine, it’s the most bitter (just realised I cut the wrong end off haha) and then peel and salt while preparing the brine. When I finished cooking the pie crust I popped the clean glass jar onto a tray in the oven to sterilise. Pop all ingredients for brine into a pot and simmer until everything has dissolved ( I also added a few spices I found in the cupboard maybe dried chillies and cumin seeds). Fill jar with rinsed cucumbers and top with brine and refrigerate. I would also tend to use a rice wine vinegar but I only have rosso vino so that should work, let see how the colour goes? It should last a week or 2 in the fridge.
The Quick Pickle
1 c water
1/3 c vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 cups cucumbers sliced
