Posts tagged ‘eggplant’

I’m missing my CSA fruit and vegetable share which came to a close last week. Every Thursday night since early June, I would trot up to Isham Park and pick up my horde delivered by the Hawthorne Valley farm. I learned a heck of a lot about eating vegetables this summer. Here are some of the highlights:
>> Read on to learn how to make the most of a pound of zucchini. >>

It’s hot. Air conditioner spit is in my hair. It’s almost my birthday. I hear cicadas in the park. I have little desire to cook. Because it’s August. And I don’t want to make it any hotter in my apartment. If I turn on the oven, I’ll have to crank up the a/c. I want to spend my birthday money on a new chef’s pan.  Not the Con Ed bill.

Maybe I’ll fry something.

Whenever I fry food, I think of Mrs. Ducci.

Almost 8 years ago, I was a graduate student living in Florence, Italy. Fortuna granted me the opportunity to do research at a 400-year old villa in the heart of Tuscany. Italy is filled with fallen noble families. The Risorgimento, which unified Italy in 1861, broke apart a society which was not far from feudal, and families of noble rank saw their power, status, and riches slowly begin to disintegrate. The Ducci family was one of many.

La Signora Isabella Ducci, the family matriarch, lived in the family villa surrounded by art, antiques, friends, and her extended family. Little 3-year old Duccio Ducci was tearing around the rooms when I arrived, with a fellow student, to begin my investigation of their art collection. Lara and I worked with quiet amazement and reverence at the treasures that were before us, occasionally looking at each other with stupefied smiles. Our hearts were beating wildly as we held 400-year old canvases painted by students of Raphael. In the meantime, Mrs. Ducci was busy cooking for us.

With incredible simplicity and ease, she prepared chicken scallopini. It was dusted in flour, then pan-seared in olive oil and butter. Finally, she squeezed a lemon and added a bit of cream. It was lovely. We felt obligated to return to the paintings, to earn our keep, but Mrs. Ducci clearly took great pleasure in feeding us. She had also made a cake from scratch. She decided that the next time we visited, she would prepare una fritta: a big fry-up. I remember her clasping her hands  with joy as she began to imagine what she would make for us.

We attempted another visit, but for one Italian reason or another, we never returned to the Ducci Villa. I have always felt a little guilty about not fulfilling our promise to share a fritta with Mrs. Ducci. Here’s something well-suited to cooking in the August heat, in honor of Mrs. Ducci.

• 2 small eggplants (Or if you don’t like eggplant, use zucchini.)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup spelt flour (regular flour will do, but spelt flour really increases the nutritional value)
• 1 tsp regular salt
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1/2 tbsp hot pepper flakes
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Cut the eggplant into strips. Place in large bowl, sprinkle kosher salt, and then cover them with water. Let soak one hour and then dry very well. Combine the oregano, hot pepper flakes and spelt flour. Dredge each of the eggplant strips in the egg, then the flour mixture. Fry the eggplant in extra virgin olive oil—don’t be afraid to use the good stuff—until golden brown. Remove and sprinkle a little grated parmesan cheese and serve hot.

Today’s post is written by Lara O’Brien, our first guest contributor. Lara is a producer for CBC Radio’s morning news magazine, The Current. Prior to her life as a journalist, she honed her culinary skills by working in restaurants and eating her way across Europe. Lara will be writing regular posts about dining in Toronto and might teach us a thing or two about the metric system.

Pasta alla Norma might be one of the simplest yet most satisfying of all Italian pasta dishes. This is a great time of year to make it as basil is at its freshest and most fragrant.

When I first arrived in Florence for a year of study, my three roommates and I decided to explore the winding roads of Chianti and its spectacular vineyards. As we putted along in our rented Peugeot 306, we came across an unpretentious farmhouse and vineyard called Podere Terreno.

The small agro-turismo functioned as a B&B and produced and sold some of the most delicious Chianti wine one could imagine. Their production may have been small, but their wines were robust. As we tasted, my roommates and I quickly became acquainted with the proprietor’s son, one Pierfrancesco. Charming, suave and impeccably dressed in the relentless heat of the September Tuscan sun, we were smitten. Our visit ended with a promise from Pierfrancesco to come cook for us at our apartment in Florence and our Peugeot substantially heavier.

The following Friday, Pierfrancesco introduced us to Pasta alla Norma.

A popular 19th century dish, it was named after the Sicilian composer Bellini’s highly successful opera Norma. The ingredients were simple and noble, the combination sublime. Pierfrancesco made it seem effortless, and truth be told, it is. That meal was the catalyst for hundreds more that would be shared with friends around our big wooden kitchen table on Via Castellani in Florence.

This is best made with ricotta salata, a dried form of ricotta cheese, but regular ricotta will do in a pinch.

Pasta alla Norma
4 primi piatti

• 2 medium size firm Italian eggplants
• 3 gloves of garlic, minced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 small can of peeled chopped San Marzano tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups of grated ricotta salata or equivalent of soft ricotta
• Large bunch of fresh basil
• Half a bag of rigatoni

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the rigatoni. In a heavy-bottomed skillet, saute the onion in olive oil until soft with a pinch of salt. Add the cubed eggplant and garlic and cook for about 8 minutes over med-high heat. You may need to add a touch more olive oil as the eggplant will absorb it. Add the canned tomatoes and a pinch each of sugar and salt. Let everything cook for another 6 minutes. The eggplant should remain somewhat firm. Add the drained rigatoni, ricotta salata, fresh basil and fresh pepper to the skillet, toss and enjoy.