Fagioli all'Uccelletto (Tuscan Baked Beans)

We were in a bind for dinner last night and I had to throw something together last minute. We had some sun-dried tomato and mushroom risotto mix that I'd gotten at the farmers' market a few weeks ago, so that gave us a starting point for the meal, but it definitely wasn't going to be enough on its own. Originally I had been contemplating making some meat-stuffed Moroccan flatbreads, but that still left us short on veggies. I consulted Cooking from an Italian Garden for ideas on how to round out the meal. In the end I opted to make this white bean dish along with a saucy green bean dish to add some protein and vegetables to our risotto dinner. It worked out pretty well! Although I would be tempted to add more tomatoes next time.

Fagioli all'Uccelletto

Slightly adapted from Cooking from an Italian Garden by Paola Scaravelli and Jon Cohen

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1 1/2 c. dried white beans¹
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3-4 fresh sage leaves (or ~1 tsp. dried sage)
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2-3/4 c. diced tomatoes

Directions

1. Mix the flour into 1L of water and add the beans. Soak for 8-12 hours.
2. Drain and rinse the beans.
3. Place the beans in a pressure cooker with enough water to cover them and pressure cook for 20 minutes.
4. Allow a 15-minute natural release and then drain the beans (reserving the cooking water for soup if desired).
5. Heat the oil over medium heat.
6. Add the garlic, sage, pepper, and salt and cook for ~1 minute.
7. Add the beans and cook for ~5 minutes.
8. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.²

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¹ I used navy beans because that's what I had on hand, but cannellini beans (white kidney beans) would probably be the best choice here. ^Back
2 I reversed the order of these last two steps. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes in practice, but I'll probably try it the other way around next time to find out. ^Back

Salsa d'Olive con capperi (Olive-Caper Sauce)

This is a delicious sauce! And not too difficult to make either.

I found a suggestion in the back of the book to serve it with steamed string beans. (We ended up using thawed frozen green beans, so that's almost the same.) The preamble to the recipe also suggests serving it with mixed fried vegetables, savoury soufflés, vegetable puddings, or on toast. I suggest making a double batch and serving it on everything!

Salsa d'Olive con Capperi

Slightly adapted from Cooking from an Italian Garden by Paola Scaravelli and Jon Cohen

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 c. black olives, minced
• 3 Tbsp. capers, rinsed and minced
• 1 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. flour

Directions

1. Heat the oil and 2 Tbsp. of the butter over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook for ~5 minutes.
3. Add the olives, capers, and parsley and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the water and vinegar and cook for a minute or so.
5. Add the flour and stir until thickened.
6. Remove from heat and add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of butter.
7. Serve on toast or with steamed or fried vegetables (or as a topping for vegetable soufflés or puddings).

Polenta con Funghi e Peperoni (Polenta with Mushrooms and Peppers)

This reminds me a lot of the rustic polenta casserole recipe in the Complete Vegetarian from America's Test Kitchen. The topping was very tasty. However, I think I probably should've cooked the polenta a bit more. It didn't set and firm up the way I would've liked. I was hungry and impatient though. The flavour's still fine as is. It's just not my preferred texture.

Polenta con Funghi e Peperoni

Slightly adapted from Cooking from an Italian Garden by Paola Scaravelli and Jon Cohen

Ingredients

• 2L water
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 c. cornmeal (preferably coarse)
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 225g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 3 bell peppers, sliced
• 1 recipe sugo finto
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
• 2 Tbsp. capers, chopped
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Combine water, salt, pepper, and cornmeal in a large pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue cooking, stirring often for at least half an hour. You may need to cook for even longer if you want your polenta to have a firm, sliceable consistency once baked.
3. Grease a 23cm by 33cm (9"x13") lasagne pan and pour the polenta into the pan. Set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
5. Melt butter over medium heat.
6. Add onion and cook until softened.
7. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
8. Add mushrooms and peppers and cook for a further 10 minutes.
9. Remove from heat and spread vegetable mixture over polenta.
10. Warm up tomato sauce and stir in parsley, basil, and capers.
11. Pour sauce over vegetable-topped polenta.
12. Sprinkle surface with Parmesan.
13. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20 minutes.

Sugo Finto (Fake Sauce)

I initially found the name of this tomato sauce a bit confusing. The autors just give it the English name of "Tomato Sauce II", but the Italian name translates as "fake sauce". Initially I thought that I must've gotten the translation wrong. But nope! It's really called fake sauce. Apparently "fake" refers to the fact that it's meatless. You make it pretty much the same way you'd make a nice ragu sauce, but without the meat. Based on the quick bit of research I did, it stems from the "peasant" or "poverty" cooking traditions of south-central Italy.

I quite liked this sauce. Especially after I added a few capers and some extra herbs and used it to top a delicious polenta casserole!

Sugo Finto

Slightly adapted from Cooking from an Italian Garden by Paola Scaravelli and Jon Cohen

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• pinch of dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
• 1 (800mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. corase sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 c. dry white wine (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cook until softened (3-4 minutes).
3. Add carrot, celery, oregano, and parsley and cook until vegetables being to brown (~5 minutes).
4. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, and wine (if using).
5. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes. Sauce should reduce and thicken somewhat during this time.
6. The authors recommend running the sauce through a food mill at this point to remove skins and achieve a smooth consistency. Personally, I didn't bother.
7. If you desire a thicker sauce, cook a little more until desired consistency is achieved.
8. Optionally, drizzle with an extra 2-3 Tbsp. of olive oil before serving (or storing) for extra richness.

Uova "Il Poggio" (Eggs "Il Poggio")

This is by far the most unusual, complicated deviled egg recipe I've ever encountered. I'm not sure whether or not I like it more than regular deviled eggs, but it is quite tasty and I appreciate the fact that it's something a bit different than the usual approach. I also like that you get a bit of veg built into the dish. Means I don't feel so bad serving it as a major component of our dinner. We had it with polenta con funghi e peproni tonight and I'll probably make some sort of pasta dish to round out the leftovers for dinner tomorrow night.

Uova "Il Poggio"

Slightly adapted from Cooking from an Italian Garden by Paola Scaravelli and Jon Cohen

Ingredients

• 6 large hard-cooked eggs
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 c. ricotta
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 tsp. dry mustard
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 450g spinach (fresh or frozen)

Béchamel Sauce

• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 1 1/4 c. table (18%) cream
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Once hard-cooked eggs are cool enough to handle, peel them and halve them lengthwise. (If you plunge them into cold water immediate upon being removed from the hot/boiling water, they should not develop the greenish colour on the outside of the yolk and will also cool faster.)
2. Remove the yolks from the hard-cooked eggs. Set the whites aside.
3. In a bowl, combine the hard-cooked egg yolks, softened butter, ricotta, Parmesan, salt, pepper, mustard, and raw yolks.
4. Mix well and set aside.
5. Grease a 23cm (9") square pan and preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
6. Cook the spinach (without any water) and squeeze it to remove excess moisture. Chop finely and set aside.
7. Now make the béchamel sauce.
8. Once the béchamel sauce is complete, add 1/4 c. of the sauce to the egg yolk mixutre.
9. Combine the remaining sauce with the spinach.
10. Pour the spinach sauce into the prepared pan and nestle the hard-cooked egg whites into it.
11. Now beat the raw egg whites to stiff peaks.
12. Mix ~1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture to loosen it.
13. Now pour the egg yolk mixture into the bowl with the remaining whites and carefully fold them in.
14. Spoon the yolk mixture into the hard-cooked whites. You will probably have more yolk mixture than will fit into the whites. If so, just pour the extra over top.
15. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 15-25 minutes.
16. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.