Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ISBN 978-0-307-88528-9
eISBN 978-0-307-95386-5
Printed in China
Design by Marysarah Quinn
Photographs by Steven Rothfeld
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
first edition
FRIED ARTICHOKES
s a Southerner, to me the words deep fried are an enchanting combination. We never met an
artichoke, when I was growing up, except the kind that was marinated in a jar. Still, carciofi
fritti seem like soul food.
At the Thursday market in season, vendors, many of whom have driven their trucks all night from
Puglia, sell five sizes of artichokes. For stuffing with bread, herbs, and tomatoes, I buy the largest
ones. For frying, the smallest, purple-tinged violetti or morellini are best. Tiny violetti, sliced raw and
dressed, make an astringent crunchy salad, which exemplifies the Tuscan preference for bitter tastes.
For these fried beauties, remember that the stem is as tasty as the heart. Sometimes four or five
inches long, the stems can be peeled with a vegetable peeler. Cut each artichoke in half, leaving the
stem attached. If theyre small enough, fry them like this. If not, slice each in half again, paring off any
choke. Be sure to remove all tough outer leaves.
Matching wine with artichokes is daunting, but weve tried fried artichokes with Friulano, formerly
called Tocai, the darling of the province of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia. The usual suggestion, however,
is a Gewrztraminer.
serves 4
2
15
Giusis RAG
low and easylong-simmered rag is the quintessential Tuscan soul food. There are as many
ways with rag as there are cooks. This is ours, learned originally from Giusi, whos made it a
thousand times. By now, I think we have, too. On many Saturday mornings, Ed makes a huge pot of
ragtripling, quadrupling the recipeand another of tomato sauce. We consider these our natural
resources. For lunch, while the pots are still on the stove, we spoon rag over bruschetta, add some
cheese, and run it under the broiler. By afternoon, were ready to fill several glass containers of
different sizes and freeze them. Were then free to pull one out during the workweek.
Serve rag in lasagne or over spaghetti and, as you eat, you know youre participating in a communal rite thats being enacted all over the Italian peninsula.
s e r v e s 10
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound ground lean beef
1 pound ground pork
2 italian sausages, casings removed
1 teaspoon salt
teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1 to 2 cups red wine
1 cup soffritto (page 20)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
16 to 20 tomatoes or 2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes, juice
included, chopped
Pour the olive oil into a 4-quart heavy pot with a lid. Over medium-high heat, brown the
meats, breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Add the salt,
pepper, thyme, and 1 cup of the red wine. After the wine has cooked into the meat, about
10 minutes, add the soffritto, and stir in the tomato paste and tomatoes.
Bring the sauce to a boil, and then lower to a quiet simmer. Partially cover, and
continue cooking for 3 hours, stirring now and then. Along the way, add the remaining
cup of wine if you think the sauce is too dense.
Combine the garlic and parsley in a small bowl with the zest,
2 tablespoons of the olive oil, teaspoon salt, and teaspoon pepper. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the marinade ingredients. Lay the chicken flat, skin side up, on
your work surface. Stuff the garlic mixture under the skin and place the chicken in the
marinade. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or, even better, overnight. Turn it two or
three times.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heatproof cast-iron pan large
enough to hold the chicken. I use a 14-inch cast-iron skillet. Place the chicken breast side
up and weight it down with two clean bricks wrapped in foil. Cook over medium heat for
10 minutes, and then place the pan and bricks in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the
weights and turn the chicken over, cooking another 20 minutes or so, until crispy and
richly browned, about 50 minutes total. Remove the chicken to a platter and cut into
serving pieces. Deglaze the pan with the wine and pour the juices over the chicken.
secondi
\ 117
STRAWBERRY SEMIFREDDO
ot gelato, not
sorbettosemifreddo occupies a niche.
The light and creamy
texture melts fast in your
mouth, leaving the
essential freshness of
the fruit. Its easy, too,
since you need no ice
cream machine. Semifreddo keeps well in the
freezer for a week.
serves 8
1
1
1
4
1
1