Archive

ITALIAN RECIPES

Peas: Rights of Summer

Pea Soup

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
A bunch of parsley, half chopped and the other half minced
2 medium onions, finely sliced
1/2 cup rice or pasta for soups, along the lines of ditaloni (they're shaped like thimbles)
6 ounces (150 g) pancetta, diced
A 6-ounce (150 g; drained weight) can chopped tomatoes
Salt
1 1/8 pounds (500 g) frozen or, ideally, freshly shelled peas
1 quart (1 l) boiling water

Preparation:

Put the peas (thawed if they were frozen) in a pot with water to cover with salt, chopped parsley, and 2 tablespoons of oil. Simmer them for 25 minutes, adding water if need be to keep them from drying out.
Heat the remaining oil in a soup pot and gild the onions; when they are a rich golden color, add the pancetta.

Once the pancetta has browned, stir in the minced parsley, tomato, and a little salt; simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes.
Blend 2/3 of the peas and stir them into the soup pot. Add the boiling water, check seasoning, and simmer at a slow boil for 15 minutes.

Add the rice or pasta and continue to cook, stirring occasionally lest the pasta stick to the bottom and burn, until the pasta or rice is at the proper al dente stage. Add the remaining peas a few minutes before the pasta/rice is done, and serve garnished with a little more finely minced parsley.

In terms of a wine, a white will be nice. Something crisp, but also flavorful, for example an unoaked Sauvignon Blanc from Friuli Venezia Giulia. As an accompaniment, a tossed salad, in a 1-course meal, with crusty bread, or perhaps a piccata di vitello, with salad and crusty bread.

Abruzzese Fava Bean Soup with Peas and Artichokes

Ingredients:

12 ounces (300 g) fresh fava beans
10 ounces (250 g) freshly shelled peas (if you buy unshelled, double the weight)
4 artichokes
A shallot
2 ounces (50 g) guanciale (cured pork jowl; use pancetta if need be)
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
A small bunch of parsley, minced
A lemon, squeezed into a bowl of water
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Hot water

Preparation:

Prepare the artichokes, trimming the tips, slivering them, and eliminating any fuzz there may be in the hearts, and put the pieces the bowl of acidulated water to keep them from discoloring.
Mince the guanciale and the shallot, and sauté them in the oil in a pot; when the shallot has become translucent and gold (don't let it brown too much), drain the artichokes and add them, together with the diced potatoes.

Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes, then add the fava beans and peas. Season the pot with salt and pepper and add hot water just to cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the peas and beans are tender. Dust the soup with the parsley , cook it a minute more, and serve

Mezze Penne With Lemon and Peas

Ingredients:

A pound (400 g) mezze penne or similar short pasta
The grated zest of 2 organic lemons
12 ounces (300 g) freshly shelled peas (if you buy peas to shell at home, buy twice this weight)
A bunch of arugola
A bunch of parsley
A half cup of olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Preparation:

Begin by boiling the peas for 5 minutes in salted water; while they're cooking bring pasta water to a boil too. Salt it and cook the penne until al dente, then drain them and chill them under cold running water.
Transfer them to a bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of oil into them to keep the pieces from sticking, stir in the peas. and put the bowl in the refrigerator, covered.

Finely mince the parsley and mix it with the remaining oil, a pinch of salt, and a healthy dusting of pepper to make the sauce.
Wash the arugola and cut it into strips.
Wash the lemons, pat them dry, and grate their zest; combine the zest with the pasta and the peas, stir the sauce into the pasta, and serve.

Garnished Meatballs

Ingredients:

Potatoes (see below for amounts)
Boiled meat
Parsley, onion, carrot, and prsociutto
Eggs

Preparation:

Begin by boiling or steaming about a pound of peeled potatoes; mash them when they have cooled.
Grind 3/4 pound of lean boiled meat. Mince together a small bunch of parsley (1/4 cup or so), a half a small onion, an equal volume of carrot, and two fine slices of prosciutto.
Combine the minced ingredients with the ground meat and the potatoes, and work three eggs, plus one or two whites if you have them, and 2 heaping tablespoons of flour into the mixture.

Make meatballs an inch in diameter from the mixture, roll them in abundant bread crumbs, and pan fry them in hot oil, turning them frequently so they brown on all sides as they cook; once they're done put them on absorbent paper to drain.
The meatballs can be served hot as is, dusted with minced parsley. However, they're at their best with fresh peas.

Mince 2 thin slices of pancetta (about an ounce) and a clove of garlic, and sauté the mixture in a pot. When the garlic is lightly browned stir in 3/4 pound of freshly shelled peas, about a half cup of boiling water, and several tablespoons tomato sauce.
Simmer the peas until done, adding more liquid if necessary, and shred a couple of leaves of basil into them when you remove them from the fire.

You can either serve the meatballs and peas separately, or you can stir the meatballs into the peas and transfer everything to a serving platter.
The wine? A light zesty red, for example a Chianti d'annata (the current vintage), or perhaps a robust white, for example a Vernaccia di San Gimignano.

Buon appetito!

10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410