Kohlrabi is a odd looking vegetable that has remained relatively unknown. It belongs to the Brassica family, which includes more favoured vegetables like broccoli, kale, and cabbage. It has a round, bulbous shape that can be green, purple, or white, and grows above ground on a thick stem; it has an unconventional appearance that seems to deter home cooks.
Kohlrabi has a mild, slightly sweet taste and a crisp texture similar to a turnip or radish. It tastes like a cross between cabbage (sweetness, and maybe just a little bit of sharp heat) and a mild radish (spicy, peppery, like mustard and horseradish).
The bulb of kohlrabi can be eaten raw and cooked, is low in calories packed with vitamins and antioxidants. The leaves can be cooked, the young leaves can be added to salads.
But despite its nutritional pedigree and potential appeal, kohlrabi an underappreciated vegetable in many kitchens.
I was recently asked to write about kohlrabi by Lindsay Marie Morris, a novelist and journalist based in Los Angeles, California. Her work spans multiple topics and she has a strong passion for Sicilian culture and cuisine.
Lindsay Marie Morris found kohlrabi recipes on my blog.
In Ragusa (south eastern Sicily) is where my father’s family lives and they cook the bulb and leaves with homemade pasta called Causunedda. The water that the vegetables are cooked in (broth) is enriched with fresh pork rind and the pasta is also cooked in the broth. It may not sound appealing, but this wet pasta dish is very unique and steeped in family tradition.
The Ragusani are known for their straightforward, flavourful dishes that focus on local produce, rich meats—especially pork—and seasonal vegetables. This emphasis on simplicity has profoundly shaped my understanding of cooking, showing me that the best meals often come from the freshest ingredients and strong traditions.
Below, photo of the homemade Causunedda as made by one of the elderly aunt and helped by the family. Unfortunately she is deceased and probably the younger faily members no longer make them.
My cousin in Ragusa mixing the Causanedda. It is usually a family affair.
In Augusta (just south of Catania), a cousin from my mother’s side of the family treats its bulb and leaves as many Italians treat green, leafy vegetables. The vegetables are cooked – boiled, then drained and sautéed in extra virgin olive oil, garlic and anchovies. Chillies are optional, but adding chillies in Sicily is very common. The sautéd vegetables are then used to dress. and like when cooking pasta with broccoli, the pasta is cooked in the flavoured water that has been used to cook the broccoli.
Follow Lindsay Marie Morris’s author journey and explore her writing about Sicilian culture at lindsaymorris.com/blog.
A very early photograth of me holding bunches of Kohlrabi in Ragusa. You can see how the size of the bulbs are smaller and there are many more leaves than the ones I see and buy in Australia and have seen in other European countries and in Vietnam.
I am writing a tribute to Gus and Carmel, owners of IL Fruttivendolo.
In 2009, I first wrote a post about Gus and Carmel Bressi’s enthralling seasonal, heirloom produce at the Queen Victoria Market on my blog, Sicilian Seafood Cooking. But my shopping at their vibrant stall began long before that.
When I moved from Adelaide to Melbourne in early 2002, I stumbled upon a hidden gem nestled in the QVM— a fruit and vegetable stall that felt like my own slice of Italy. I live just a stone’s throw away from the market and I found a profusion of seasonal delights that was reminiscent of my Italian background.
Gus and Carmel’s stall became my one destination for all things fresh. Here, I found a bounty of ingredients that were nearly impossible to find elsewhere in the QVM: the first cime dirapa, artichokes and cardoons (Carmel holding a cardoon).
Carmel was certainly very original and inspiring when displaying vegetables. Those brussels came from her.
Their shelves overflowed with fragrant herbs, crunchy fennel (both bulb and bunch), kohlrabi, and wild greens like nettles, milk thistle and amaranth that added adventurous variations to my cooking.
Endives, frisée and chicory were alongside bunches of puntarelle and senape – and I question if any shopper had seen this leafy green vegetable before (Senape is the middle photo).
There was an array of cauliflowers in every imaginable shape and colour and for many, much of the produce was uncommon. Above – Gus being enchanting to Mary Taylor Simeti who was visiting Melbourne from Sicily at the time. Although I had told him about her, when I introduced him to her, I dont think he realized just how much she knew!!! Mary is the queen of Sicilian Food writing. (Pomp and Sustanance, Bitter Almonds, Sicilian Summer – Cooking with my grandsons).
I marvelled at their diverse colours of eggplants, pink, white, violet and even striped eggplants, varieties that I had not seen since Sicily, crisp witlof of two different colours, and types of radicchio that I had not encountered since Trieste and Venice where radicchio reigns supreme (In the regions Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Veneto).
Fresh borlotti beans, broad beans, and the asparagus in colours and thicknesses, the thick white variety that was everywhere in Paris in Spring. The purple variety surprised me because it lost its colour when cooked.
And who could forget the first heirloom tomatoes, strikingly different carrots, and the sweetness of fresh figs and prickly pears?
While you might spot a few of these treasures at other stalls, Gus and Carmel were the true pioneers. Their passion for produce was profound, and they were more than happy to share tips on how to prepare even the most unfamiliar vegetables, turning every shopping trip into a culinary lesson. They were innovators, always one step ahead, knowing exactly what was in and who to source it from. Others, like John from Tomato City specialises in tomatoes, he does have eggplants, radicchio and artichokes, as Italian stallholders generally do, but Il Fruttivendolo specialised in the uncommon, a great range of varieties of the same vegetables, those not usually seen in other greengrocers.
Below, broadbeans. notice how relatively small they are. theis is how they should be sold, not like the briadbeans that are generally found in other places that are picked far too mature.
Their stall was filled with vibrant colour and fragrances and each vegetable, fruit and herb was meticulously labelled and beautifully arranged in baskets and boxes.
It was no wonder that their display often attracted the attention of photographers and TV crews, even if their contributions went unrecognized.
Gus and Carmel were initially located in B Shed, Stall 61-65, their space later transformed into the beloved Il Fruttivendolo—a name that elegantly summarises their dual role as sellers of both fruit and vegetables.
Il = the, frutti = fruit + vendolo = seller = fruitseller.
Just as greengrocers also sell fruit, fruit sellers also sell vegetables.
When the Queen Victoria Market underwent its redevelopment, they were relocated to a couple of temporary stalls before being housed in A Shed, where they continued to enthral customers.
Sadly, when I returned from a three-month trip away and I found that Il Fruttivendolo was no longer there. The operation of the stall came to an abrupt end early one morning when Carmel, alone and carefully organizing her produce, was threatened by an assailant at knife point. Fortunately, another stallholder intervened, chasing the assailant away. But the incident left its mark, prompting Gus and Carmel to accelerate their timing to retire.
Gus and Carmel Bressi were not just suppliers of fruits and vegetables; they were large contributors to the vibrancy of the Queen Victoria Market. Their absence is felt deeply by their customers and the other stall holders, especially those who just like Carmel and Gus have been there for a very long time.
They are remembered for their legacy, the flavours they brought to many kitchens, and their dedication and commitment to source quality produce.
There are many vegetable recipies in this blog – All Things Sicilian amd more.
Here are a few recipes, but if you use the search botton you will be able to find many more.
Initially, the plan was straightforward, my partner and I were to head north in our simple campervan to the Northern Territory and then loop back to Melbourne via Mount Isa and the inland roads of Queensland and make our way back to Melbourne.
But just like my cooking, there were revisions, adjustments, unexpected twists and the itinerary evolved – the two-month trip became a three-month exploration.
I left Melbourne on July 16 (2024) driving first to Mildura and then through parts of South Australia to the Flinders Ranges and on to Marree and Coober Pedy. From there we planned to travel via Uluru and Kata Tjuta National Parks to Toritja (Western McDonnells) and Alice Springs to Darwin, stopping off at Litchfield National Park, Katherine Gorge and, of course, many places in between.
The second lap was from Darwin to Kakadu and Katherine, into Karumba in the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Atherton Tableland to Cairns, down the Great Barrier Reef Coast through places like Mission Beach and Cardwell to Townsville.
From Townsville, I travelled through inland Queensland to Emerald, Carnarvon Gorge and Roma, and into Northern New South Wales to Lighting Ridge, Dubbo and Canowindra, Junee, Jerilderrie, Shepperton. Once again with many places in between.
Every location and every state disclosed their unique cultures and tapestries of breathtaking landscapes, waterfalls, vibrant colours, extremes of dry and lush vegetation, shifting weather, dawn and dusk, and the fascinating cycles of the seasons. The six Aboriginal seasons rather than our four colonial imports make so much more sense in a country as vast as Australia. I marvelled at the ancient rock paintings and the splendid Aboriginal Art in galleries and museums.
Cooking in our camper van is an outdoor affair. Meals were quick and easy, ready to be eaten and cleaned away before dusk to escape the incoming swarm of mosquitoes and sandflies. The buzzing of the mosquitoes was a constant alert to their presence, but the tiny insects were crafty, silent attackers, their bites lingering for days.
This transient cooking meant I didn’t always have sufficient light or time to take photos of our meals Still, my partner and I ate extremely well and healthily, even if in the remote outback, the variety of fresh vegetables were lacking. I took my chances to stock up for a few days at a time from the larger towns.
I bought fresh herbs (such as parsley, rosemary, thyme and oregano) from home and was happy to find the bay leaves and thyme lasted in the ice box for about four weeks. In some supermarkets I was able to buy basil and coriander. From a stall in the front of a sugar cane plantation in north Queensland I bought fresh tumeric. As you can see, my cooking was not all Italian, but the principles, respect of ingredients and dedication remain the same.
I cooked mainly vegetarian meals: cauliflower, zucchini, red peppers and sweet potatoes were always available and I made many tasty vegetable braises using pulses, often with eggs poached in the braises or topped with feta. This was the cheese that mostly available, sold in plastic packs, I was willing to I forget the Italian fresh cheeses as I was for anything that was a little out of the ordinary.
Tomatoes, avocado, lettuce and, strangely enough, rocket and red cabbage were also available in some places so I managed to make interesting salads. I did not expect to see any Italian greens, but bok choi was plentiful in most places – especially North Queensland – and a variation of simple stir fries with bean curd was often on the menu. Pulses and nuts have always been part of my cooking. Once again I had to I forget the Italian vegetables and anything that was a little out of the ordinary.
I seem not to have bothered with taking many photos of vegetarian dishes, instead I took photos of the very few occasions I cooked meat or fish – Barramundi in the gulf of Carpentaria and in northern Queensland, green tiger prawns on Queensland’s north coast and fillet steak in the Northern territory and it was so good to find lush greens in the Atherton Tablelands that I bought pork fillet, bok choi, coriander and fresh ginger that I accompanied with squashed cucumber.
Barramundi cooked two ways:
Fillet steak with a herb butter:
Pork fillet with bok choi
Green Tiger Prawns:
We only had two meals out, each with friends and here, too, we embraced the local flavours. In Cairns, northern Queensland I ordered barramundi at a yacht club with friends visiting from South Australia and later, in Canowindra in central New South Wales, I enjoyed a hearty steak, fittingly so, since our friend is an environmental consultant, pastoralist adviser and beef cattle rancher.
Purchasing alcohol while traversing the outback comes with its own set of rules, and ordering alcohol can be an intimidating experience! I quickly learned that beer reigns supreme as the drink of choice. And if you find yourself in a remote location, avoid asking for specific wine varietals, dry cider, or red wine that has not been chilled to the same degree as beer—there’s no forgiveness!
Phone and internet coverage was very spotty at best in the outback. When we did manage to connect, it was all about researching maps, checking road conditions, and booking campsites.
In my previous post, “From Melbourne to Darwin,” I shared snapshots of some of the food from that leg of the journey, and I’ll continue to do this in this post. i had difficulties selecting photos, there are so many, and we covered so much ground.
In the realm of cooking, sometimes with a little spontaneity, the simplest dishes surprise us the most and are the most rewarding. These Herb-Stuffed Mushrooms, for instance are stuffed with just a handful of fresh herbs and a bit of kitchen intuition. Here’s the simple recipe that may encourage you to experiment with different herbs.
The stems of the mushroom are dense and meaty and when blended with the herbs thicken the stuffing.
Nuts, cheese or a bit of bread to the blend will also stiffen the stuffing.
In this mixture I added mint and a little grated lemon peel to add a fresh taste. I trusted my culinary judgement and some bread crumbs on top of the stuffing to add some crunch and texture.
Once baked, these Herb-Stuffed Mushrooms had an irresistible aroma and a nice crunch from the breadcrumbs.
Whether served hot or at room temperature, they make for a delightful appetizer or a side dish that complements any meal.
In Italian, herbs are called erbe aromatiche. These mushrooms would be more appealing if they were described as: Funghi gratinati al forno, con erbe aromatiche.
Ingredients:
Large mushrooms, with a good cavity for stuffing and intact stems
Fresh herbs: thyme, marjoram, parsley, mint (adjust according to taste)
Grated lemon peel
1 large clove of garlic, peeled
Extra virgin olive oil (sufficient for blending)
Salt and pepper to taste
Breadcrumbs made from good quality, day-old bread, blended with a little extra virgin olive oil
Instructions:
Clean the mushrooms by wiping them with a damp cloth. Carefully remove the stems, ensuring the caps remain intact.
Prepare the Herb Blend:
In a blender, combine the herbs (thyme, marjoram, parsley), mushroom stems (cut into small pieces), peeled garlic clove, a pinch of salt, ground pepper, and a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil. Blend until the mixture reaches a puree-like consistency.
Stuff and Bake:
Preheat the oven to 170-180°C (340-360°F).
Place the cleaned mushroom caps in a baking dish lightly greased with extra virgin olive oil.
Spoon the herb mixture evenly into each mushroom cap, filling them generously.
In a separate bowl, mix breadcrumbs with a little extra virgin olive oil until coated. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over each stuffed mushroom.
Bake and Serve:
Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender and the breadcrumbs turn golden brown.
More Ideas:
Cooking, for me is about being creative and trusting my culinary instincts.
Experiment with different herb combinations or add a few nuts or a little cheese to suit your taste preferences. Here are a few ideas:
Use rosemary, sage, parsley as the herbs for the stuffing. If I wanted to add nuts, I would select almonds or walnuts. I am unlikely to add cheese here, as the mixture would overpower the taste of the cheese.
Oregano is a strong tasting herb and I might pair it with thyme and a bit of parsley to tame the aromas. I would probably add some anchovies because these will complement the strong flavours, no nuts, but a little grated pecorino would be perfect.
When using basil or soft spinach as the main ingredients for a stuffing, I would select pine nuts or pistachio. These are not strong tasting nuts and would not be overpowering. If I wanted to add cheese I would add Parmigiano or fresh ricotta. Both are mild cheeses. I would also add a bit of nutmeg.
I recently blended leftover parsley, fresh coriander, and watercress stems (left over from the makings of a salad), which turned out excellent. However, if you’re hosting Italians, be mindful that coriander isn’t commonly favored in Italian cuisine. Nevertheless, there are also many non-Italian friends who aren’t fond of coriander. If you consider adding nuts, raw peanuts would complement the Asian flavors well.
Grated lemon peel added to stuffings is excellent.
This is the season for Cime di rapa and I can’t get enough of them.
Unfortunately this green leafy vegetable that is in season now (winter) can be hard to find, even at the Queen Victoria Market (Melbourne). Gus and Carmel who have a stall at the QVM called Il Fruttivendelo (Frutti+ vendelo= fruit+ seller) have bunches of Cime di rapa. A fruttivendolo doesn’t only sell fruit, and as this well stocked stall attests, they have a wide range of seasonal fruit and vegetables; some that you will have trouble to find anywhere else, for example, I buy prickly pears, chicory, endives and much more.
The only other person who sometimes has Cime di rapa is John from Tomato City.
And by the way, another vegetable that is difficult to source is artichoke and both of these stalls sell them, in season of course.
I have seen bunches of Cime di rapa in greengrocers in the suburbs, at least those that have Italian proprietors. You won’t have any trouble finding them in Adelaide as most greengrocers are owned by Italians.
Italians mostly refer to them as Cime (tops or tips). A rapa is a turnip, Cime di rapa are turnip tips or tops, perhaps they are called this because this green leafy vegetable is a mustard tasting green, like turnips. As you see they look a bit like broccoli and they have a yellow flower.
As for my recent jaunt to the Dandenong Market, while Cime may have eluded me, the diversity of fresh produce on display was nothing short of mesmerizing The quality was superb, and the prices were amazingly cheap. Not surprisingly, there were very good looking, high quality, fresh zucchini, eggplants and okra at all the stalls.
Amidst the chatter of countless languages, the market’s vibrancy was enormous. I say not surprisingly, as the produce vendors and shoppers reflected the rich tapestry of cultures that live in Dandenong.
The City of Greater Dandenong is the most culturally diverse community in Australia, with residents from 157 birth places and 64 per cent of its population born overseas.
Among the more than 130 different languages spoken are Vietnamese, Khmer, Chinese, Greek, Albanian, a large Indian population especially Punjabi, Pakistani, Afghan, Sri Lankan and Sinhalese.
When it comes to sourcing ingredients, I’m no stranger to the busy streets of Melbourne’s CBD and I have no problems finding Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese and Chinese ingredients, but I go to Dandenong mainly for the array of Indian hard to source treasures. That recent excursion yielded spices, dhal, and pickles;each ingredient an undertaking of culinary endeavours to come.
I was really keen to cook Cime that night and came home via a greengrocer that would have them, and they did.
Cime di rapa
Most cooks who are familiar with this green leafy vegetable are also familiar with the most popular and common ways of cooking them to dress short pasta, especially orecchiette – (little ears shaped pasta, photo above). The greens are usually softened/cooked first and then tossed in extra virgin olive oil, garlic and chilli. It is a Southern Italian dish (made popular in Puglia, Bari is the capital city). Cows are widespread in the North, sheep in the South and therefore it is fitting that the grated cheese to top the pasta is Pecorino, made from sheep’s milk. Parmigiano is made from cow’s milk, leave that for Northern pasta dishes.
My relatives in Sicily (and most likely in other Italian regions) boil the greens in quite a bit of salted water and once the greens are drained they reserve the water to cook the pasta.
The drained greens are sautéed in extra virgin olive oil, chilli and garlic. The vegetable water flavours the pasta and sometimes tinges that pasta green. It is a nice touch, but I prefer to sauté the cleaned greens without cooking them first. I like to concentrate the flavour of the vegetables and keep a little bit of crunch – not Italian at all.
Most of the time I add anchovies to the hot oil before adding the chilli and garlic. The anchovies dissolve easily in the hot oil before I add and sauté the chilli and garlic, and finally. Omit the salt if you are adding anchovies.
Cime cooked the same way are great as a side vegetable, so forget the cavolo nero, silverbeet, kale and spinach, try Cime instead.
There are other ways to cook Cime as an accompaniment to pasta. Popular is the addition of good pork and fennel Italian sausages, but most of the time I like to cook the Cime (with or without the pork sausages) with pulses – particularly chickpeas, cannellini or borlotti beans. With the pork sausages I tend to favour borlotti, they taste more meaty.
Sometimes I use feta instead of grated cheese. It is much creamier and definitely not Italian. One of the highlights of residing in a multicultural country is that one can mix and match without having a Italian looking over your shoulder.
I keep the feta in extra virgin olive oil and herbs in my fridge. Use tough herbs like Bay leaves and Thyme. Dried Oregano, fennel seeds, peppercorn or chilli flakes ate good but not soft herbs or fresh garlic… these oxidise and rot.
Red tomatoes are also a good addition. In winter tomatoes are out of season, so if you are not able to use fresh tomatoes one tin is sufficient – toss chopped tomatoes and their juice in a saucepan, add a glug of extra virgin olive oil, 1-2 garlic cloves some fresh basil (seems to be for sale all year round) or some oregano (fresh or dried), a little salt and reduce it as you would to make a tomato salsa to dress pasta. Add the tomato salsa to the sautéed Cime cooked with or without anchovy. If you are using pomodorini as I am in the photos below , you may prefer to just sauté the tomatoes. I rather like the explosion of flavour that pomodorini provide.
Leave the above sauce as it is or add a cup or so of chickpeas, cannellini or borlotti.
There is very little waste (if any) because the larger stems that can be tough can be stripped of their outer peel.
Whether served as a comforting pasta dish or as a humble side, Cime di rapa with their depth of flavour do it for me every time.
Other information and recipes about Cime di Rapa (also referred to in the plural as Cime di rape).
Minestra Maritata is from Calabria. Maritata in the Calabrese/Calabrian dialect means married.
It is an odd name for a soup and as Danielle Alvarez says in the introduction of her recipe, it has nothing to do with marriage. I was very happy to see a version of Danielle Alvarez’ s recipe for Minestra Maritata in The Age (March 30/2024 ). Not many people have written about this recipe and what Alvarez has written adds yet another layer to this mysterious traditional recipe. Alverez has added meatballs (polpette) and this seems appropriate and the version I ate in Adelaide a number of years ago was also presented with polpette that were served separately.
I too have written about Minestra Maritata after I ate it in a small restaurant called Minestra in Adelaide and I enjoyed researching it. Mine is more based for a peasant culture and is different, but then again there are bound to be local variations in all traditional recipes.
The article and recipe from: Danielle Alvarez, The Age (March 30/2024 ).
ALSO KNOWN as “minestra maritata” , this soup actually isn’t served at weddings; instead, its name refers to the beautiful “marrying” of flavours contained in the meaty broth, savoury meatballs, sweet vegetables and, of course, the pasta. Traditionally, this dish is made by first concocting a flavourful broth using chicken, beef and/or pork bones, then adding very small meatballs, pasta and endive (escarole) towards the end. If you’re short of time, use bought stock but remember to brown the meatballs before poaching them to provide the umami kick that store-bought stock sometimes lacks. If you can’t find endive, just use spinach. You’ll be making this on repeat throughout winter.
SERVES 4 FOR THE MEATBALLS
250g pork mince 250g beef or veal mince 1 egg
cup grated parmesan cheese,
plus more for serving 1 tsp dried oregano ½ tsp fine sea salt 2 garlic cloves, peeled and
grated on a microplane ½ cup dried breadcrumbs black pepper
FOR THE SOUP
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 onion, peeled and diced 2 celery stalks, finely diced 3 large carrots, peeled and finely diced 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes (optional) pinch of salt ½ tsp fresh or dried rosemary leaves, finely chopped 1.5 litres chicken stock 1 parmesan rind ½ cup dried ditalini or orzo pasta 1 head endive, leaves separated and washed, or 280g baby spinach salt and black pepper
First, make your meatball mix by combining all the ingredients and mixing well. Use a teaspoon to scoop the mix (each ball is about a heaped teaspoon’s worth, so they’re quite small). Shape into balls and line up on a baking tray or large plate and keep shaping until all the mix is used up.
Heat a large soup pot or enamel-lined Dutch oven over medium/high heat. Add the olive oil and brown the meatballs on all sides. You will need to do this in a couple of batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Remove the meatballs and set aside.
Next, add the chopped onion, celery, carrots, garlic and chilli flakes (if using). Add a good pinch of salt and cook over medium heat until the vegetables have softened and the onions are translucent (about 10-15 minutes). Add the rosemary and sizzle for a minute longer before you add the stock and parmesan rind. Bring to a simmer, then return the meatballs to the pot. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the dried pasta and cook until al dente (check the packet). When the pasta is al dente, add the endive or spinach and allow that to wilt into the soup (about 2 minutes). Discard the parmesan rind and check seasoning; adjust if necessary.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve hot with extra grated parmesan cheese on top.
Marisa Raniolo Wilkins, All Things Sicilian and More, Post: Minestra Maritata, Date: 20/6/ 2018
Minesta in Italian means soup. But it does not stop there – minestrone is a thick soup and minestrina is a more delicate or thin soup. All minestre (plural) may or may not have pasta (or pastina) or rice or grains added to thicken them.
Then there is zuppa and this Italian word shares the common root with soupe (French), suppe (German) and sopa (Spanish and Portuguese). These days the differences between a minestra and a zuppa are probably interchangeable and there are always regional and cultural variations (as the Calabrese minestra below), but a zuppa relies on an accompaniment of a slice of bread; usually this is placed in the bowl and the zuppa is ladled on top. The bread soaks up the juice and therefore no pasta, or rice, or grains (barley, wheat) are needed. Traditionally, a zuppa has a broth base, whereas the liquid in a minesta is more likely to be water and relies on the vegetables, pulses, fish, meat (or smoked meat) for flavour. In modern times, recipes for minestra may include the addition of water, stock or broth as the liquid base .
So why am I taking such an interest in the specific Calabrese minestra?
I was recently in Adelaide and ate at Minestra, a small home style eatery in Prospect (Adelaide) and orderedminestra with my pork and veal and eggplant polpette.
The minestra in this case was presented less soupy and more like a side for the polpette, but it could also be ordered unaccompanied as a one course dish – with a little more liquid and more a like soup.
Minestra in Calabria takes on a different significance and is a traditional, peasant dish suited to the people who were used to working very hard on the land. And it does not use pasta in this dish … the Calabrese have a reputation for being different (I say this as a pun). This Calabrese minestra has a certain degree of austerity about it, it is not sophisticated or complicated and it is made from simple frugal ingredients – wild greens if possible, and if one was lucky, perhaps a little pork. It also contains beans – dried broad beans or borlotti or cannellini. Hence the description of this minestra being maritata (married in Calabrese dialect) – several green vegetables and the beans (and bits of pork) are ‘married’ or combined to produce a very thick, stew like soup. Some variations include potatoes and as for the pork, it can be fresh meat ribs or rind. I have also seen a recipe that includes the rind of grating cheese (pecorino) for flavourings.
In Calabria, as in Sicily, wild foraged greens are much appreciated and not just due to necessity (as they once were). In Australia we may not be familiar with the range of edible plants available or have access to as many, but we do have some very good, green, leafy vegetables that provide contrasting and strong flavours.
A mixture of three or four of seasonal, green, leafy vegetables, is sufficient – I am using endives (or escarole) and chicory, that are both bitter,cime di rapa (a brassica) for the mustard taste and sow thistle that was sold to me as milk thistle and tastes mild and grassy.
Endives:
Cime di Rapa, Chicory, Sow Thistle:
Wild fennel, amaranth, nettles are also wild greens that could be accessible to you or you may be growing borage in your garden.
I am going to be Italian when I write this recipe. There are no measurements for the ingredients but my photos can give you an indication and it is ‘cucina povera‘- peasant cooking – that is, use what you can get, make it to your taste, add as much liquid as you wish, but keep it thick.
Use a variety of green leafy seasonal vegetables – whatever you can get – go for combinations of taste – bitter, sweet, peppery, grassy, aniseed taste (as in fennel).
RECIPE for Minestra
Soak, cook pulses (borlotti, cannellini, dried broad beans) … or buy tinned beans if that is what you do. In my photo you will see that Ii have used black-eyed beans – this is not an Italian bean, but it is what I had on hand at the time and I do not think that my breaking of tradition mattered. Drain the pulses you intend to use. Keep the liquid (broth) in case you want to add it as the liquid for the minestra.
Clean the greens, separate them from any tough stems but keep the softer ones.
Soften the greens – boil them in as much or as little salted water as you cook all your green leafy vegetables. Drain them but reserve some liquid for the minestra. I did not have to discard any because I did not use much water to cook my greens.
Chop garlic ( I used quite a bit), sauté the drained greens, add beans. My ratio was about 2/3 greens and 1/3 beans.
Add chopped chilli at the same time as the garlic if you wish or serve chopped chilli or chilli paste separately (Calabresi a fond of pepper paste).
Add as much liquid as you wish, dish it up, drizzle some extra virgin oil on it and eat it with some good bread.
This post about Minestra Maritata was written much earlier and has more information, but mainly about the restaurant called Minestra. Unfortunately the restaurant is no longer there.
Italian traditional and regional recipes for the upcoming festive season.
Usually my month of December is just so busy that I don’t have time to investigate new recipes and I tend to rely on old favourites that I can cook with my eyes closed. Some of these old favourites are: Pasta Con Le Sarde; Baccalàcooked in various ways; a Risotto or Pasta with squid and black ink with green peas; Mussels/ Cozze; Tuna/Tonno steaks also cooked in different ways: Insalata Russa; Grilled seasonal vegetables/ Verdura all griglia like zucchini, peppers and eggplants; and for dessert, there is either Zuppa Inglese with Arkemes (Alchermes) or a Sicilian Cassata., made with ricotta.
You will find all of these recipes on my blog.
This year I am in Adelaide for Christmas. I had given my family in Adelaide some options of what I could cook for Christmas Eve, but they all asked for two old favourites – Baccalà Mantecato and Caponata Catanese as part of the antipasti….. same old, same old.
The Baccalà Mantecato is from the Veneto region in Italy and something that was very common in Trieste (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) where my parents and I lived when I was a child. The baccalà is soaked in water for 3 days, then poached in milk, bay and a couple of garlic cloves, drianed and creamed with extra virgin oilve oil. It is spread on crostini – bread brushed with oil and toasted. The crostini my mother made were toased in a frypan and never in the oven. Crostini made with polenta are also favourites… but who has the time?
In the photo below is the soaked baccalà.
The Caponata Catanese is from Catania in Sicily. Unlike the Caponata from Palermo that is made with eggplants. This version is made with peppers as well as eggplants and the usual caponata ingredients of green olives, celery, a bit of tomato paste and the agro-dolce, (a sweet and sour sauce). This is topped with pine nuts and basil.
So let’s just share a recipe for Christmas, but remember that at this time of year it is hot in Australia (because it is summer), if it is winter where you are, you may not even consider cooking it. It is braised lentils cooked wit Cotechino…..Cotechino con le lenticchie.
Although I would never serve this at midnight as was customary in some parts of Emilia-Romagna where the dish originates, it is an interesting choice. The Cotechino is a rich seasoned pork sausage that I poach with the lentils. The thick sausage is then sliced and served on top of a bed of braised lentils.
The green lentils that resemble the shape of coins are intended to bring you prosperity in the New Year.
When it comes to making a Peperonata I become a testa dura (a hard head, someone who resists change).
For me, like so many other Sicilian recipes, I never include tomatoes or passata.
My maternal grandmother from Catania used to make it and I always remember her adding some water. You may find this strange, but it does soften the peppers and this water does evaporate.
The other thing I like to include in my Peperonata is vinegar and a little sugar. This also makes it an agro-dolce dish.
Yellow and red peppers are common in a Peperonata, simply because they are sweeter in taste. The multi coloured peppers add visual impact.
On this occasion I just used red peppers becausein South Australia red peppers are still abundant, they were firm and fresh specimens.
There are variations to making Peperonata, and this will not surprise you one bit. For example, apart from adding tomatoes, some add black olives or cubed potatoes.
But not me!
In some parts of Sicily, the Peperonata is topped with toasted breadcrumbs (good white bread, coarse crumbs tossed in a frypan with hot extra virgin olive oil). I must admit that the breadcrumbs (as the cubed potatoes) do soak up some of the juices and add a different texture.
But not me… well, not always!
I like to present it as an antipasto with good bread.
I always serve it cold.
Peperonata is relatively easy to make, you just have to make sure that there is sufficient liquid in the pan so that the peppers don’t stick.
Obviously, you can also imagine this dish paired with baked ricotta or burrata. Because of the vinegar and the sugar, and just like a pickle, it pairs well with some small goods – breasaola, lomba, ossocollo…those lean thin slices of meat.
It is delicious as a stuffing for a panino or for a bruschetta…not that I ever make bruschetta, it is far too trendy!
3 white onions, 1 clove of garlic chopped finely
6 peppers of mixed colours, but the red and yellow peppers are sweeter
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons of white or red wine vinegar
salt and black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoons of sugar, to taste
Slice the onions finely. Core the peppers and cut them into strips.
Heat the oil, soften the onion and then add the peppers and the garlic and sauté the ingredients.
Cover with a lid and continue cooking for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent onions and peppers from sticking to the bottom.
When the peppers start to soften add about 1/4 cup of water. Stir to coat all the peppers well.
Cover with the lid again, add salt and pepper and continue cooking them on slow heat for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid, turn up the heat, add the vinegar and the sugar. Turn up the heat, stir the ingredients to coat them and evaporate some of the liquid.
Add fresh basil leaves or fresh oregano. Place into a container and leave the peperonata for at least 4 hours for the flavours to intensify. I like to leave it overnight in a covered container in the fridge.
Serve at room temperature.
At the time of serving you may wish to remove the spent oregano / basil and replace it with fresh leaves.
When I look at the above list of vegetables I know that I have not included recipes on my blog for the following vegetables: daikon, okra, parsnip, shallots, swede and probably turnip. This is not to say that I don’t use these vegetables, but I tend to write more about Mediterranean vegetables.
My blog is called All Things Sicilian and More and I have written many recipes for winter vegetables. Although the “and More” in the title of my blog is supposed to imply that I cook more than Sicilian food, I tend to write about Italian cooking because this is my background, the cooking of my childhood and the basis of my cooking.
I use Asian greens in my cooking as well, and I particularly enjoy mustard greens, that I have cooked as I cook cime di rapa with pasta. I cook Chinese green leafy vegetables as I cook European leafy greens: stir fried in extra virgin oil and garlic. Sometimes I add anchovies and sometimes chillies.
During this season, I will revisit some recipes that include winter vegetables and the vegetables I have chosen to begin with are two chicories: Cicoria and Catalogna.
Cicoria – Chicory
Catalogna is a variant of cicoria. In Italy is also called Puntarelle or cicoria di catalogna or cicoria asparago: asparago means asparagus and this name is very appropriate as the plant looks like a head of shoots.
Catalogna (Puntarelle) has leaves that look like large leaves of chicory and dandelions, but more pointy and narrower; its leaves and shoots have the same bitter taste. And I love bitter greens.
Like chicory, the young and tender shoots of Catalogna can be eaten raw in salads. It is common to soak the puntarelle shoots in ice water for a while so that they curl. and then to dress them with a vinaigrette with anchovies and garlic. They are delicious.
Dressing with anchovies: 500g- 1 kilo puntarelle, 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil, 1tbs of vinegar, 3-4 anchovies, 1 clove of garlic. Pound the anchovies and garlic, add the oil and vinegar.
I have been writing about cicoria and puntarelle for a very long time.
This post was published on Nov 9, 2009 and it is worth looking at:
In the last few months I have spent very little time at home and with no time to write; I have travelled from one state to another (South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria) in a camper van with little time in between.
But while I have been away I continue to cook.
Cooking whilst camping is all about simplicity and the following dishes (even the duck) may look glam but they were simple to prepare and cook.
Peperonata/ Sweet and sour peppers
Duck breasts marinading
Pan fried duck cooked with plums
Red cabbage braised with apples, red wine and caraway seeds
Pan fried fillet of fish with lemon slices and capers
The usual favourite – pan fried tomatoes with poached eggs and basil
Roger’s pumpkin… Roger was our travelling companion in Tasmania
Radicchio keeps for a very long time and came in handy with salads – with beetroot and feta or with borlotti beans and spring onions
Funghi /mushrooms al funghetto
funghi al funghetto – parsley and garlic
Eggplants also keep well
Melanzane al funghetto. Eggplants( cooked like mushrooms, sautéed with garlic and parsley par
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