Tuscany | All Things Sicilian and more

CEDRO o LIMONE? Insalata di limone. Sicilian Lemon salad.

Cedro o Limone? Insalata di Simone — my Sicilian lemon salad — came immediately to mind when I spotted these extraordinary lemons at the Alphington Melbourne Farmers’ Market.

9F39F19A-DC95-459C-90AF-36A1420805EE — Mature lemons from Alphington Farmers’ Market.

Was I excited? Absolutely.

At the Sennsational Berries stall, I found a small basket of mature, thick-skinned lemons—the kind you rarely see unless you’re in Sicily or have an old tree in your garden. For a moment I wondered whether they were cedri (citron), but I was assured they were lemons. One taste confirmed it: fragrant, juicy, and perfect for the simple salad my father used to make in Ragusa before he moved to Trieste.

48877649-9EED-44D9-82AF-B460953AAFA3 — Thick-skinned lemon peeled and ready for Sicilian lemon salad.

I peeled the lemon, cut away the pith, and squeezed out just enough juice to keep the flavour balanced but not overly sharp—this salad should be refreshing, not acidic.

Fresh garlic is essential. I still had some cloves from the previous week’s market visit, but this time I also bought tender garlic shoots. I sliced them finely and added fresh mint, a little parsley, and a handful of oregano picked from my balcony plant—originally taken from my father’s garden in Adelaide. He died years ago, and using his oregano still feels like a small act of keeping him close.

A6AA6ADE-42D7-4EDC-ACE3-6DF169C312AE — Fresh garlic shoots

The last time I bought garlic shoots was earlier this year when I was in the Maremma, Tuscany. Earlier this year in the Maremma, in our Airbnb in Castiglione della Pescaia, I cooked them with zucchini and zucchini flowers to make a dressing for pici, the local pasta. Simple ingredients, unforgettable flavours.

DE6978AD-586B-4C9C-B4FD-AF4FCE11E401 — Sicilian lemon salad with herbs and extra virgin olive oil.

Below, the pasta dish I cooked with the produce I purchased in Tuscany:

But back to the lemon salad in Melbourne.

To finish, all it needs is good extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of salt—the salt draws out the natural sweetness of the lemon. It’s a perfect summer dish. Think of it alongside seafood (BBQ fish is wonderful) or served with a simple roast chicken, as I did when I took the salad to a friend’s home.

2CBC0467-D20D-400A-B107-9869E74A8ECA — Sicilian lemon salad served alongside roast chicken.

I shared this recipe with the stallholders at the market, and they were just as excited as I was.

A simple lemon, but what a story it carries.

I have written about lemon salad before. That post also explains what is a cedro and has a photo of a cedro from a Sicilian market.

LEMON and CEDRO – SICILIAN LEMON SALAD

I shared my recipe with the stall owners. They were excited too.

Alphington Farmers’Market: ttps://melbourne-farmers-markets-mfm.myshopify.com/pages/alphington-farmers-market

STUFFED BAKED MUSHROOMS with Nepitella

On this occasion, I prepared stuffed, baked mushrooms (funghi ripieni or funghi farciti in Italian) with the herb called Nepitella.

Nepitella (calamint) is not very well known in Australia, but this aromatic herb is used in the regions of Tuscany and Lazio especially for the cooking of artichokes and mushrooms and other vegetable, but also eggs (surprising!).

This version of stuffed mushrooms was prepared for a gluten and dairy-free friend and I used crumbed gluten-free crackers. When not cooking for a gluten and dairy-free friend, I use breadcrumbs (any grain) and add grated Parmesan cheese to the stuffing mixture.

Apart from the crumbed cracker biscuits, these mushrooms are stuffed with the mushroom stalks, silver beet (or spinach), parsley, garlic, nutmeg, extra virgin olive oil and the herb Nepitella that I am growing on my balcony.

I have used Nepitella to stuff delicate tasting fish and I also like it with pork. A couple of months ago I was in Tuscany and I enjoyed collecting Nepitella (it grows wild).

Marjoram or thyme also go well with mushrooms. The larger leaves in the photo below are young plants of Warrigal Greens.

No need for quantities in this recipe…once again, you can estimate how much of each amount you wish to use for the stuffing.

stuffing – cracker biscuits, parsley, walnuts, garlic, nutmeg grinder.

PROCEDURE

Preheat oven at 180˚C

Wipe the mushrooms clean. Remove the stalks and finely chop them. Slice and chop the silver beet or spinach leaves. Crumb the cracker biscuits (or use breadcrumbs). .

Heat the oil in a pan add the chopped mushroom stalks and garlic. Cook for about 2 minutes until soft and golden. Remove from the stove.

Mix in in the silver beet or spinach, walnuts, biscuit (or bread) crumbs, a dash of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, herbs and nutmeg. Spoon the mixture onto the mushrooms.

Bake them until cooked throughout and browned on top. Mine were large mushrooms and I baked them for 15–20 minutes, I used baking paper with a little extra virgin olive oil.

HERB-STUFFED MUSHROOMS: A CULINARY EXPERIMENT

STUFFED MUSHROOMS with pine nuts and fresh breadcrumbs – Funghi ripieni

FUNGHI AL FUNGHETTO (Braised mushrooms)

SPRING IN TUSCANY

There are four of us staying in Castiglione della Pescaia in the Maremma, Southern Tuscany, and for the first time, there is sunshine and some evidence of Spring.

We have enjoyed 6 cloudy, cool days in Tuscany so far and there is evidence of spring produce that I enjoyed cooking.

8CB31DBB-5E32-4D1A-B9CE-B58D02D5E6F5 — Spring artichokes produce: artichokes, zucchini with blossoms attached and on the far right are bread beans.

The local shop that seem to stock all of the produce we ever needed.

E8EFFB79-A15C-490D-872F-9B561511654F — The local potter.

Other produce that seem to be in Tuscany no matter what season was Boar (cinghiale).

There were a wide range of Cinghiale salumi (smallgoods) in restaurants and produce stores.

But there are many other old spring favourites. For example the buds of the wild garlic. It is called Aglione. In Tuscany these tender shoots are considered a delicacy and are often cooked gently with olive oil, salt and tomato, or added to frittatas.

Aglione is a variety of giant Tuscan garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. holmense), sometimes compared and called elephant garlic. It has a mild aroma and sweet flavour. The fiore dell’aglione refers to the long green stems and flowering tops (scapes) that are removed so the bulbs can grow larger. Like the bulb itself, they have a delicate, slightly sweet flavour and are easy to digest

0F2F3EF1-8B5E-4C6A-B0D2-A40620487BA5 — These are fiore dell’aglione – the long green stems and flowering tops.

The makings of a frittata with the garlic flowers, asparagus, zucchini flowers and baby zucchini:

Amazing bread:

Unfortunately it has rained again and my friends and I are doubly saddened by the weather and because of the devastating results of the Australian elections.

We bought sardines and collected wild herbs. I pan-fried the sardines. They cooked quickly and we had them with a squeeze of lemon.

We collected the wild herb called nepitella that grows in crevices and I added them to mushrooms.

This was out antipasto. The ricotta and the cheese are made with a black coloured sheep specific to the Maremma region.

We travelled to many parts of Tuscany during our nearly three week stay and ate extremely well in eateries, restaurants and home.

CASTAGNACCIO (A Tuscan sweetened bread made with chestnut flour)

STUFFED BAKED MUSHROOMS with Nepitella

FUNGHI AL FUNGHETTO (Braised mushrooms)

This recipe is for mushrooms (funghi) and for this I have used King mushrooms.

FUNGHI AL FUNGHETTO is not quite Sicilian. Al funghetto is a cooking method which probably originated in Liguria and Toscana, but which is now embraced by all of Italy and not just used for mushrooms. In Italian, the use of al, allo and alla constructions (e.g. allo scoglio, alla caprese), is the equivalent of the French use of à la (e.g à la parisienne). It means cooked in the style of , and in this case, as cooking mushrooms (funghetto). For example, if I was cooking zucchini or eggplants al funghetto, the vegetables would be cooked in the same way as cooking mushrooms – thinly sliced, sautéed in extra virgin olive oil and flavoured with parsley, garlic (and sometimes a small quantity of tomato).

Usually if cooking al funghetto, garlic cloves are added to the hot oil and then removed, or if you do not mind eating it, chopped garlic is added at the same time as the mushrooms, but because King mushrooms require a longer cooking time, the garlic burns, therefore I sauté the mushrooms before adding the garlic.

In Liguria (the Genova region) as well as parsley and garlic, oregano is commonly used (wild oregano is preferred and is called cornabugia) whereas in Toscana (around Firenze) the oregano is usually replaced with a little calamint (nepitella).

As you can see in the photo, I have also used bay leaves and on different occasions I have used sage (salvia) – to impart a meaty flavour to the brawny mushrooms.

If my relatives were cooking funghi al funghetto in Sicily they would most likely add a little chopped tomato as well as the parsley and garlic (and perhaps oregano), but no sage, no catnip because they are not herbs that are commonly used in Sicily.

King mushrooms are readily available in Melbourne. Many are imported from Asia and tend to be sold very cheaply. Although they are more expensive, I always buy those that are grown locally – food miles and supporting local growers are important factors – and the mushrooms are not likely to have been sprayed with a preservative.

I like these mushrooms because they are very large and meaty.They retain their firm textured and you can eat the whole fungus. I presented them with bread (need I say good sourdough or pasta dura?) as an antipasto but they could also be a contorno (accompanying side dish) or a pasta sauce (lasagne – great!)

I estimated ½ – ¾ mushroom per person. In this recipe I have used the Ligurian choice of herb, oregano, but you can replace it with one of the other herbs mentioned above.

INGREDIENTS

mushrooms, 4 large

garlic (either 2 -3 cloves or the fresh Australian garlic which I buy in bunches- use the green and the bulb)

parsley, ½ cup, finely chopped

oregano, ½ teaspoon of dry, or if using fresh, a few sprigs
extra virgin olive oil, 5-6 tablespoons( King mushrooms absorb quite a bit)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

white wine and stock or water, ½ cup of each

PROCESSES

Clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth, slice each one into 4-5 even slices.

Heat some of the extra virgin olive oil, add the mushrooms and on medium heat sauté each side until golden. Sprinkle each with salt and add more oil as necessary. Remove the mushrooms.

Add a little more of the oil, add the garlic, parsley and oregano (or sage). Use high heat and stir frequently so that they do not burn or stick.

Add wine and deglaze the pan, add water, mushrooms and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and cook over low heat for about 10minutes. The mushrooms will have softened slightly and absorbed some of the flavours.

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Tag: Tuscany

CEDRO o LIMONE? Insalata di limone. Sicilian Lemon salad.

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STUFFED BAKED MUSHROOMS with Nepitella

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SPRING IN TUSCANY

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FUNGHI AL FUNGHETTO (Braised mushrooms)

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