Spezzatino di Vitello con Piselli

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hile we've had only one or two hard frosts so far in southeastern Connecticut, I think the time has come to pull out the turtlenecks, and Gore-Tex. And it's time to start thinking about comfort food for dinner.

Here in America, if we were to engage in a word association game and gave the cue, "comfort food," I'd bet on "mashed potatoes" as the most popular response. In Italy, the likely response would be spezzatino, stew.

This recipe for veal stew is popular among Venetians, who don't necessarily know a lot about snow, but do need to put an extra blanket on the bed during the winter. And while peas are the vegetable of choice in the Veneto, artichoke hearts, potatoes, and even turnips put in appearances elsewhere, depending on the province.

Spezzatino di Vitello usually includes tomatoes, but my Sicilian grandfather cooked it without, which made the dish lighter and more refined. And for still more refinement, some Italians serve spezzatino—with tomatoes or without—in puff pastry shells. Grilled polenta, though, is the traditional accompaniment, although I've also had Spezzatino di Vitello, served with a dollop of soft polenta that becomes, in effect, a component of the dish.

But even served as-is, with a crust of rustic bread, this is bona fide Italian comfort food that will take the chill off any winter evening.

Spezzatino di Vitello

Ingredients:

1 Cup flour
1 1/2 Lbs boneless veal stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces (see note)
Olive oil
2 Cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 Cup dry white wine
2 Tbs Flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 1/2 Cups peeled Italian plum tomatoes
1 10 Oz. package frozen baby peas, defrosted
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Pour the flour into a brown paper bag, and season with salt and pepper. Add the veal, fold the top of the bag over, and shake to coat the veal with the flour.

Heat a 4 - 6 quart soup pot over medium high heat, then add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Shake off the excess flour from the veal, and add as many pieces as will fit comfortably in the pot. Don't crowd the pot, though. Brown the veal on all sides, and, if necessary remove from the pot to finish browning the remainder.

Return the veal to the pot (if you had browned it in batches), then add the garlic, and saute for approximately one minute. Raise the heat to high and add the wine, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits of veal that have caramelized on the bottom of the pot. Boil for a minute or two to evaporate the alcohol.

Lower the heat, and add the parsley and tomatoes. Taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper as necessary. Regulate the heat so the spazzatino barely simmers, cover the pot, and simmer for one hour.

Add the peas, and stir to combine. Simmer, uncovered, for another ten minutes.

To Serve:

Divide the stew equally among four soup dishes, and serve with grilled polenta. Or, serve as I did yesterday, with a dollop of soft polenta in each dish. Garnish with additional parsley.

Serves four.

Note: Italians typically use veal shoulder for stews. I was unable to find veal shoulder at my butcher, so I used a 1 1/2 Lb. veal chuck steak, and cut into appropriate sized cubes.

Technorati Tags: Italian Food, Italian Recipes, Skip Lombardi

Pasta alla Carbonara

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s we get closer to Thanksgiving, it seems appropriate that I commemorate the spirit of the holiday, if not the day itself, by having a dish of Pasta alla Carbonara. I'd love to have a dish of Pasta alla Carbonara on Thanksgiving Day—in fact, I'd love to have a dish of Pasta alla Carbonara on any day—but once again, this year I'll be dining with more traditional minded folk, who can't seem to find a logical place on their menu for my adopted Thanksgiving entree.

Nevertheless, one of the things for which I give thanks at this time of year is having discovered Calvin Trillin. At a time when Craig Claiborne was writing in the New York Times about this or that three star chef in Manhattan, and people like Jinx and Jefferson Morgan were writing breathless columns for Bon Appetit, along comes a fellow who was writing about changing the national Thanksgiving Day dish from turkey to Pasta alla Carbonara. He knocked me off my pins. That was about twenty five years ago, and I haven't gotten back up yet.

When I discovered Calvin Trillin, it was a sort of validation of my own life to that point. Of course, I'll never be worthy to sharpen his pencils, but as early as 1969, I was scouring the island of Bermuda, looking for the best Bermuda Fish Chowder. And ten years later, I was in my first year of grad school, trying to figure out what Donald Knuth was talking about, and why speidies (marinated lamb skewers) remained within the confines of Broome County, N.Y. How could I not love the writing of a guy who talks about the best baked duck and dirty rice in Opalousas, LA., or the local Mozzarella on the island of Santo Prosciutto in the Italian West Indies?

So among the myriad things for which I give thanks on this Thanksgiving, I will extend my gratitude to Calvin Trillin. And when I have a Thanksgiving meal—and I know that day will come—that features Pasta alla Carbonara rather than turkey, I'll have a third helping.

Pasta alla Carbonara

Ingredients:

4 Oz. Pancetta, diced (see note)
3 Large eggs
1/3 Cup Parmigiano, freshly grated
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Lb. Spaghetti
4 Tbs. Flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped

Preparation:

Bring a large pot of salted water (at least six quarts) to the boil.

While the water is coming to the boil, saute the pancetta over medium heat, just to render some of its fat.

Break the eggs into a large bowl, and beat them thoroughly with a whisk or the back of a fork. Stir in the Parmigiano, and add ten or twenty grinds of pepper (approximately 2 tsp.) Add the pancetta to the bowl and reserve.

When the water boils, add the spaghetti, and cook until it just reaches the al dente state. Drain in a collander, and immediately add to the bowl with the egg mixture.

Toss vigorously with two forks, to coat the pasta with the sauce.

To Serve:

Divide the pasta equally among four dishes, and garnish with the chopped parsley.

Serves four.

Note: Romans make Pasta alla Carbonara with Guanciale (cured hog jowl) rather than pancetta. If you can find it in your local Italian deli, then by all means, have at it. Otherwise the pancetta is a fine substitute.

Technorati Tags: Italian Food, Italian Recipes, Skip Lombardi