About Italian Food: A Brown Island

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Italian Food Italian Food Quick/Easy Recipes Le Basi Classic Recipes From Kyle Phillips, your Guide to Italian Food If you follow the news you may have heard that much of Italy is snowed in, with up to 3 feet in the hills above Bologna, an abundance in Abruzzo, where people are still dealing with the effects of the earthquake, and bad weather to the south as well, where the rains have reactivated creeping (and not-so-creeping) landslides in many places, especially around Messina. Tuscany has gotten hit too, but not - to the dismay of the kids, who would love a snow day or two - our particular bit of Chianti. The hills across the way are hidden by powdery white mist, and we did get a dusting, but the ground is uniformly bare. Given the weather it's time to think of ways to stay warm with help from the kitchen. The Easiest: Make Broth Broth is extremely easy to make: I start with a skinned chicken, some beef, odori (vegetables and herbs), add water, and simmer for a couple of hours. If I have time to let the pot cool and remove the fat from the surface I do, but if I don't I simply filter the broth by lining a wire-mesh strainer with paper towel and ladling the the broth into it; the fat remains behind. What to do with broth? Add something to it, and you'll have a tasty, warming soup. Passatelli in Brodo Cheesy bready strings (for want of a better term) add wonderful depth to broth. Canederli di Magro Meatless dumplings from the Alto Adige that are quite nice (as are the meaty ones) Fregula in Brodo Fregula are Sardinian pasta blebs, and this is essentially pastina in brodo. Chirs's Wedding Soup Here we add quite a bit to the broth, with very tasty results! Acquacotta If you don't have broth, but do have vegetables, this is a very tasty, frugal peasant soup. And After the Broth? Lesso Rifatto The term lesso rifatto means recooked boiled meat, and describes a class of dishes that was quite common in the days before commercially prepared bouillon cubes: The cuts used to make broth are cheap, broth is warming, and therefore almost everyone had it, especially wealthy families that enjoyed broth-based soups daily during the cooler months. If you don't want to recook it per the recipes given in the title link, you can serve it warm, with mashed potatoes (or salad), crusty bread, and a variety of sauces, including: Maionese It's a favorite in Italy too. Salsa Verde Zesty, tasty, and.... green. Pearà A wonderful peppery sauce from Verona. Bagnet Ross A classic tomatoey Piemontese sauce. Not into Meat? Bean Soup, Then If you are either vegetarian, or observing Lent (or both), obviously neither meat-based soup nor bollito will work for you. Beans, on the other hand, will work very well, as will other legumes, and Italians have long made them into soups. The title link leads to a classic Tuscan version of pasta e fagioli, and here are a few more: Pasta e Fagioli alla Vicentina Made with fresh egg noodles. Zuppa Lombarda Whole beans and bean broth over toasted bread: Frugal, very old-style, and though it sounds odd it's also very good. Pasta e Lenticchie Lentils, this time, with pasta, in a classic Napolitan recipe. Leonardo Romanelli's Pasta e Ceci Chickpeas, not beans, but good just the same. Warming Soups On About.Com I wish I could say Italians have cornered warming soups (the title link leads to Italian minestrone and similar soups), but they haven't and here is a selection of tasty winter soups from other sites on About's Food Channel. Posole A rich, zesty Mexican soup from the Region of Jalisco Curried Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut Milk A rather graceful soup from Down Under. A Collection of British Winter Soup Recipes All sorts of interesting things to keep you warm! Chinese Hot and Sour Soup One of the first dishes I learned to make, as a teen... Kjötsúpa, Icelandic Lamb Soup Lots of root vegetables too. Zsolt's Goulash Soup Slow cooking, and quite hearty. This time, the featured articles links below aren't really a menu: Just suggestions, from Antipasto through Dessert. Italian Food Ads Italian Meals Italian Meat Dishes Recipes from Italy Italian Pizza Italian Menu Featured Articles Polenta Crostoni with Gorgonzola Pasta with Sausages and Broccoli Italian Pork With Soy Sauce and String Beans Broiled Bulb Fennel Pere al Vino: Pears Cooked in Wine To Drink? The Wines of Cefalicchio!   More from About.com Share Your Dog's Tale Share your tale of what it's like to live with a specific breed of dog - or even a mutt. Your submission will help prospective owners decide what dog breed is right for them. More > Reader's Choice Tech Awards Learn what apps, smartphones, email clients, and more were chosen by About.com readers as their favorites. More> This newsletter is written by: Kyle Phillips Italian Food Guide Email Me | My Blog | My Forum   Sign up for more free newsletters on your favorite topics You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About Italian Food newsletter. If you wish to change your email address or unsubscribe, please click here. About respects your privacy: Our Privacy Policy Contact Information: 249 West 17th Street New York, NY, 10011 © 2010 About.com   Ideas for if it's warm where you are A tasty tomatoey pasta salad Mixed boiled vegetables (served cold) Insalata di Riso, Rice Salad Advertisement