Slow Food
Granita: The perfect summer treat
Guido and I went to Rome recently, and while reacquainting myself with the city I saw so many years ago as a teenager, he decided to take me to the famous Piazza Navona, sight of the Tre Fontane (The Three Fountains). I went to Piazza Novana sixteen years ago on a tour in high school, and vaguely remembered savoring a delicious gelato while sitting next to one of the Tre Fontane at night. Well, it wasn't night this time; it was the hottest part of the day. Guido and I were wilting in the heat, so much so that we stuck our feet in one of the fountains (like everyone else, in our defense) and ended up getting yelled at by the carabinieri (the police). We finally managed to drag our sweaty selves to Tre Scalini, a famous gelateria, to salivate over their tasty gelati. I don't know why, but we decided to skip their most famous dessert: divino tartufo, a heavenly chocolate concoction (wait, why did we skip it again?). Instead, we dipped our plastic spoons into an over-priced but mouth-puckeringly delicious lemon granita. Our moods improved immediately. Granita is the general name for a slushy Italian dessert made from sugar, water, and other flavorings. It's similar to sorbet and Italian ice, but is famous for its more crystalline structure. Every city seems to have its own preference for consistency--granita machines create a smoother, more sorbet-like texture, and coarser varieties are frozen and only agitated slightly, then scraped or shaved to produce separated crystals. In Sicily it's often served with a brioche--pictured here alongside an almond milk granita. Some other popular granita varieties include jasmine, mint, wild strawberries, black mulberries, and chocolate. But since it's a bit trendy, you can see other creative variations as well. I had to see if I could make this delicious treat, since I heard it was pretty easy. Searching around, I found some tasty recipes on a blog called Rachel Eats, written by an American woman living in Rome. Anyway, I found a great recipe for lemon granita there, which I'll share here. She also posts the recipes for watermelon and lime granita, coffee granita, and orange granita. I made lemon granita yesterday, and coffee granita today. I'll let you know about the watermelon and lime next week. Lemon Granita Servings: 6 to 8 (depending on how generous you're feeling) Prep time: For lemon granita--if you're juicing the lemons yourself and peeling the lemon rind, budget about 30 minutes prep, maybe a bit more. Ingredients: 8 oz. (250 ml) lemon juice (juice from about 8 large and juicy lemons. Make sure you have the right amount of juice. Have extra lemons or a bottle of lemon juice to achieve the final amount, just in case your lemons aren't juicy enough.) 1 cup (250 g) sugar 16 oz (500 ml) water (though you may use more, depending on taste) G-Spot Ingredient: zest from one lemon Clean and dry the outside of one lemon, then zest it. You don't have to add lemon zest if you don't have lemons (and only have lemon juice) but it adds such a lovely bitterness and complexity that I think it takes it from tasty to...well...orgasmic. For more about how to zest a lemon, click here. You can...
read moreZucchini, Yogurt, and Mint Soup (Zuppa Fredda di Zucchine e Menta)
Looking to make a yummy cold soup for dinner on a hot July night, I stumbled onto this zucchini, mint, and yogurt soup recipe. It was in a couple Italian food blogs, but Guido seemed a bit mystified that it was an Italian recipe. We discovered that it's considered a "modern Italian creation," as yogurt is not a very integral part of Italian cuisine. Regardless, it's creamy, delicate, and easy to make...and (supposedly) Italian. Prep time: This should take about 20 minutes, but let it chill in the fridge for a bit before serving. Serve with: We had this with sautéed chicken and a simple salad. Ingredients (for 2): 2 Zucchini (keep the peels) approx. 1 to 2 cups of yogurt (I recommend that you use one with a medium-thick consistency--I used half thin goat milk yogurt and half Fage's very thick "Total" Greek yogurt to get what I wanted. It's what we had in the fridge.) About ten chopped mint leaves (more or less depending on how much you like mint) Salt and pepper to taste G-spot ingredient: High-quality olive oil to drizzle on top Directions: Carefully clean the zucchini, then cut into chunks or strips. Boil or steam the zucchini until tender (easy to mash with a fork). Tip: Add a teaspoon of salt to the water to tenderize and add a bit of flavor. Drain the zucchini. Tip: To make them cool faster and keep the color, cool them in an ice bath after draining (a small bowl with ice and water) When totally drained, blend with a hand blender or food processor/blender in a soup bowl. Add the yogurt and 8 mint leaves. Start with just one cup of yogurt, then add more to make it more soup-like, depending on the consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with chopped mint (last two leaves) and a little olive oil. Buon Appetito! Boil the zucchini. Blend the zucchini. Variations: I peeled the zucchini the first time and for these pictures, but the next time I left the peels on and it was much better: more flavor and more color. I'd also experiment with a little garlic as well. Maybe half a clove chopped finely, added while blending everything together? If you try this recipe or a variation, will you leave a comment and tell us what you did and how it turned...
read moreSuper Orgasmic Slow Food Festival
Today Guido and I went to Caglio, a small town super close to the Swiss border (which explains why I had "The Sound of Music" in my head). A friend of Guido's told him about a Slow Food festival in this little mountain village, and Guido, being the amazing boyfriend that he is, knew that we had to go. Tucked into the foothills of the Italian alps about ninety minutes north of Milan, Caglio was the perfect location to display locally handcrafted foods from the province. (You can see a fun blog about Caglio here--but the photos are taken in winter.) There were so many sweet things to see. First we had buckwheat polenta (recipe for that later), followed by the most amazing gelato I've ever had (it was some of the best Guido has ever had too, and since he's Italian, that's saying something). The three flavors we tried: mandorle di Noto, almonds from Noto, a Sicilian city famous for its almonds; riccota and amaretti (a type of cookie); and zucchini (!). They were all amazing, but I have to say that the ricotta and amaretti gelato was totally orgasmico. A couple other fun things we got in the city: salami di capra, or goat salami (mostly for G); a deep amber mixed-flower honey (from the display pictured); a hard goat cheese; and best of all, the gift that keeps on giving: plants! We bought four aromatic herbs for the balcony, a pungent mint, pineapple sage (love it!), lemon balm, and rosemary. All four were grown in the mountains, and the man who cultivated them lectured us for almost half an hour (maybe more) on how to care for and use each one. I'll never forget his shock white hair and bright blue eyes as he explained everything with so much passion. Finally, if you're wondering how I plan to stay slim enough to fit into my skinny jeans this fall, that's a darn good...
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