Summertime abundance and rosato |
|
It's August and that means an abundance from the garden, your own or the local farmers' market. We have a perfect recipe from southern Italy to showcase all those wonderful summer vegetables - giambotta! This ratatouille-style Italian vegetable dish is an easy main course for light summer dining. A stew of zucchini, squash, red bell pepper, tomatoes and sausage is a typical dish of what you'd see in southern Italian kitchens during August. What really makes this dish pop is the handful of chopped herbs at the end! Pair it with excellent country bread slathered with fresh herb butter and you've got a delicious, summer meal!
As with all of you, the pandemic has severely limited our ability to travel this year, but we are really looking forward to our travels next year and have begun planning! We are reaching out to all those who scheduled a culinary tour with us this year and will give them first dibs on spots for next year's tours. We have lots of weeks planned and hope that you will join us next year. Our dates are listed below.
Buon appetito!
Gina and Mary
|
|
Giambotta – Italian Ratatouille simply perfect for August’s harvest |
The French are not the only ones enjoying the summer harvest with ratatouille! This lovely vegetable stew is popular in southern Italy as well, where it is called giambotta. We have fond memories of our grandmother making it for us when we visited, which she called in her dialect chiambot. All the ingredients were straight out of her extensive summer garden, and the sausage was made by a little Italian man down the street.
I would venture to guess that every Mediterranean country has a version of what we commonly call ratatouille – summer squash, zucchini, tomato, and eggplant, all cooked together till they blend. It is the perfect dish to prepare after a visit to the local farmers market, and the herbs can all be clipped out of your garden. (If you don’t have any herbs, think about planting some in the spring!)
The recipe below gives amounts, but as with any stew, don’t feel you have to follow it to the letter. If you have 1 zucchini or 3 tomatoes or only four yellow squash, use them! The flavors meld together as it cooks and is even better the next day.
Enjoy what remains of the summer and buon appetito!
|
|
1 large onion, chopped
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large red pepper or two medium (never green)
2 zucchini, cubed
2 yellow squash, cubed
1 small eggplant, cubed
2 large tomatoes, cubed
2-3 teas sea salt
2 tbsp fresh chopped Italian parsley
2 tbsp mixed fresh herbs – chives, thyme and basil
Italian sausage, 1 link per person
In a large high-sided saute pan or a soup pot, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the red bell pepper, saute 2 minutes, stirring to coat with the oil and cook evenly. Add the zucchini, squash and eggplant and stir to coat, cooking for 4 minutes. (Eggplant is optional, Gina leaves it out as she’s allergic to it.) Salt to taste, about 2 teaspoons; you can add more salt as it cooks, if needed. Add the chopped tomatoes and half of the Italian parsley and allow it to cook for 20 minutes on a medium heat. There should be enough water released from the vegetables, but add a little water if it seems dry. The vegetables should be soft and blending together. Add the remaining herbs and cook a little longer on low.
Either fry or bake the Italian sausages with a little olive oil until done. You may either slice the sausage or serve it whole on top of the giambotta.
Serve it with great country bread spread generously with herb butter!
½ lb salted butter, preferably Kerry Gold
1 teas each, minced: Italian parsley, chives, basil
Allow the butter to soften, mix in the chopped herbs. If you don’t use salted butter, be sure to add a little sea salt to taste.
|
|
This Month's Italian saying...
"A chi dai il dito si prende anche il braccio."
"Give him an inch and he'll take a mile" is a familiar expression used for a person who's been given something and then tries to get a whole lot more.
In Italy, this kind of thing is viewed rather more personally:
Literally it means - "Give them a finger (il dito) and they'll take an arm (il braccio)."
|
|
Rosato (Rosé wine)
We sure hope you’re enjoying as many Italian rose wines as we are this summer! Called “rosato” in Italy, Italian pink wines are crisp and dry, never sweet or heavy. They go beautifully with food so try one with the giambotta!
Italian rosato wines are made by keeping the skins in contact with the juice for a short period of time after pressing, usually six to ten hours. The juice is then vinified using the same process as white wine. Since the color wine is obtained from the skin of the grape, the longer the juice from red grapes stays in contact with the skins, the darker the color. Six to 10 hours is usually sufficient to give a rosy hue to Italian rosato.
Made in all regions, some of our current favorites are from Sicily, Veneto and Tuscany. Check out your local wine shop to see what’s available in your area!
|
|
Travel to Italy 2021 Dates |
We are looking forward to our return to Italy next spring! We've added a few weeks due to the demand, so if you're interested - please contact Mary for details, questions and to secure your spot!
-
Tuscany, Spring: May 29 – June 5, 2021
-
Piedmont: June 6 – 13, 2021
- Piedmont: June 14 - 21, 2021
-
Puglia: September 19 – 26, 2021
- Puglia: Sept 26-October 3, 2021
- Puglia: October 3- 10, 2021
-
Tuscany: October 16 -23, 2021
- Tuscany: October 23 -30, 2021
- Tuscany: October 30 – November 6, 2021
|
|
Gina Stipo and Mary Stipo Potter | Ecco La Cucina | 1-972-342-8308| Email | Website
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
