L'Italo-Americano

Of Gifts And Bitter Greens THURSDAY, JUNE 9 ,2016 www.italoamericano.org 17 L'Italo-Americano R ecently, I invited a friend of mine over to try out some new recipes I was working on. "But how do you t h i n k o f a l l t h o s e d i f f e r e n t t h i n g s ? " s h e a s k e d , o p e n - mouthed. First let me tell you that my f r i e n d , J o a n G u s s o w , i s a famous environmentalist and self-described food producer who has written some pretty important books that have influ- e n c e d t h e l i k e s o f M i c h a e l Pollan, Alice Waters and Dan Barber. Even at 87, she grows nearly all her own food in her famous organic vegetable gar- d e n o n t h e w e s t b a n k o f t h e Hudson River. Considering her impressive knowledge of plants, not to mention the world-class chefs and other food celebrities she runs with, I can take pride in saying that I was the first to get her to like rapini and other bitter greens. I answered her that because I'd grown up in an Italian fami- ly, I had a pretty deep well to draw from. I was eight when I cooked the first family meal entirely by myself. Not long after that lunch, a story landed in my inbox from JULIA DELLA CROCE Joan titled "A Terrible Gift." It was all about a revelation she had after leaving my house that afternoon. Here is an excerpt: "I did not grow up around exquisite food. My mother was the youngest of six in a not- very-well-to-do Iowa family and knew nothing at all about food and cooking…when she met and married my father (also a fugitive from Iowa winters) in C a l i f o r n i a … . H e r s t a n d a r d cooking methods were boiling vegetables and frying or occa- sionally roasting meats until they gave up." She then describes some of her early efforts at cooking, beginning with "pizza" made by topping an English muffin with m o z z a r e l l a , c a n n e d t o m a t o sauce, a dash of oregano and the pièce de résistance of the recipe, pepperoni—all run under the broiler. " I t h a s b e e n a s t a g g e r i n g journey—not staggering in the emotionally demanding sense, but literally staggering from place to place across the food h o r i z o n t r y i n g t o d e t e r m i n e w h a t w e n t w i t h w h a t , " s h e writes. "So it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I suddenly came to understand why it has been so hard to get here, why the food gift I was given in childhood was so terrible. I have a friend who writes Italian cookbooks…. After twenty cookbooks, how does she think of all those differ- ent things? And then it hit me. She has a tradition. The gift she brought from her not-too-loving childhood was a deep, deep tra- dition of Italian…flavors that suffuses her life, her household, and her cooking. She doesn't even know she has it. It's just there." It's true that I don't know where half the things I think up c o m e f r o m . E v e r y t h i n g m y m o t h e r c o o k e d h a d a s t o r y attached to it, whether it was about how my Sardinian grand- mother baked polenta between layers of ragù, or how eating field greens like broccoletti di r a p a , a k a r a p i n i a s t h e y a r e k n o w n h er e, s av ed my o th er grandmother from starvation in her native Puglia. Somehow, I picked up an awful lot, even if there were no written recipes. Until Joan put it that way, I did- n't think of it as a gift, but she's right— it's been the gift of a lifetime. Rapini Pesto Makes 1-1/2 cups It is not quite the season for t h e s u m m e r v e g e t a b l e s w e eagerly anticipate but one stal- wart crop that keeps on giving is the Italian vegetable, Brassica rapa, aka rapini, among other aliases. The cooked stems con- tribute body and natural creami- ness, making it unnecessary to use as much oil as many pestos call for. It's important to peel the broccoli rabe stems before cooking for a silky texture. Toss the pesto with freshly cooked imported fusilli, orecchiette, or penne. •1 bunch rapini •2 tablespoons kosher salt for cooking water • p i n c h o f h o t r e d p e p p e r flakes •1/4 cup good extra-virgin olive oil •fine sea salt to taste • 1 / 2 c u p f r e s h l y g r a t e d Pecorino Romano 1. Cut the stems from the crowns of the rapini. Peel the tough lower stems as you would asparagus. Chop the upper por- tion coarsely. Wash the prepared greens in abundant cold water and drain. 2 . B r i n g e n o u g h w a t e r t o cover the greens to rolling boil. Add the kosher salt, then the rapini. Cook over high heat until the greens are thoroughly tender, 8 minutes. Use a mesh strainer to lift them out of the pot and transfer them to a colander; save the cooking water. Drain the rapini well, pressing to release excess moisture. They should be moist but not wet. 3. Grind the garlic and pepper flakes in a food processor. Add the drained greens and 1/4 cup o l i v e o i l ; p u l s e t o a c r e a m y puree, about 6 seconds. Check for salt. In a shallow bowl, toss 6 tablespoons of the pesto to a pound of freshly cooked and piping hot pasta and fold in the grated cheese (you can freeze the remaining pesto). Serve the p a s t a h o t w i t h a n a d d i t i o n a l thread of olive oil, if desired, and pass more grated cheese at the table. Julia della Croce is a print & broadcast journalist and James Beard award-winning cookbook author, cooking teacher, culi- nary consultant & recipe devel- oper. You can visit her on her website, www.juliadellacroce. com and blog, http://juliadel- lacroce. com/forktales1/ Connect on Facebook: Juliadella Croce - c h e f & f o o d w r i t e r T w i t t e r : @juliadella croce LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES Fusilli with Rapini Pesto | Credit: Copyright Nathan Hoyt/Forktales 2016

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