This is going to be a rather disjointed issue with many odds and ends. My apologies. First of all, a friend who imports wines into the US, many of whose producers I have profiled, suggested that we put out a wine review (on paper) dedicated to Italian wines, with me handling the editorial side and him taking care of the administrative end of things. I agreed, and the first issue, dedicated to Central Italy (Chianti Classico, Chianti Rufina, Bolgheri, and Vermentino dei Colli di Luni, with profiles of Stefano Chioccioli and Giovanna Morganti) will be coming out soon. If you're interested, see http://www.italianwinereview.com for details.

While we're on the subject of wine, we've been blessed by two extraordinary vintages, 1997 and 1998. Alas, 99 may be the end of the millennium, but it doesn't look too promising for Italian wine -- this summer was extremely wet throughout the north, with (it seemed) almost daily rains in both Piemonte and further east, through the Veneto and Friuli. In Tuscany things were just cooler than usual, with considerable cloud cover. No rain, but the grapes didn't get as much sun as they did last year. And further to the south there were also heavy rains in August. For producers of whites, who harvest about now, the situation is "worrisome." With reds the harvest should begin in a couple more weeks and continue throughout October -- if the weather clears the situation will improve. However, that's if. Today it's raining and more is forecast for the next few days, so we shall see.

Returning more towards food, Joyce Tarantino kindly sent me a recipe for a more conventional spaghetti alla carrettiera:

The recipe comes from my friends, Gabriella and Cristina, at the Scuola di Arte Culinaria Cordon Bleu in Florence.

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CARRETTIERA

• 1 lb spaghetti [you can use other pasta shapes too]
• 1 lb red ripe tomatoes
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 peperoncino (dried chili pepper)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• Pinch of sugar
• Pinch of salt

Chop the garlic finely and heat it in the olive oil with the chili pepper. Add the diced tomatoes, you may peel them or not, according to your taste. Cook on high heat for about 10 minutes. Add the sugar and salt. Cook and drain the pasta. Put into the skillet with the tomatoes and mix thoroughly.

Serve immediately with the parsley on top.

You may slice celery very thinly and chiffonade fresh arugula to serve over the plates of pasta. Finish with shavings of Reggiano Parmigiano cheese.

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My observations: The pinch of sugar serves to counter the tartness of the tomatoes, and can be omitted if the tomatoes aren't tart (i.e. if they're really sweet sun-ripened). The other thing to note is that the technique of finishing the cooking of the pasta by tossing it in a skillet with the sauce over high heat is called strascicare (pronounced straschicare, the final e is sort of an English ae); you should drain the pasta a little more al dente than you normally would and transfer it from the colander to the skillet while the colander is still dripping a little -- the pasta will continue to absorb water as it cooks in the skillet, and you don't want everything to become bone dry. If you see a menu entrée for pasta that's strascicato in Italy, e.g. penne strascicate, this is the technique that's used.

A printer-friendly version of this recipe.

Next, I have been asked where one can purchase nocino, walnut liqueur, in Minnesota. Stuart Borken replies,

There is a fantastic liquor store in Minneapolis called Hennepin Lake Liquor Store, located at 1200 West Lake Street Tel # 612-825-4411. It is on Lake Street just 2 blocks east of Hennipen on the North side of the street. It has a fantastic collection of Italian wines as well. Phil Colich is the owner and is always at his desk to answer questions. The Nocino runs $25. He has 4 bottles in stock.

Many many thanks! By the way -- if his name sounds familiar, you may have used one of the recipes he has shared with us. They're excellent.

Borlotti

Winding down, Rick writes, "My wife and I recently sampled some light brown beans from a grocery/deli case in Firenze. They were soft and delightful, but not sweet.... We didn't have to shell them; we ate them from a tub. They seemed to have oil, and mild seasonings. We were told they were a regional specialty, but I have no idea what they were called. I'd love to be able to make them here. Can you help?

In Tuscany these delightfully flavorful beans, which are ivory with dark red/brown speckles when freshly shelled, and light brown when cooked, are known as borlotti. They are available in the US -- I saw a tub of them last August in a farmers' market in Vermont, where they were labeled "French Horticultural Beans" (?). If you cannot find them fresh in a farmers' market check your local health food stores and other people who sell dried legumes. Another possibility is to check the stores listed on the online stores page, or, if worst comes to worst, to look in a seed catalog and plant them for next year.

Once you've got them soak them overnight if they're dry, or put them directly into water to cover by an inch or two if fresh. Add a couple of cloves of garlic, some pepper corns, a few leaves of fresh sage, and simmer them until they're tender, salting towards the end. Don't cook them till they begin to fall apart. Served cool, drizzled with olive oil, they're an excellent side dish, and if you serve them with canned tuna you'll have a first-rate warm weather meal.

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Cavatelli

And in closing, a while back I got a request for cavatelli. This is a traditional Puglian pasta, and though Luigi Sada gives a sauce recipe in La Cucina Pugliese, he doesn't say how to make the pasta. Pasta e Sughi, part of a series put out by Fabbri Editore, does. They say the preparation is moderately difficult and will take about two hours. To serve 4:

• 1 cup (150 g) finely ground semola di grano duro
• 2 1/2 cups (250 g) white flour
• Salt

Sift the flours together onto your work surface and scoop out a depression in the middle of the mound. Work in enough lightly salted warm water to obtain a dough that's about as firm as bread dough. Knead it quite thoroughly, then break off a chunk and roll it into a snake about as thick as your pinkie and a foot long (1 cm) (keep the remainder of the dough covered with a damp cloth while you're doing this). Cut the snake into slightly less than 1-inch lengths (2 cm), and pressing the blade of the knife into the cylinders lengthwise as you go to obtain what look vaguely like razor clams. When you have finished making them, let them dry on a lightly floured surface, and then cook them in salted water until they are al dente.

You can serve them with meat sauce, fresh tomato sauce (see above), or olive oil, garlic, and lots of shredded hot pepper.

And here's Mr. Sada's recipe: Cavatelli con Ruchetta alla Foggiana, a recipe from the city of Foggia. Ruchetta is a wild herb that's similar in many ways to arugula, which can be substituted for it if need be. To serve 4:

• The Cavatelli made above
• 1 pound (500 g) ruchetta
• 1 pound (500 g) blanched, peeled and seeded tomatoes (you could also use canned tomatoes if need be)
• 1 clove garlic
• Abundant fresh basil
• 1/3 cup (100 cc) olive oil
• Freshly grated pecorino romano (use some that's not overly sharp)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. In the meantime, wash the ruchetta very well and shred it coarsely.

Heat the oil in a skillet, sauté the garlic, and when it begins to color add the basil and the tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, reduce the heat, and simmer the sauce for about a half hour. Fifteen minutes into the simmering time, stir the ruchetta into the boiling water, and shortly thereafter the cavatelli. Cook them until they're al dente, then drain the pasta and ruchetta, season it with the sauce, and serve with grated cheese.

An observation: Mr. Sada cooks the ruchetta for a half hour. For my taste that's too long, so I reduced the cooking time. Feel free to adjust it to your taste.

A printer-friendly version of these recipes.

A presto!
Kyle Phillips

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