To begin with, a few public service messages that have nothing to do with Italian cuisine. First of all, proof that helmet laws do save lives, for anyone who had any doubts: Italy has long required anyone on a motorcycle, and minors on mopeds (motorbikes & scooters with 50 cc engines, primarily used for getting around town) to wear helmets. Adults could eschew helmets on mopeds until a couple of months ago and many did for one reason or another. Now, however, they have to don helmets too, and the law is being enthusiastically enforced. All the more so since the statistics people announced that traffic fatalities in motorcycle accidents are down by a lot (about a third if I remember right), as are injuries that result in serious long-term disabilities. This gives a measure of how many people fell off mopeds, and of how important it is to protect one's head. Time to think about getting a helmet for my bicycle. Seat belt laws are also being enforced with greater enthusiasm and large fines: Traffic fatalities in automobile accidents have dropped 16% nationwide, and 50% in central Italy. Being strapped in does make a difference. Buckle up! The final announcement stems from a post to the Guide BBS on About.com -- one of the Guides tells of a neighbor, whose 3-year old daughter went out into her back yard, fell into her unattended pool, and drowned. If you have a pool, please make sure it's kid-safe.

Another Fregula Recipe

Turning towards food and such, last year I posted a feature on fregula, a Sardinian fine-grained pasta that's in some ways reminiscent of cuscus. Luigi recently wrote,

"Hi, I've got another way to cook fregola (alternate spelling) for you, shown to me by a friend from Sardinia: Pre-cook fregola and drain it, adding a little bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking. In a pan heat olive oil, add garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, and then some live clams. When they begin to open their shells pour in some white wine and a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce.

"Add the fregola and let it all boil for a few minutes. Don't let it cook for too long lest the clams will fall apart from their shells, and add some stock if it looks too dry. You can finish the dish with a garnish of chopped parsley or the herbs you like. A jolt of chili is another option."

As is often the case in oral recipes, Luigi's friend doesn't give quantities. I'd figure about a pound of pasta and a pound of live clams. If you decide to use hot pepper, add it to the pot at the beginning, when you heat the oil.

A printer-friendly version of this recipe.

Sauce or Gravy?

Moving in another direction, I recently got the following letter: "I was witness to a heated discussion at my brother's dinner table last evening. We were raised that it is sauce; my sister-in-law was raised calling it gravy. I've spoken with Italians who have called it sauce, and some who have referred to it as gravy. Is it a regional thing? Is it gravy when it is cooked with meat? *(I've received that explanation). Please advise and potentially stop a divorce from occurring."

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, so this is right up my alley. In Italy there are sugo and salsa. Sugo derives from succo (juices), and refers to pan drippings from the cooking of meats, rich meat-based sauces along the lines of sugo alla Bolognese, or thick vegetable sauces (which often, though not always, go over pasta). A salsa is a semi-liquid-to-liquid raw or cooked sauce that's used as a condiment. It can go over pasta, for example pesto alla genovese, but can also be used to season other dishes. For example, salsa verde is wonderful over boiled meats or potatoes, as is mayonnaise (salsa maionese in many cookbooks). If a sauce is especially delicate, it may be called "salsina."

The passage from sugo/salsa to sauce/gravy obviously occurred when immigrant families settled into new neighborhoods in the US, and is, I expect, an Italian-American family/neighborhood tradition more than anything else. Some immigrants translated the Italian for what they put on their pasta as gravy, while others translated it as sauce, and the translations have been passed down through the generations, becoming law in the process. People get amazingly passionate over things like this.

Since I associate gravy with meat drippings thickened with butter and flour (something that's not at all common in Italy, though I have encountered it in Piemonte) I call what goes over pasta sauce when I refer to it in English. As is all too often the case with Italian food, there's no right answer here, and I'll be quite interested to hear other people's ideas.

More Asparagus

Winding down, I recently had a request for an asparagus torte. Though I did discuss asparagus a couple of weeks ago, I didn't include this recipe. In poking around among cooking magazines, however, I have found one that is quite elegant, and if made with care will do well at a festive meal when company's invited. It calls for pasta sfoglia, puff pastry, and has you start from scratch. Should you want to save time, you can use commercially prepared puff pastry, thawing it id need be (in Italy it's also sold fresh).

Starting from scratch, to serve 4-6 you'll need:

For the crust:

3 1/2 cups (350 g) flour

1 1/4 cups (250 g) unsalted butter

Salt

Butter and flour for the baking dish

For the filling:

2 pounds (800 g) asparagus spears

1/3 cup fresh cream

2 ounces (50 g) finely sliced cooked ham

An egg

A shallot, minced

A sprig of fresh thyme, minced

Unsalted butter

Salt & Pepper to taste.

Begin by making the dough: make a mound of the flour on your work surface, scoop a well into it, cut the butter into the depression, and then work it into a dough, adding about 2/3 cup (170 g, yes, they give liquids by weight here -- 170 ml). Move quickly, lest the butter melt, and roll the dough out three times, folding it over in thirds each time to reform the loaf. Fold it up after the third rolling, cover it, and put it in the refrigerator for about 40 minutes.

In the meantime, scrape the bottoms of the asparagus spears if they need it, trim away the woody white bases of the spears, cut the green parts into strips lengthwise, and sauté them in a skillet with a chunk of unsalted butter, the shallot and thyme, salt and pepper to taste, and a little water; remove them from the flames when they're still somewhat firm.

Preheat your oven to 400 F (200 C).

Roll out the dough to about 3/16-inch thickness (3 mm), and use it to line a 9-inch (22 cm) pan you've lined with oven paper (if the pan has a decorative wavy border the result will be prettier). Fill the tart with a layer of asparagus, then the ham, and then more asparagus. Bend the upper lip of the dough down over the asparagus, and cut the remaining dough into decorative shapes, for example leaves, and affix them to the rim of the torte.

Lightly whip the egg and cream, season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper, and pour it over the asparagus.

Bake the torte for about 25 minutes, let it cool, and serve it warm.

A printer-friendly version of this recipe.

We're still in asparagus season, and here are a couple of other recipes for the delightful spear:

Sformatini di Asparagi -- Asparagus Flans

These will work nicely as an antipasto for an elegant meal. To serve four you'll need:

• 24 boiled asparagus spears (green will be best)
• 1 brimming cup (260 ml) cream
• 4 ounces 9100 g) chicken breast
• 3 shallots
• An egg white
• Unsalted butter
• Broth
• Curry powder
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 4 crème caramel molds

Begin by buttering the molds, lining the bottoms with disks of oven-proof paper, and then the sides with asparagus tips, sliced lengthwise and cut to a length such that the points reach the bottoms of the pans. Cut the remainder of the asparagus into rounds.

Preheat your oven to 380 F (190 C)

Blend the chicken breast with 3/4 of a cup of cream, then stir in the asparagus rounds and season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Fill the molds with this mixture, stand the molds in a tray of water, and cook them in the oven for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, julienne the shallots, and simmer them in the remaining cream, adding 2 ladles of vegetable broth, salt and curry powder to taste (go light on the latter). Simmer the mixture until it is reduced to a syrupy sauce, and spoon it over the flans after you unmold them.

A printer-friendly version of this recipe.

Involtini di Vitello con Asparagi -- Veal Involtini with Asparagus Tips

This is quite quick, and tasty too. To serve 4 you'll need:

• 4 veal cutlets, about 12 ounces (300 g) in all
• 4 slices cooked ham, 4 ounces (100 g) in all
• 4 slices fontina cheese
• 4 steamed asparagus tips
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• Dry white wine
• Salt & pepper to taste

Spread the cutlets out on your work surface, trim away any gristle or membranes they may have, and flatten them out with the flat of a broad-bladed knife, being careful not to tear them. Lay a slice of prosciutto and one of cheese over each, then an asparagus tip. Roll the cutlets up and skewer them with toothpicks to keep them shut.

Heat the butter in a skillet, and when it begins to crackle, add the involtini and cook, turning, until they're browned on all sides. Season to taste with salt and pepper, sprinkle a half cup of wine into the skillet, and cook over a brisk flame, turning the involtini, until the wine is evaporated. Cook for another couple of minutes more, and serve, with the accompaniment of choice (a green salad would be nice), spooning the drippings over the involtini.

A printer-friendly version of this recipe.

Finally, the dollar continues to be very strong against the Euro, which means that if you're paid in dollars this is a good time to visit almost any country in Europe except England and Switzerland. Though be prepared for a shock when you get to Italy: The cost of oil has driven gasoline up past 2200 lire/liter for high-test (a little less for unleaded). That's more than 4 dollars a gallon. Ouch!

Kyle Phillips

PS -- Send a card from the Italian Cuisine Post Office!

Subscribe to the Newsletter
Name	Email