Cooking On Pennies XX: More Italian Delights From "Genaro's Cucina" 🌞

[justaprogressive]

POLENTA CON COSTINE DI MAIALE
Polenta with spare ribs

I love spare ribs, especially when slow-cooked in a tomato
sauce and the meat is literally hanging off the bone. They
are delicious served on top of runny polenta and this makes
a hearty meal. In Italy, especially in rural areas, polenta dishes
like this are typically served on a large wooden board placed
in the centre of the table and everyone digs in with their fork
without the need to have individual plates. Not everyone might
agree for hygiene purposes these days, but it’s a lovely
rustic way to serve this dish and saves on washing up, too!

Serves 4

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
800g (1lb 12oz) pork spare ribs
½ onion, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
70ml (2½fl oz) white wine
2 x 400g (14oz) cans chopped tomatoes
2 tsp tomato purée, mixed with a little water
800ml (28fl oz) water or vegetable stock
200g (7oz) quick-cook polenta
sea salt

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the spare ribs
and stir-fry over a medium heat until sealed all over, about
10 minutes.

Add the onion, celery, carrot and bay leaves and sweat
over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Increase the
heat, add the wine and allow it to evaporate.

Add the tomatoes, then rinse out one of the cans with
some water (about half a can) and add this along with
the tomato purée and some salt. Cover with a lid and
cook over a low heat for 1¾ hours until the meat is cooked
through.

Just before the end of the cooking time, make the polenta.
Pour the water or vegetable stock into a saucepan, bring
to the boil, then gradually whisk in the polenta, mixing
well to avoid lumps forming, then cook, stirring, for about
3–5 minutes or according to the timing given on the packet.
Immediately pour the polenta onto a wooden board or large
plate and then top with the ribs and tomato sauce. Serve
immediately.


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SAGNE E FAGIOLI ALLA CIOCIARA
Pasta with beans from Ciociara

This hearty rural dish is an ancient recipe from Ciociara, the
once-impoverished area southeast of Rome. It's a dish that each
family makes in their own way and can also be eaten in local
restaurants. There are many variations, but it’s always made with
a simple homemade pasta made of flour and water and local
cannellini beans. If you don’t want to make your own pasta, you
can buy non-egg pappardelle and cut them into smaller shapes.
Also, if you don't have much time, you can use 400g (14oz)
canned(drained weight) cannellini beans instead of dried.

Serves 4

For the beans

250g (902) dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water
(2.x 400g (1402) cans cannellini beans)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
100g (3 1/4oz) pancetta, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 rosemary sprig
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pasta

300g (10oz) ‘00’ pasta flour, plus extra for rolling out
approx. 270ml (9 1/4fl oz) water

Drain and rinse the soaked cannellini beans, then cook them in a
large saucepan with plenty of fresh water until tender, about 40
minutes — check the instructions on your bean packet. In the
meantime, make the pasta. Place the flour in a large bowl,
graduallyadd the water, mixing to make a smooth dough, then form
into a ball andleave to rest at room temperature for about 20
minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough as
thinly as you can into a roughly rectangular shape. Cut into 3mm (
1/8 in.) thick strips, then into small squares, rectangles or
diamond shapes roughly 3cm (1 1/2in.) in length. Set aside.

Finish the beans. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying
pan, add the pancetta and garlic and sweat over a medium heat for
about 5 minutes until the pancetta is golden. Drain the cooked
beans and stir them in withalittle of the cooking water, the
rosemary and some salt and pepper to taste, then cook over a
medium heat for a couple of minutes to allow the flavours to
infuse.

In the meantime, cook the pasta shapes in a large pan of salted
boilingwater until they rise to the top, about 1 minute. Remove
and drain the pasta with a slotted spoon and add to the beans.
Increase the heat, mix well together and cook for a minute or so
to allow the flavours to infuse.

Remove from the heat, discard the rosemary stalk, and serve
immediately with a drizzle of olive oil and some extra black pepper.



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PASTA AL FORNO CON MELANZANE
Aubergine pasta bake

Baked pasta dishes are very popular in Italy and they are a
great way of notonly using up leftover ingredients, but also
enriching pasta dishes andmaking them go further. Baked pasta
dishes can be elaborate like somelasagne recipes, but can also
be quick and simple like this one made with aubergines and tomato
sauce.

Serves 4

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed and left whole
2 basil stalks, roughly chopped
600ml (1 pint) tomato passata
abundant vegetable oil, for frying
500g (1b 20z) aubergines, cut into small cubes
300g (10oz) dried fusilli or spirali pasta
handful of basil leaves
1 ball of mozzarella cheese (about 125g/4%oz),
drained and roughly chopped
70g (2 1/2 oz) grated Parmesan cheese sea salt

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the garlic cloves and
basil stalks andsweat over a medium heat for a minute or so.
Add the tomato passata anda little salt to taste and cook over a
medium-low heat for about 30minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas mark 6.While the sauce
is bubbling away, heat plenty of vegetable oil in a large, deep
frying pan until hot, then add some of the aubergine cubes and
deep-fry over a medium-to-high heat until golden brown, about 5
minutes. You'll need to deep-fry the aubergine in batches,
ensuring you reheat the oil between each batch. Remove each
batch using a slotted spoon and leave to drain on kitchen paper.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a pan of salted boiling water
according to the packet instructions until al dente. Drain well
and set aside. Remove and discard the garlic cloves from the
tomato sauce. Combine the remaining tomato sauce with the
deep-fried aubergines, the cooked pasta, basil leaves, three-
quarters of the mozzarella and half the grated Parmesan.

Pour the mixture into the ovenproof dish, then top with the
remaining mozzarella and grated Parmesan. Bake in the oven
for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the
oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.



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Tortelli filled with Swiss chard

In the Italian kitchen, a/ magro refers to dishes that are made
simply and without any meat. A/ magro dishes were popular to eat
on Fridays and during Lent when meat was forbidden for religious
reasons; some families still observe this rule today. A filled
pasta with local greens and cheese, like this one, which is a
classic dish of northern Italy, would have been considered such a
dish, as it is made with a few readily available



ingredients.

I like the taste of Swiss chard and it works really well in this
recipe, but you could also use spinach. These tortelli are a half-
moon shape, but you could make them into square ravioli or
whatever filled pasta shape you like. Served with a rich, butter
and sage sauce, these moreish parcels of pasta are a delight.

Serves 4 (makes about 30 tortelli)

For the pasta dough

200g (7oz) ‘00’ pasta flour, plus extra for dusting
2 eggs

For the filling

400g (14oz) Swiss chard
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, lightly crushed and left whole
100g (3 1/2oz) fresh ricotta, drained
25g (1 oz) grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
1 egg
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce

100g (3 1/2oz) butter
8 sage leaves

First make the pasta dough.

Place the flour in a mixing bowl or in a heap on a clean work
surface, make a well in the centre and break in the eggs.Using a
fork, gradually mix the flour and eggs together, then knead with
your hands to make a smooth dough. Shape into a ball, wrap in
clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes
or until required.In the meantime, prepare the filling. Bring a
saucepan of water to the boil.

Remove the stalks from the Swiss chard (keep them for use in
anotherrecipe). Add the green leaves to the pan of boiling water
and cook forabout 5 minutes, then drain well.

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan, sweat the garlic
over a mediumheat for a minute, then add the drained Swiss chard
and stir-fry for acouple of minutes.

Remove from the heat, discard the garlic clove, then leave the
Swiss chardto cool. Once cooled, drain, then use your hands to
squeeze out the excess liquid. Finely chop the Swiss chard and
combine it with the ricotta, grated Parmesan, egg and a little
salt and pepper. Set aside.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pasta dough
until it is wafer-thin or use a pasta machine on the thinnest
setting. Cut out 8cm (3.14in.)circles of dough using a round
pastry cutter (about 30 rounds). Place dollops of the filling in
the centre of each round, brush the outer edge ofeach with a
little water, then fold over to make a half-moon shape, press
toseal and make light indentions with a fork.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, then add the
tortelli and cook for about 5 minutes until cooked through — try
one! At the same time, for the sauce, melt the butter in a large
frying pan over a medium heat, then add the sage leaves and cook
until the butter has melted and the leaves are bubbling. Using a
slotted spoon, remove the tortelli from the boiling water, add to
the melted sage butter and gently mix together.

Remove from the heat and serve with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan.

All the above from "Genaro's Cucina"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67353150-gennaro-s-cucina

Delicious and inexpensive Italian cuisine courtesy Genaro's Cucina! Enjpy!

[Srkdqltr]

1. The top dish looks like stuffed cabbage not ribs. Good eating.

We have a combination Polish Italian family, we had a dish like that.

[justaprogressive]

2. Yeah it does a little

...but it's not. It's ribs.