MAcco di Fave

Here, I say it: I'm with the minimalist for minimalism. And when it comes to minimalism in the kitchen, I just go into raptures. Yes, because recipes that start listing more than the three or four ingredients humanly acceptable make me really sick, striking some sort of culinary terror, and awakening in me two opposite temptations:
a) the unnatural and deceptive desire to run for cover to the nearest take-away, to please my laziness;
b) the need for a bowl of plain white rice (even without parmigiano cheese!), to accommodate the aspiration to the ethereal purity of the lonely hero.

I realize that starting a food blog was not really a great idea. True, I have a soft spot for colorful salts and flours made from mysterious grains, and over time I've collected an embarrassing series of powders, spices and other rather enigmatic concoctions (all that being edible material, ça va sans dire), not to mention bowls and pottery on sale, redundant cutlery and trendy gadgets. Still, if it was for me, I'd post spaghetti pomdoro 304 days a year, reserving the approximate 52 Sundays for gnocchi (always strictly with tomato sauce), and the remaining 9 days for the surprise dish. An effective blog, indeed.

Therefore, you can imagine my joy when I tried this phenomenal macco di fave, in my to-do list from time immemorial: the linearity of a minimal dish meets the vanity of a post. A perfect combination. In my dream blog, macco found its way all of a sudden, winning as many as 8 of the 9 surprise-dish days. Because to be more minimal and more delicious, I think it's really difficult.


Macco di Fave
(Dried Fava Bean Puree)
for 4-5 people

dried, peeled fava beans about 1 lb.
olive oil, salt, pepper, water as needed
garlic 2 cloves
wild fennel, chicory, kale, dandelion, rapini, mustard greens
(or some other green stuff of choice)
one big bunch

Soak the beans in a bowl of water overnight. The next day, drain and cook them over medium-low heat in a large pan, barely covered with water. Cook until the beans are tender and begin to come apart, skimming when needed, stirring occasionally, and adding more water if necessary. If you’d like, you could also add a carrot and a celery stalk to the cooking water, or start by sautéing a sliced spring onion in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, but I preferred to stick with the most proletarian version out there: fava beans, fava beans, absolutely fava beans, with the sole addition of a good pinch of salt near the end. When the beans are tender, reach for the evergreen immersion blender in the cupboard, and puree until creamy, adding oil little by little until you get a smooth texture.
In the meantime, wash the greens (in my case it was some Russian kale, a kind of purple kale, slightly sweeter and less pungent, something I didn't even know until the day before yesterday, to be honest); remove the tough ends and cook them gently in a large saucepan with an inch of water. Drain, remove excess water and sauté them in a pan with a little olive oil and the garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half. Season with salt and pepper.
Place the macco in a bowl with the greens in the middle, and serve with a dash of olive oil and a sprinkling of black pepper.

Barley Soup

Happiness only real when shared.
(E. Hirsch [written in a book], Into the Wild)

According to you, is there THE recipe for happiness? Or is it overrated, such as oysters, tofu, and Julia Roberts? I mean, does anybody know the perfect formula, quantified as eggs in the sponge cake, or is it absurd to insist on looking for that ultimate goal, unattainable as the raising of a soufflé? And then, is it true that to achieve happiness we must be inflexible and stubborn, endure fatigue, arm ourselves with patience and fold the dough a thousand times almost like a croissant? Who said that Rumtopf can be enjoyed only at Christmas? What if, instead of waiting for days and hours, we took a peek into the jar as early as September, inserted a finger into the syrup, and tasted strawberries and cherries?
Maybe happiness has nothing to do with the pâté de canard en croûte that no one can replicate; perhaps it's not so difficult to make the shopping list, decipher the ingredients, and find suppliers. Maybe you can even steal a piece of happiness in a cup of blueberries with whipped cream on any given Tuesday; or in a stick of cotton candy at Sunday's roundabouts. Perhaps a piece of happiness is also a walk in the moonlight under falling snow, the smell of freshly cut grass, a run in the rain through desert streets, a smile stolen to a stranger on the bus. Or a distant memory, come back to the surface by accident.
And maybe a bit of happiness can also be found in a bowl of barley soup, exactly the same as you used to eat when you were a kid. Possible?


Barley Soup
for a hungry army of people

pearled barley 200 gr
white onion 1
garlic 2 cloves
carrots 2
celery 1 stalk
smoked pork shank
(or a prosciutto bone with some meat on it) 1
bay leaves 2
sage leaves 2
bouillon cube 1/2
medium size potatoes 1-2
olive oil, salt, pepper, water, milk as needed

Finely chop the onion and sauté it for a few minutes in a little olive oil, along with the peeled garlic cloves. Add carrots and celery cut into small cubes and cook for few minutes. Combine the barley and toast it, then add bouillon cube, smoked pork shank in one piece (or the prosciutto bone), bay and sage leaves, and cover with about 2.5 liters of water. Cook gently for one and a half hour, adding more water if necessary. Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Add them to the soup along with a couple of glasses of milk (more or less, depending on how creamy you like it to be), and continue to simmer for another half hour. Add salt only at the end, because the pork bone is already salted. Discard the herbs and serve with a sprinkle of black pepper. If you like, you can take the meat from the shank, cut it into small pieces and add them to the soup.

PS: I also tried a vegetarian version, but it was not the same happiness.

Carrot Orange Red PEpper Soup

Since...um... it happens to be Valentine's Day, I thought about making something red myself. Close your eyes and ta daaaaaa! Here it is, a beautiful soup, or rather - what am I saying? - a good cream of vitamins. Very much orange and very little red, I think that's what I see. But trust me, or at least let go of your fantasy. It's February 14th after all, and the world around us tells us that for one day we can all be romantic, dreamers and idealists.

And for those of you who don't want to undergo this orangy-pureed version of Valentine's Day, hold on, I have another gift ready. And now don't go around saying that your girl in the kitchen has a heart as hard as Borlotti beans:




Orange, Carrot & Red Bell Pepper Soup
for 4

carrots, net 600 gr.
red bell pepper, medium size 2
oranges 2
white onion, large 1
olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley, stock (or water)

Peel carrots and cut them into thick slices. Clean red peppers, remove seeds and white membrane, and cut into pieces. Chop the onion and saute it in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, then add the vegetables previously prepared, let them cook for few minutes, then cover with water or vegetable stock. Bring to boil and simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the juice of two oranges and the grated zest of one (or a good pinch of orange powder). Remove from heat, puree everything with great pleasure using an immersion blender, and bring back to boil, adding more water or stock if needed to adjust the texture. Sprinkle with some chopped fresh parsley or, as I did here, with a spoonful of light pesto, made by blending a handful of arugula and few almonds, half clove of garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Kabocha, Bell Pepper & Coconut Milk

Soup. One more time. Again, orange. Again, squash.
This time though, no butternut squash. Instead, I chose a kabocha, which may sound like a bad word, but in reality it's the name of a Japanese squash, small (well....of course, it's Japan style), round and very sweet. I'd even say that to me kabocha is no doubt the perfect squash, the real Cucurbita Maxima, the Rolls Royce of all squash.
Stuff that'll make all Cinderellas out there red with envy.


Kabocha, Bell Pepper & Coconut Milk
a (little) Thai Soup
for 4

kabocha (or other squash), cut in pieces about 1.5 kg
yellow bell pepper, large 1
onion, small 1
red Thai curry paste about 2 teaspoons
coconut milk 1 can (about 350 gr.)
lime 1
olive oil, salt, pepper, ginger, lemongrass, pumpkin seeds to serve to taste

My weekly soup is somewhat Thai inspired. Just as I've already experimented here, I started from a base of Thai curry paste, this time red, to which I added extra ginger, lime and lemongrass, just to make sure that the Thai effect be nice and strong.

Place cut squash on a baking pan lined with parchment paper, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake at 400 for about 45 minutes, until squash is soft. Peel it, cut the flesh in small pieces and set them aside. Meanwhile, roast bell pepper on the stove, peel it, discard seeds and white parts, and cut it in pieces.
Heat some olive oil in a large pot, sauté the chopped onion, about 2 teaspoons of curry paste (the exact amount depends on how spicy and hot the curry is, it's better to start with 1-2 teaspoons, and then add more at the end, if necessary), a small piece of fresh ginger, grated lime peel, and some chopped lemongrass. Cook for few minutes, until curry paste has dissolved, then add the vegetables. Pour in coconut milk and lime juice, bring to boil, and then puree everything with an immersion blender until soup is nice and smooth.
If needed, dilute it with some more water and add a little more curry paste. To serve, sprinkle each bowl with a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds.

Squash Sweet Potato Soup

Forgive me, but this post is not going to be translated. Whatever I'm saying in the Italian version makes sense only in Italian, where Butternut Squash becomes Zucca Violina (literally: Violin Squash, due to its particular shape).
Gosh, these Italians! They find the way to be romantic even with a squash.

Oh well, you may not get me ranting about nothing this time, but you still get the soup. Enjoy!


Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup
serves 4

butternut squash 1
sweet potatoes, medium size 3
onion 1
garlic 1 clove
vegetable stock, olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh ginger to taste
yogurt and pecans, to serve to taste

Cut squash in half lenghtwise and discard the seeds. Place it on a baking pan lined with parchment paper along with the sweet potatoes, whole, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 400 for approximately 45 minutes, or until squash and potatoes are tender. Let them cool down a bit, then peel them and cut them in pieces.
Meanwhile, mince the onion and peel the garlic clove ans saute them with a little olive oil in a large pot. Add the chopped vegetables, season with cinnamon and nutmeg, cover with the stock and bring to boil. Puree the soup using an immersion blender, put the pan back on the stove and adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Add some freshly grated ginger, if you like it spicy, or a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup, if you prefer it sweet.
To serve, decorate each bowl with a little bit of yogurt and sprinkle with toasted and pecans, coarsely chopped.

Asparagus, Curry and Coconut Milk

To start the week right and forget that it's only Monday, a super easy soup that tastes like exotic places, distant horizons and barefoot in the sand. With all the flavor of seasonal vegetables.
That is to say, dreaming doesn't cost anything, half hour in the kitchen at the most...


Asparagus, Green Curry & Coconut Milk
a Soup
for 4

asparagus, net about 1 lb and 5 oz
leeks 2
shallot 1
green curry paste 2-3 teaspoons
coconut milk 1 small can (about 5.5 oz)
lime 1
olive oil, vegetable stock, salt, pepper to taste

Clean asparagus and cut off the hard ends. Cut them into pieces and set aside. In a large pot, saute sliced leeks and chopped shallot in a little olive oil. Add two teaspoons of curry paste and a splash of coconut milk, and cook for few minutes until curry paste is diluted. Add the asparagus pieces (if you'd like, keep some of the tips aside to garnish the soup in the end) and cover with the stock. Season with salt, pepper, lime zest and bring to boil. Adjust the taste by adding some more curry paste, depending on how spicy you want the soup to be. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until asparagus are tender, then mix in a blender until you get a smooth puree. Put it back on the stove, add the lime juice and the rest of coconut milk, cook for five minutes longer and serve with some Thai basil and the asparagus tips kept aside, briefly steamed or sauteed in a pan.

Sweet Pea Soup

I don't know why, but I have a feeling of a déjà vu.
Enough with the nonsense, today we're doing it short and sweet.


Sweet Pea Soup
for 4

fresh peas, to be shelled about 1.5 kg.
onion 1
butter lettuce 1 small head (about 200 gr)
olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice to taste
yogurt, mint leaves to serve to taste

Shell the peas and use the pods to make the stock: place them in a large pot covered with water, add one carrot, one onion, one celery stalk, few peppercorns, a little bit of parsley and some salt. Bring to boil and let it simmer for about 40 minutes. Drain the stock discarding the vegetables and the pods.
For the soup, chop the onion and sauté it in a litle bit of olive oil until it becomes translucent. Add the peas, the lettuce cut in pieces, a pinch each of salt and pepper and cover with the stock. Bring back to boil and let it simmer for another 15-20 minutes, until peas are tender. Puree with a blender, bring back to boil and adjust the flavor with some lemon juice, and more salt and pepper if necessary. Serve it with a spoon of yogurt mixed with few minced mint leaves.

Asparagus, Leek and Fennel Soup

Inspired by World Earth Day of the past April 22nd, I thought I'd make something green myself. Can't go greener than this one...

Nibbling here and there, here are few simple advices to reduce environmental impact through small daily choices, which - on a large scale - can make a big difference:

Use fluorescent light bulbs, they consume less energy and last longer (that's an easy one, I got this);

Keep an eye on your air conditioning thermostat, trying to maintain the temperature not too low (is this a joke? air conditioning?);

Avoid stand-by, turning off completely all electric appliances such as TV, DVD, Blue Ray, Tivo, Modem, Satellite, Cable TV (TV? DVD? Tivo? Satellite?.....what's that?);

Turn off the lights when you're not using them (that's an easy one, I got this too);

Drive less, drive slowly, drive an hybrid if you can; (and what about those who don't drive at all? Two extra points, self-imposed :-) )

Eat less meat or avoid it altogether (super easy, until I've discovered this thing here, but I'm working on it);

Buy local, organic and seasonal products as much as possible (I got this: the Farmers' Market is my second home);

Use less paper, for instance printing on both sides in the office (it's easy, I'll commit myself starting tomorrow);

RECYCLE paper and - I'd add - also everything else recyclable (c'mon, it's easy);

Paper or plastic? Neither one, thanks. From now on, BYOB (=Bring Your Own Bag) (I got this! My super-size bag finally has a reason to be);

Shop at thrift stores or at garage sales (...I can't...I can't...I can't...luckily I've got two extra points for the car);

Buy clothes that are made with natural and sustainable fibers (...ehm...can I use the second point for the car?);

Walk, use your bicycle or take public transportation as much as you can (I GOT THIS ONEEEEEEE!!!);

Use natural soaps and detergents (half and half, I promise I'll commit to this one);

Reduce the amount of purchases and of products you're using (not considering cookbooks and kitchen gadgets, my purchases are down to zero. But kitchen gadgets, do they count?);

Filter tab water instead of buying bottled one (it's enough if I can drink a glass a day, but...is that any good??).

Joking apart, let's think about it. Oh, I forgot, the green recipe is below, but please, don't print it out.


Asparagus, leeks & Fennel
a Green Soup
for 4

asparagus, net 500 gr.
leeks 2
fennel 1/2 (about 200 gr.)
garlic 1 clove
lemon 1
vegetable stock
olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, dill to taste

Clean asparagus, discard the hard ends and cut them in pieces. Slice fennel and keep it aside. Slice leeks in thin rounds and saute them in a little olive oil with the garlic clove, adding some water if necessary. After about 10 minutes, add asparagus and fennel, grated lemon zest, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Cover with vegetable stock (or water), bring to boil and let it simmer for about 30 minutes until vegetables are tender. Season with some dill and two tablespoons of lemon juice. Puree in a blender, and adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Add some more lemon juice and dill, bring back to boil, and serve.

Red Pepper Hazelnut Soup

It's been a long time since I've stopped buying cooking magazines, more or less since I've started giving in shamelessly to the books that Uncle Amazon suggests every week. I swear, though, it's not my fault if this recipe comes from the last issue of Bon Appetit.
The thing is, those over at Sur la Table gave me the magazine subscription as a gift, since my level of spending in their stores has been considered VERY IMPORTANT. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that this isn't something you should be proud of. So please, don't tell anybody.


Red Pepper Hazelnut Soup
for 4

For the soup
red bell pepper, large 3 (about 700 gr., net)
cherry tomatoes about ten
onion 1/2
garlic 2 cloves
hazelnut about 40 gr. (1/4 cup)
dry sherry (optional) to taste
olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, vegetable stock to taste

To garnish
marinated white anchovy fillets 3
hazelnut 8-10
shallot 1/2
olive oil, lemon juice and grated lemon peel to taste

Mince onion and peel garlic cloves. Heat a little olive oil in a large pot and saute onion and garlic for few minutes. Rinse bell peppers and cut them in large pieces; rinse cherry tomatoes and cut them in half. Add vegetables to the onion after few minutes, then add half a cup of white wine (I didn't use it). When alcohol has evaporated, cover with vegetable stock and bring to boil at medium heat. Let it simmer for 20 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Season with salt, pepper and paprika, then add hazelnuts (for a stronger taste, you can previously toast them in the oven). Let the soup boil for another 10 minutes, then puree it with an immersion blender. Adjust taste with salt and pepper, and if necessary, put it back on the stove to thicken.
Meanwhile, toast the remaining hazelnuts in the oven and coarsely chop them with marinated anchovy fillets, shallot, one tablespoon of olive oil, two tablespoons of lemon juice and some grated lemon peel. Serve the soup and sprinkle each bowl with this coarse pesto.
(White anchovies are a recent discovery. Being a lot more delicate than regular anchovies, to my taste it's better to use them in things like this, where they are not cooked).

Roasted Red Beet Soup

Believe it or not, but I really like red beets. Not only their taste, but also their amazing color, which some people find terrifying instead.
OK, I have to admit that if you want to win over the man of your dreams by inviting him for dinner, I wouldn't recommend feeding him the above soup (he might run away mad with fear), but on the other hand I really think that red beet is the most misunderstood vegetable. When it doesn't end up trapped in one of those tragic sealed packages, the best a beet can hope for is to be boiled, with the result that the flavor slips away, getting irreperably lost in the water. And all that's left behind is a slightly bitter aftertaste, that you'd think you're eating the soil in which beet has been grown. I admit this may not be the best thing in the world.
When roasted, instead, beet becomes a well respected side dish, slightly sweet and much tastier. And even the soup is better off.


Roasted Red Beet Soup
for 3-4 people

red beets, medium size 3
onion, medium size 1
garlic 2 cloves
olive oil, fresh thyme, salt, pepper, ginger, lemon, vegetable stock to taste
watrecress and sour cream to serve

Clean the beets, cut off the leaves and pair the ends. Wrap them in a piece of foil, put them in a baking pan with a 1/2 inch of water and bake at 400 for about 45 minutes or until tender.
Let them cool off a bit, then peel and cut in pieces. Meanwhile, heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and saute garlic cloves, minced onion and few thyme sprigs, until onion is translucent.
Add the beets, a small piece of grated ginger, grated peel of half a lemon, salt and pepper. Cover with vegetable stock and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Puree the soup until smooth. If it's too thcik, add a little more stock. Add two tablespoons of lemon juice, stir and serve, garnishing each dish with sour cream and few watercress leaves.

Garbanzo Bean Soup with Spinach and Saffron

A very very easy soup to detox from the various roasts, capons, tortellini, agnolotti (another shape of traditional stuffed pasta dish), duck a l'orange, local cold cuts, pate', Russian salads, panettoni, vol-au-vent, chocolate truffles, torrone and dried figs.
Even a short run would be good, though...


Garbanzo Beans Soup
with Spinach and Saffron
for 4 people

dried garbanzo beans 200 gr. (about 1 cup)
garlic 2 cloves
onion 1 small
vegetable bouillon cube 1/2
salt, pepper, olive oil, saffron to taste
fresh spinach 1 full bunch

The night before, soak the beans in plenty of water. The next day, drain and place them in a large pot. Let them simmer at low-medium heat covered with water until they are tender. Stir every once in a while and add more water if necessary. Depending on the beans and on how long they've soaked, it'll take between one and two hours. In a separate pan, saute the chopped onion and garlic in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Add the beans and their water, few saffron threads, 1/2 vegetable bouillon cube (optional), salt and pepper. Let simmer for another 15-20 minutes. If you'd like a lighter soup, avoid sauteing the onion and simply add garlic cloves, bouillon cube and saffron directly in the pan with the garbanzo beans and their cooking water.
Wash the spinach and discard their stems. Chop up the leaves and add them to the soup at the end, so that they'll cook just slightly. Stir well and serve with some olive oil and freshly ground black pepper on top. Yum....

Carrot Ginger Soup

I really like soups, but for some reason I never remember to make them. Maybe it's a legacy from when I was a kid, when I couldn't stand them in any shape or color, or maybe it's because usually, without doing it on purpose, I end up making a huge amount that lasts for a whole week and makes me NOT want to eat soup for the next six months.

This time, though, it went better, and right after the first meal I can already see the bottom of the pan. Luckily, because I've already bought ingredients for at least another 10 posts that are on my waiting list.
It's very good though!


Carrot Ginger Soup
for 4 people

carrots about 600 gr. (net)
onion 1/2
garlic 1 clove
fresh ginger 1 piece approximately 1 inch wide
olive oil, salt, butter, curry powder

Peel the carrots, wash them and cut them in pieces. Mince onion, peel garlic clove and ginger and cut them in pieces. Sauté onion, garlic and ginger in a little oliv oil until the onion turns golden. Add the carrots, cover with water and let simmer at low-medium heat until carrots are tender (it'll take about half hour). Puree the soup until it becomes smooth. Bring back to boil, add salt and a tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with curry powder to taste.