Heartening Vegetarian

By Gustav Ericson

Through the newly barren trees to the west, the sun retires in its particular late autumn hues, all peaceful pink and gold, even as from another room we pick up on that one old Keith Jarrett ballad. So benevolent, the gods in such moments. This most lovely and possibly loving time of year, a tranquil twilight in December, no ‘smell of steak in passageways’, but the pasta is ready. The chickadees off to their hopefully downy beds. There is the possibility of sleep now, deeper. A very occasional, noiseless drip from the still- uncleaned gutters. Creaking floorboards, the house settling in for the winter, portents of cold and those trillion unique snowflakes under my new snowshoes. Shutters drawn with the sun’s last rays…it’s in the details. Mr. Jarrett’s arpeggios languish loftily, the luxurious smells of leeks, garlic, butter and sage likewise hanging in the corners of the dining room. One wonders about the possibility of heaven…after, you know, all this. Why cook when you’re so very alone? Practice, perchance, for times to come…a new, fresh year, sustained.

Herewith then, three recipes for you that celebrate the bounty of the season and the sturdy produce thereof. An appetizer of goat cheese with onions in agrodolce, buckwheat pasta with winter vegetables and mountain cheese, and green salad with a Kalamata vinaigrette. I like to make the onions myself, since most of those imported from Italy, though delicious, are laced with preservatives, and I like to augment the agradolce thang by adding currants, with their sweet pungency. These onions are great to have in the fridge, to go along with a little sheep or goat cheese, whether our new favorite Sardinian Pantaleo, or a local chèvre. Imagine how over- the- top they could be, nestled on a bed of chicory and the last sage, circling a wedge of brin d’amour or garrotxa. With a sturdy bread that would be a most special meal unto itself. Learn to make this useful Kalamata vinaigrette, it’s a good one to have up your sleeve. The coarser the greens in the salad, the better- go heavy on the arugula or chicory. The pasta recipe, graciously contributed to us from local gastronome, fellow Trurophile and long time patron Don Brown, seems to be just the hale and healthy dish for chilly winter twilights. Have a poached pear or a tangerine for dessert, and savor the particular groove that is early winter. Enjoy the recipes, with our love.

PIZZOCHERI
 

1 recipe pizzocheri (see basic recipe below)
2 tablespoons salt
2 quarts water
2 medium waxy potatoes, 3/4 pounds, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 small head Savoy (some people call this, coincidentally, “Tuscan”) cabbage, or Napa, cut into 1-inch thick strips
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 leeks, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
8 leaves fresh sage
1 cup grated Bitto cheese (may substitute Fontina or Montasio or Asiago or Gruyere) (We carry all of those in varying stages of affinage and intensity).

1. Place a large pasta pot on high heat with 6 quarts water and 2 tablespoons salt. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil. Boil 7 minutes, until the potatoes are just fork soft, and add the cabbage. Cook 3 to 4 minutes and add the pasta. Return to boil and cook 3 to 4 minutes until pasta is firm and still chewy.

2. Meanwhile, in a 10-inch sauté pan melt the butter until the foam subsides and add the leeks, garlic and sage and cook until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes, and set aside.

3. Butter an earthenware oven dish and preheat oven to 385 F. Spoon one quarter of the pasta mixture into dish, followed by one quarter leek mixture and one quarter grated cheese. Continue until all ingredients are finished. Place in oven and bake 10 minutes. Remove and toss like salad and serve immediately in the same bowl.

Serves 4

2 cups buckwheat flour (The bulk department has a great organic buckwheat flour, PLU #1358)
1-1/2 cups unbleached white flour
4 jumbo eggs
1/2 tablespoon oil
1 pinch salt

1. Make pasta in regular way using well method. 2. Roll into sheets on thinnest setting and then cut sheets into horizontal stripes 1-inch thick. Cut across the stripes in 2-inch intervals to yield 2-inch long and 1-inch tall strips.

Note: I usually use lots more cheese. The recipe for the pasta makes a batch big enough for two casseroles.  

                                                Kalamata Vinaigrette

1 cup pitted Kalamatas (buy them pitted from us, or learn to pit them yourself…it’s not hard with the back of a French knife, or get a good olive/cherry pitter out at Different Drummer, it will last forever)

2 cloves garlic, through the press or finely chopped

Chopped rosemary or thyme, as much as you like, though keep in mind they are pretty powerful herbs

A scant 1/3 cup balsamic, good red wine, or sherry vinegar

Two teaspoons or a tablespoon of good Spanish thyme or rosemary honey, if you wanna (We carry both of those)

A generous ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

 Coarsely chop ½ cup of the olives on your (impervious) cutting board, and then transfer to a small bowl. In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, pulse the rest of the olives with the garlic and thyme, then add vinegar and optional honey and pulse again a few times. Add this mixture to the chopped olives in the bowl. Whisk in the oil and salt and pepper. It should co-operate and emulsify easily. This is a good vinaigrette that will stand up to any powerful greens.

                                                Onions in Agrodolce

 4 ounces unsalted butter

2 pounds white boiling onions, or cipolline (be on the alert for these- our produce department brings them in when they are available. Amusingly flat and sweet, they are a luxurious onion indeed, but worth the price). I blanch them for about a minute in boiling water to loosen their very recalcitrant skins. Some people prefer to soak them in cold water to achieve the same effect. Either way, cut a deep cross into the base of each onion so they don’t fall apart during cooking.

1/3 cup granulated sugar (use the organic granulated variety from the bulk department- it caramelizes beautifully).

A scant cup white wine or champagne vinegar

1 cup water

½ cup currants (or white raisins, though the aesthetic of the currants is just so….on!)

Thyme sprigs to garnish

Place all ingredients in your heaviest enameled cast iron pot and bring to the simmer. Cook gently over medium low heat for a good half-hour, shaking the pan every so often and stirring only with a wide bladed wooden spoon. Test for doneness with the tip of your paring knife. When tender but still intact (like when you’re making creamed onions) take the lid off and raise the heat a wee bit to evaporate most of the liquid and caramelize the onions. Keep your eye on them, shaking perpetually. They will turn a glossy amber and any remaining liquid should be quite syrupy. Remove to a good old glazed earthenware bowl (blue is good) and strew with thyme sprigs. The tiny and fortitudinous thyme leaves alongside the amber onions, black currants and your white goat cheese make perfect sense, I assure you. Your goat cheese can be young and creamy or well aged and flinty-either work well with these onions. Serve the onions warm, at room temperature, or cold out of the refrigerator with antipasti, with a cheese or turkey sandwich or hot, alongside any roasted meat or poultry or even fish.