Italian Mood Foods For Loners

If you find yourself suddenly alone, perhaps following a difficult life crisis, you may have a need for comfort food that is healthy even when you aren't in the mood to be bothered with cooking. Herein are some ideas that will simplify your time in the kitchen (no measuring!!) with flexible recipes that can be changed easily to accommodate your taste and the amount you feel like eating. The bonus is that it is primarily fresh food and so you have less salt and preservatives. Another bonus is the unique flavor of Italian food.

These ideas come from 35 years of living in Northern Italy, with an Italian mother-in-law and, for a time, her mother as well. The Northern Italian cuisine differs from that of the south in that it uses less tomato sauce and more cream sauces. Where I lived in the dolomites, the home cooking was simple and used very plain and humble ingredients. I learned that when it comes to Italian home cooking there really is no fuss. Here is how it works:

What you need in the pantry:

A few #2 cans of peeled tomatoes

Bouillon cubes: chicken and beef* or canned broth

Olive oil (preferably pure virgin)

Balsamic vinegar

Arborio rice

Dried bread crumbs

Pasta: spaghetti, penne, ditalini for example

Garlic-the real stuff

On the spice shelf:

Dried bay leaf

Sage

Rosemary

Dried red peppers (peperoncino)

Saffron

(Parsley and basil can be kept fresh for a time in water or in the fridge-or grown on the windowsill. It can be frozen for a time and keep its flavor)

In the refrigerator:

Lemons and your preferred fruits and vegetables

Parmesan cheese

In the freezer:

In small separate zip lock sacks: chopped onion, celery, carrots, red bell peppers, parsley, and basil

Ground beef or other meat

Chicken and your preferred cuts of meat and fish

*It's easy to make your own broth and thereby control the salt and fat content-see recipe

**I often use some crumbles of a bouillon cube in place of salt and pepper-this can be too salty if not used with discretion.

I will start with the quickest and easiest recipe. This one takes very little effort but is very tasty:

Spaghetti with Aglio, Olio and Peperoncino

Add thin spaghetti (about a handful per person) to a 2qt pan of boiling salted water.

In a small frying pan warm a bit of olive oil -just about a tablespoon per person or barely cover the bottom of the pan- and lightly brown a clove of fresh garlic and 2 or 3 dried red peppers (tiny peperoncino).

Remove the garlic, drain the pasta when it is cooked to your taste and toss it with the frying pan mix, put in a bowl and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and "Ecco!"

Another quick and easy recipe: Tomato-Basil Sauce

This one can be used over any kind of pasta and frozen in various size containers for future use:

Ingredients: a can or more of peeled tomatoes or a bunch of fresh tomatoes (can be peeled by dipping them briefly in boiling water), a clove of garlic, olive oil, fresh or frozen basil.

You need only enough oil to lightly brown the garlic, stir in the tomatoes carefully if the oil is still hot add salt and pepper to taste (or use a small amount of crumbled bouillon cube to season) and let the tomatoes cook down. Before seasoning the pasta add the chopped basil. Sprinkle seasoned pasta with parmesan cheese.

I always thought it would be complicated to make Italian meat sauce (ragu'). Not so! And making your own sauce means you choose the meat you prefer (beef, veal, pork or a mix as lean or fat as you want it). I make at least one large pot full, about 2 lbs of meat, so I can freeze it in small containers for use in many different dishes. This is a real time saver.

Ingredients needed:

2 lbs of ground meat

Chopped onion, carrot, celery (already in the freezer?) in the amounts you prefer

One can of peeled tomatoes or several fresh peeled tomatoes

Bay leaf, cinnamon

Salt and pepper or crumbled beef bouillon cube

Brown the chopped onion, carrots, celery and meat together in the olive oil, add the tomatoes and at least one can of water. Add the bay leaf and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Simmer over low heat at least an hour. That's it!

This is very handy when you want some baked lasagna and the most complicated ingredient is already in the freezer.

Besciamella: This is just a thick white sauce. It is best prepared right before using it since creamy sauces can separate. All you need is about a half a stick of butter, melted in a saucepan, but not browned, a couple of large spoons of flour and when it is blended with the butter, stir in a cup or two of milk very slowly, using a whisk if possible, to avoid lumps and letting is heat slowly. Add a little salt. Watch to see how much milk can be added so it will have the thickness you prefer. Mozzarella cheese can be added for more flavor and will thicken the sauce some more. This sauce is layered with meat sauce to make lasagna, rather than the tomato and ricotta that is used in southern Italy.

Italians prefer fresh vegetables and to get the best quality they pick what is in season. Here that is harder to determine unless you live on a farm. But it is easy to prepare cooked vegetables the Italian way. The secret is not to boil them but let them cook in their own juices. They retain their natural sweetness without all of that water.

A few examples:

Spinach: (fresh or frozen) Saute' a chunk of your frozen onion (more or less as you prefer) in olive oil -it is enough to barely cover the bottom of your pan. When the onion turns yellow add the spinach and season to taste.* Let it cook down on low heat until tender (by covering the pan the juices will come out and water is not needed). At the end add a small dash of milk and stir in.

Zucchini: (any squash, fresh or frozen) Saute' a chunk of onion in the olive oil-same as above. Add the sliced squash and stir fry on low heat until tender. Add salt and pepper* and sprinkle with fresh or frozen chopped parsley.

Peas and Green Beans: same method as above but some water will need to be added after softening the onion to prevent scorching. *I add a bit of bouillon cube dissolved in hot water in place of the salt and pepper.

Cooked Vegetables in "Salad"

Italians use boiled vegetables in salad by draining, peeling, slicing and seasoning with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Vegetables used this way are potatoes, fennels, zucchini, and beets among others.

Peperonata (stewed peppers)

This is a family favorite and so simple to do. Use the following vegetables in chunks:

Onion (large), red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, green bell pepper, eggplant,

One #2 can of peeled tomatoes

Olive oil - season with one bouillon cube.

Saute' the onion first until it turns yellow. Add the other ingredients and simmer slowly on low heat for about an hour. Be sure the vegetables are tender. All done!

The next section deals with rice-one of the most versatile dishes in Italy!

Risotto

The basic recipe calls for Arborio rice and broth. Arborio is a thick grained rice and gives a creamy texture to the dish. The other ingredients vary greatly and you can use your favorite vegetables or mushrooms to flavor.

My family favorite is Risotto Tricolori (3 colors like the name of the Italian flag-but different colors!) this one has my own additions to the traditional risotto Milanese.

You need about 2 handfuls of rice per person, enough boiling chicken broth to cook the rice (in a separate pan), olive oil, one dose of powdered saffron (Italian saffron comes in small packages with 3 packets of one dose each) or about one half tsp., half a small glass of dry white wine.

Some chopped onion, red bell pepper and chopped parsley (from the freezer?). One large spoonful of cream and some parmesan cheese are added at the end.

In a large frying pan, saute' the onion and pepper in a small amount of olive oil (barely cover the bottom of the pan). When the onion turns color, add the rice and stir, add the wine and let it evaporate. Add the broth one dipper at a time as the rice cooks and absorbs it. When the rice is almost cooked, add the powdered saffron to the last dipper of broth and stir in. Add the cream, chopped parsley and parmesan cheese to taste.

Risotto ai Funghi:

Portobello mushrooms (or porcini mushrooms as they are called in Italy) are the most popular for this rice dish. I buy them dried since I can be more certain of the provenance. I rinse and then soak them at least an hour-then I save the water they were soaked in to add to the broth for a more intense flavor. The risotto is the same as above, just saute' the onions and mushrooms together, add the rice, wine and broth. At the end, add the cream and parmesan cheese. (Shredded cooked ham can also be added for additional flavor)

Risotto with Vegetables:.

This is the easiest of all. Just put cooked vegetables in the pan, add the rice, wine and broth. Finish with parmesan cheese. Cream may not be needed depending on the texture of the vegetables. Squash, peas and spinach are best for this recipe.

A good Italian roast is easy to prepare. In my home it was cooked on top of the stove to save energy and to insure that it remained moist.

Ingredients: your choice of meat. I used a rolled roast, veal or pork, with the fat rolled inside. Use olive oil, a clove of garlic, salt and pepper and a bunch of rosemary (best if fresh, but dried is still good) Keep a bottle of dry white wine handy to moisten the roast at first.

Use enough olive oil to barely cover the bottom of a sauce pan not much bigger than the roast. Lightly brown the garlic and remove. Brown the roast in the oil on all sides add salt and pepper to taste, add the white wine and let it evaporate. Add the rosemary, cover tightly and let it simmer on very low heat for about an hour and a half depending on the size of the roast. Water can be added as needed to keep the roast moist. Turn it occasionally. When the time is up, remove the roast from the pan and slice it. Return it to the pan and juices. Keep it warm without cooking it further unless needed. This method is great for small portions and also to save gas and electricity used to heat up the oven. It works like the old dutch ovens or slow cookers.

Meat stew is popular and is usually served with polenta. Here in the states I have not found polenta flour -just the commercially made polenta. That is ok on the grill, but to eat with a stew, the polenta is usually made less firm. Regular U.S. corn meal is ground too finely to make the real stuff. The stew, on the other hand, is no problem. Just brown stew meat in olive oil, add some chopped onion from the freezer and when it has turned yellow add carrots, and celery. Stir in one can of peeled tomatoes or use fresh sauce tomatoes with an extra can of water. Add a bay leaf, a sprinkle of cinnamon and let it simmer about an hour. At that point add either a can or frozen peas, some peeled and diced potatoes and cook another 30 minutes or so.

Homemade broth is also easy and requires no constant supervision. Using beef or chicken, meat and bone, a large pan of water, whole vegetables: carrot, celery, onion, salt and pepper, other herbs of your preference- just put it all together on the stove and let it simmer for a couple of hours. Check on the water from time to time. Broth can be drained and if refrigerated for a time the fat can be skimmed off the top, or you can mix it up and keep it with the broth if you prefer. The meat can be de-boned and frozen like the broth. Using various size containers you can take out whatever you need. The advantage of making your own is getting the quality of ingredients you want and avoiding the heavy salt and conservatives in commercial products and controlling the amount of fat in the broth.

Cooking fish is very quick and easy. The delicate meat and flavors are best preserved if it is not overcooked. The average fish fillet can be either breaded and fried or just floured to keep it light. To bread the fish you will need flour, egg, breadcrumbs and a wide frying pan with about a half inch of olive oil. First flour the fish, then dip in beaten egg, then roll in the bread crumbs (wax paper is a big help here!). The cooked fish is drained on a paper towel and served with fresh lemon juice and chopped fresh parsley.

Shellfish (mussels and clams) are simply placed in a pan with hot oil and are done when the shells open. Add lemon juice and parsley, salt and pepper to the juice and serve in the shells.

A good vegetable soup in Italy is different every time you make it. The main thing to remember is to saute' the onion before adding the water and other vegetables or it will taste bitter. I use a bay leaf with bean soups and parsley with the others.

Bean soup or Pasta Fagioli is a favorite in the Friuli region. It is usually cooked with a cotecchino sausage which can be hard to find here. This large sausage has a lot of fat and is considered the poor man's sausage since it is made with whatever is left of the pig after the salamis, hams and other sausages are made. I always boiled it for a time first to eliminate the excess fat and then I put it in the soup.For pasta fagioli, just lightly brown some onion and bacon (if you are not using any sausage or ham bone) in a soup pot. Add water, two cans of pinto beans, chopped carrot, celery and diced peeled potatoes and a bay leaf. When the soup ingredients are all cooked (simmered on low for about an hour and a half) add a couple of handfuls of "ditalini" pasta. Now taste it for the salt and add if needed. Be sure there is enough liquid in the pan for the pasta to absorb. This should be a thick soup. Sprinkle each bowl with parmesan cheese.

These are strictly down home recipes learned from a couple of Friuli "farm girls" and practiced over many years. It is how my kids like to eat when they come home and is probably something of what determines what "home" really is. I knew nothing about cooking when I married and found out that just opening a can wasn't going to cut it. But since I also worked, I needed these shortcuts and they are useful even now that I am a loner. I hope they will be useful to others as well. Buon appetito!