One of the cucina povera (poor kitchen) Christmas traditions in Italy is Polenta alla Spianatora (polenta on the board), a rustic meal of polenta served as a dinner during the cold nights between la Vigilia (Christmas Eve) and Capodanno (New Year's Day). What makes this meal so unusual is the manner in which it is served. In the old days, hot polenta was poured and spread out directly on the family's wooden table. A slow-cooked sugo (thick, meaty tomato sauce), peas and possibly sausages or pieces of braised pork were arranged in concentric circles. The bits of meat were a real treat for children in the poor, farming communities. Young and old alike were given forks and everyone would make their own trails in the hot mess of deliciousness, each staking out their own section. But as I've been told, in some homes there were rules: you weren't allowed to eat the meat until you ate a path to the center, with some slow eating children not having such luck!

This manner of eating is a celebration of nature from the 15th century when corn was introduced to Italy from the New World. This dish is a celebration of the recent harvest... the circular shape of the polenta represented the sun, and it's corn having come from Mother Earth herself. All the ingredients topping this sun would have also been nurtured by the sun during the growing season: lentils, chickpeas, pork, chicken.

This is an ancient meal that also celebrates life--and family. So everyone was at the table digging in. This is a big meal... with a large amount of polenta traditionally prepared in a copper pot resembling a modern wok.

Nowadays, people tend to use a Spianatora (or spianatoia)--a modern day wooden cutting or pastry board--to pour the polenta onto. There are even some restaurants in southern/central Italy that will service this during the holiday season.

To make this warming meal for your famiglia, first you need to make a Sugo. Here's a link to my own family's Sugo Recipe.

For the Polenta

• 8 cups chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 4 cups yellow imported Italian polenta

1. Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. After the broth is boiling, add 2 teaspoons of salt.
3. Slowly whisk in the polenta little by little.
4. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens and the polenta is tender still very loose and creamy, but stir constantly. This should take about 20 minutes until it thickens. Once it is thickened, remove from the heat.
5. Prepare a large clean wooden cutting board by rubbing with some Extra Virgin Olive oil, a dusting of course corn meal and a sprinkling of course sea salt.
6. Pour the polenta directly onto a the board and spread into a large circle. Don't use a stone or marble countertop or your polenta will cool off way too fast.
7. Top the entire surface of the polenta with the tomato sauce from your sugo, and then arrange the various meats in the center into concentric circles... perhaps meatballs in the center, sausages around them, and bits of other cooked pork surrounding the rest. One circle can contain peas, lentils (for good fortune in the New Year) or even cooked chickpeas or beans.

Top this beautiful, hot mess with Parmigiano Reggiano  or Romano and invite your amici and famiglia to start scraping.

Buon appetito, Buon Natale and Felice Anno Nuovo!

--Jerry Finzi

When I was a child, my mother would make meatloaf... plain, American style, ketchup covered, meatloaf. Filling, yes, but usually a bit dry and boring. After  learning of the various types of polpettone (Italian meatloaves) they make in Italy, I wanted sometime more tasty with a little bit of a spicy kick. Here's my Polpettone con Salsa di Mele...


For the Polpettone 

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large egg, beaten
2 cups fresh bread crumbs (honey wheat), cubed
1 cup cinnamon applesauce (of course, you can make your own)
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef, extra lean
1 pound ground pork
 
For the Glaze 
1 cup cinnamon applesauce
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey Dijon mustard
2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce (apple maple)
20 “cracks” of freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Finely chop onion and then sauté in canola oil until onions start to caramelize and brown in color. If it looks like they are burning, add a tablespoon of water to the pan as needed until they are a nutty brown color.
• Put ground beef and pork in mixing bowl, then add salt. Gently mix the two meats together.
• In another bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, pepper, egg, onions, one (1) cup of applesauce and mix well (gently toss).
• Add the breadcrumb mixture into the meat and gently mix until combined. Do not over mix.
• Shape the mixture into a metal loaf pan, rounding over the sides to come away from the pan's sides. Do NOT cover with foil.
• Bake at 425 F for 10 minutes to create a crust, then turn down the oven to 350 F and bake for 1-1/2 hours.
• Meanwhile, make the glaze…  Combine the remaining 1 cup applesauce, cider vinegar, mustard and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Crack the pepper into the mix. Heat and stir until blended and the brown sugar is incorporated.
• After the first half hour of bake time, spoon some of the apple glaze over the top of the meatloaf to coat it.
• If needed, brush the top of the meatloaf with some glaze, reserving some for a topping.
• If there seems to be too much moisture around the sides of the pan, use a turkey baster to remove some liquid. If too dry, add more glaze.
• Let meatloaf sit for 20 minutes before serving.

Serve with some of the glaze on top of each slice, with a side of either potato croquettes or homemade spätzle (like they make in the Alto Aldige region of Northern Italy).

Of course, best served with a bottle of Italian sparkling cider.

Just in time for the holidays... Autumn Beet Tart!
(Easier to say than Torta d'Autunno con Barbabietola, wouldn't you agree?)

For the Crust:
1 cup of all purpose flour
3/4 cup almond flour
3 teaspoons yeast
1/4 cup water
4 tablespoons of cane sugar
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of ground fennel seeds
1 pinch of salt
1 beaten egg

For the Filling:
2 large beet roots, steamed
1/2 brown sugar

Directions

• In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, almond flour, water, extra virgin olive oil and yeast dissolved in a little water: knead and let rise for about half an hour.
• Add the salt and the ground fennel, then let rise until doubled.
• Prepare the filling: After steaming, slice ​​beets thinly, then place in a pan with medium heat, until they are caramelized.
• Roll out the dough and spread it in a a pie pan (glass or ceramic works best for this recipe), then trim the sides. Retain some of the dough for decoration.
• Layer in the beets and sprinkle with brown sugar.
• Form decorations for the top... vines, grapes, leaves, etc. Brush with beaten egg.
• Bake at 350 F until golden brown.

Note: As an option, place pieces of feta cheese mixed into the filling before baking. Serve with a Vin Santo.

When we spent some time on the Amalfi Coast, one of our goals was to visit "the" ceramics town--Vietri sul Mare, just west of Salerno. One of its must-see places to visit was the amazing Ceramica Artistica Solimene, one of the most iconic artisan shops for Vietri ceramics. Rather than the geometri, Renaissance designs of other ceramic design shops, Solemene's designs are childlike, with free-handed strokes and creatures and colors of the life along the Amalfi Coast... fish, octopus, pigs, chickens and donkeys.  

The building which houses the "factory" (if you can call it that, since all the ceramics are made by and painted by hand), is itself a work of art, commissioned by Vincenzo Solimene and completed in 1954. Architect Paolo Soleri designed this masterpiece of architecture, a mid-century modern homage to ceramics, with its inverted, cone shaped exterior covered with terracotta discs.

The interior houses a sales area on the first floor open to the skylights on the roof, with a ramp that spirals upward (no stairs, but there is a small elevator) to different levels where the clay is formed, sculpted and then painted. The spiraling design is similar to modern parking garages.

Chain smoking artisans welcome visitors and will even give short lessons on their techniques (our son--then 11--was shown how to attach a handle to a cup). Visiting the Solimene factory can be considered the highlight of spending some time in Vietri sul Mare's ceramics district--there are scores of ceramic shops within a few blocks.

The family business has been creating ceramics for more than a century and has produced tableware, garden ceramics and pots, sculptural pieces, floor and wall tiles--all worked and painted entirely by hand, using a combination of modern and ancient techniques, such as the potter's wheel. Their tableware is food safe (they utilize lead-free glazes) and can even withstand dishwashers. In our own Pennsylvania villa, we serve our meals on Solimene ceramics. So far, in about 5 years, no chips--just compliments.

--Jerry Finzi

Pungitopo is actually a member of the lily family closely related to asparagus botanically speaking. It and was once used in Europe make small brooms to clean butchers' chopping blocks. It's scent had the ability deter rodents from taking an interest in meats hanging to cure. The plant is well known throughout Italy, Europe and to the British Isles. Other common names are jew’s myrtle, sweet broom, kneeholy, pettigree, knee holly, kneeholm. In Italy, they will also be known as asparagi selvatici (wild asparagus) or portafortuna natalizio (Christmas Luck), referring to the time of year it is usually enjoyed in the Italian kitchen.

It is mostly harvested nowadays for its thick, brown rhizome, which is harvested in the fall when the plant stores most of its energy for winter. It's herbal use is to make healing teas.

There use can be as simple as boiling or steaming and served with butter or olive oil, the was asparagus are served. The softer buds are used in fritatta, frittella (fritters), risotto or in pasta dishes. Their taste is bitter but the buds alone are a bit sweeter. Here are a few ideas...

--GVI

Acquasala Lucan

Ingredients (serves 2, with one egg each)

• 2 thick slices hearty bread, stale is best (you can also use cubed bread. Ciabatta works well). You can also use rustic croutons that you tossed with olive oil and toasted in the oven ahead of time.   
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 cups  water
• 1 large Vidalia or other sweet onion, finely diced
• 2 small pimentos, chopped roughly (alternate, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes)           NOTE: For authenticity, use long, dried hot chile peppers, called pepperone crusco in Basilicata.
• 1 small tomato, diced (for more flavor, dice 2 sun-dried tomatoes)
• 4 tablespoons oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Grated or shredded Parmigiano Reggiano or crumbled ricotta salata for topping off the dish.

 
Directions

1. Place the olive oil in a saute pan, then add the onions and cook until translucent.
2. Next, add the pimentos and tomatoes and simmer for 2 minutes
3. Add the water and salt and bring to a gentle boil.
4. As you would do when poaching eggs, crack open each egg and place each gently into the pan, keeping the eggs from touching. Try to keep the whites of each egg from spreading as you drop them into the broth. Simmer the eggs until the whites are cooked through but the yolk is still runny. Remove from heat when done.
5. Place one slice (or cubes) of bread in the center of each of your bowls, then place an egg on top of each.
6. Gently pour the broth over the eggs, using half for each serving.
7. Top off with a dusting of Parmigiano Reggiano, caciocavallo or crumbled ricotta salata. Salt and pepper to taste.

Boun appetito!

--Jerry Finzi

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana is one of the oldest and best-known pizzerias in the United States. Known by locals as simply Pepe’s, its original location is in the Wooster Square neighborhood of New Haven, CT.

This Connecticut landmark pizzeria was founded in 1925 by Frank Pepe, born in the Amalfi Coast town of Maiori in 1893. As a poor, illiterate immigrant, he came to the U.S. when he was 16 years old and managed to get a job at a New Haven factory until World War I broke out when he returned to his homeland to fight in defense of Italy.

After the war he married Filomena Volpi in Maiori and returned to America to start their new lives. Frank at first worked for Genneroso Muro's macaroni shop and next for Bread baker, Tony Apicella where he fell in love with and learned the art of making bread. Once he had learned the art of bread-making, he opened his own bakery at the original Wooster Street location where Frank Pepe’s the Spot (operated by the Boccamiello family) sits today. At first he started delivering bread to his customers, but because of his lack of reading and writing skills, he found it difficult to keep the addresses in order. What to do? Invent a business where the customers come to you.

His wife Filomena had learned to read and write which helped enormously for their next adventure...  in 1925 they decided to start making something very new to Americans--Pizza! The local Italian-Americans, still today, call it "ah-BEETZ". They offered two types: Tomato Pie with grated cheese, garlic, oregano and olive oil and a second with anchovy. Their "Original Tomato Pie" is still offered at the 157 Wooster Street location, as well as at the others. Keep in mind, however, Pepe's Tomato Pie is thin-crusted and round, very unlike the Philadephia/Trenton are Tomato Pie which is thick, bready and square.

Frank Pepe originated the New Haven-style, thin crust pizza baked in brick ovens fired by coke, a byproduct of coal. In the late 1960’s coke became unavailable, so he converted the ovens to being coal fired, which gives a very distinct, smokey quality to the darker parts of the crust.

As time went on, Pepe's developed another signature pizza, the White Clam Pizza. This later innovation was an homage to Frank Pepe having originally served raw little neck clams on the half shell from Rhode Island as an appetizer. Today, it's one of the most popular choices on their menu.

If you are a confessed pizza addict and want to eat a little bit of pizza history, stop at a Frank Pepe's Pizzeria... there are locations from Yonkers, NY throughout Connecticut and all the way Chestnut Hill just west of Boston. 

--Jerry Finzi