Contorni is the Italian version of a side dish that is vegetable rather than protein based. My mother always told me how important it is to eat your vegetables, but as much as I love my veggies, I think it’s important to spice them up a bit to add some excitement to the plate. My grilled vegetables will light up any barbecue party, and the Brussels sprouts anointed with bacon are to die for! In this chapter you will learn how to bring good, healthy food to the plate with plenty of flavor. OK, polenta cooked with cream and cheese may not be the healthiest thing on planet, but it’s definitely tasty (and if you go grandmother-style, you can skip the dairy). Polenta is one of the most typical foods from my beautiful region of Friuli, so when you make it, you will start to become a little Friulano. Mushrooms are a passion of mine, and I will teach you the best way to cook them so you can include them in a variety of recipes or serve them solo to dig in to their deliciousness without distraction. Potatoes are a must, and my method for making them, salty and crisp, is a recipe you’ll want to have in your vegetable-making repertoire. In Italy we are blessed with some of the most beautiful and tasty vegetables on the planet, and here in New York we benefit from the regional farms that deliver the best of their produce to the greenmarkets throughout the city. Wherever you are, look for farm-fresh to make your recipes really shine!
There is nothing better than to walk around the farmers’ market at the end of October and browse through all the varieties of mushrooms. It’s a sign that fall is here and we are heading into another long and cold winter! When I worked in restaurants in Italy, our menus would be completely invaded by mushroom dishes at that time of year. Mushrooms are so incredibly versatile: You can serve them raw, shaved on a salad, in an omelet, as a side dish for your meat, or you can make a soup with them. I love mushrooms with my pasta (see my Mushroom and Mascarpone Quadratti recipe on this page) and in risotto, even better when they are mixed with black truffle paste (see my recipe for Mushroom and Black Truffle Risotto on this page). Remember, there are three rules I follow when cooking with mushrooms: 1) never wash them (unless they are morels), 2) always cook them in a screaming-hot pan, and 3) never overcrowd the pan—otherwise they’ll never get crisp.
4 tablespoons (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
8 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 3/4 pounds (800 g) mixed mushrooms (such as shiitake, cremini, chanterelle, oyster, and royal trumpet), cleaned (see this page)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup (120 ml) beef stock, homemade (this page) or good-quality store-bought
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add half of the mushrooms, 1 rosemary sprig, and 1 thyme sprig and season with salt and pepper (the salt helps to release the moisture from the mushrooms). Sear the mushrooms, without moving them, for 2 to 3 minutes until nicely browned on the underside. Turn the mushrooms, reduce the heat to medium, and sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened and nicely browned all over. Transfer the mushrooms to a baking sheet, keeping as much of the garlic in the pan as you can. Repeat the process for the second batch.
Remove the rosemary, thyme, and garlic and return the mushrooms to the sauté pan. Add the butter and stir until it melts, then add the stock and cook, stirring often, until the stock is absorbed and the mushrooms are completely softened, about 5 minutes. Add the parsley and serve.
Who doesn’t like roasted potatoes? Crisp, salty, flavorful roasted potatoes … to me a great steak without roasted potatoes is like a burger without cheese (I had to cook a burger at Chef Gordon Ramsay’s BurGR on the Las Vegas episode of MasterChef; everyone said that my burger was good, but it was missing the cheese and needed some to bring it up a notch). I love to make these potatoes heavily salted, so go ahead and add as much salt you like!
2 pounds (910 g) fingerling or small new potatoes, scrubbed and halved
5 tablespoons (75 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
8 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the potatoes on the sheet. Add 3 tablespoons of the oil, the paprika, salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme and mix everything together with your hands to coat the potatoes with the oil and seasonings.
In a large sauté pan, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil with the garlic. Set over medium-high heat and heat until screaming hot. Add the potatoes, flesh-side down, and the herbs from the baking sheet and sear for 5 minutes to brown them. Flip the potatoes and sear them for 5 minutes more to brown them on the other side.
Return the potatoes to the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cut one in the middle to see if it is cooked through, and taste it to make sure it’s well seasoned (it’s always better to add seasoning when the food is still hot). Return the potatoes to the oven for a few more minutes, if needed, and add salt and pepper, as needed.
When I was a young kid, almost every Christmas holiday we would go for lunch at my great-grandmother’s house up in the mountains in the Friuli town of Claut. Nonna Catina was my father’s grandmother, and she was the classic Friuli grandmother: She would wear a dark-colored gown, long stockings even in the summer, and slippers. Always. She had long gray hair and no teeth. Actually, she had one tooth left until I accidentally hit her chin with the back of my head, and it fell out.
Nonna Catina made polenta in the traditional way. There was no such thing as instant polenta for her. She would make it in a very large copper kettle placed on a stand set into the fireplace, and she would stir it for an hour or so with a long wooden spoon. Polenta is a humble and traditional food from the beautiful cornfield-filled region of Friuli, and Nonna Catina was very proud of her polenta. Her love for polenta was passed down to me, and there is no winter month that passes that I don’t make it. I love it with braised meat, sausage, and mushrooms, and also served with cheese. I could write a whole book just about polenta! My mother doesn’t really approve that I put milk, cream, and cheese in mine (the traditional style uses just cornmeal and water), but when you try it, you will understand why I do it. I generally use Grana Padano, but you can use any cheese: Fontina, Gorgonzola, or goat cheese are good options. A mix of four different cheeses will make the famous polenta ai quattro formaggi. If you use a blue cheese, pair it with three milder cheeses—anything except goat cheese, but goat cheese on its own makes a great goat-cheese polenta.
For this recipe, you can use medium-grain polenta or cornmeal and stir the pot for 45 minutes, or buy instant polenta that will be ready in 3 to 4 minutes. I think the instant is just as good, but don’t tell that to an Italian grandmother!
1 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
Freshly ground white or black pepper
1 cup (150 g) polenta, either quick-cooking or medium-grain
1 cup (100 g) freshly grated Grana Padano
In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the milk, cream, and 2 cups (480 ml) water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the salt and season with pepper.
Slowly pour the polenta into the milk mixture, bring back to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium, and stir or whisk without stopping for 4 minutes as the mixture starts to thicken. If you’ve used quick-cooking polenta, add the cheese and you’re done; if you’re using medium-grain polenta, then you’ll go the Italian grandmother route: Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 45 minutes, stirring often, until the polenta becomes very thick and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Stir in the cheese. If at any point you feel the polenta is getting too thick, stir in a little more water. Pour the polenta into an oval serving plate and serve immediately.
Grilled Polenta: Brush a baking sheet with softened butter. As soon as the polenta is done, pour it onto the baking sheet in an even layer, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Let cool completely, then refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Cut the polenta into rectangular slices and grill them on an outdoor grill or a very hot oiled griddle pan or nonstick pan until well browned, almost charred, on both sides.
Italian Grandmother–style Polenta: Omit the milk and cream and make the polenta with 5 cups (1.2 L) of water instead. Grandmother-style polenta can be deep-fried (the polenta cooked with cheese won’t work, because it doesn’t keep its shape when fried): As soon as the polenta is done, pour it onto the baking sheet in an even layer, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Let cool completely, then refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Cut the polenta into large French-fry shapes or small potato-tot shapes, deep-fry them (see this page), sprinkle them with salt, and eat them while they’re hot.
GRILLED VEGETABLES WITH PARSLEY-GARLIC PESTO
This is a great summer side, inspired by a garlicky meat marinade a friend of my father’s made for a barbecue back home in Italy, and it’s perfect to serve with grilled meat or fish. You’ll need to get it ready ahead of time so the vegetables can marinate overnight and soak up all those delicious juices. The hardest part is slicing the vegetables. If you have a slicer or a mandoline at home, you will be fine; if not, you can ask the person at the deli counter to slice them for you (make sure you give her a tip, and she will remember you the next time!). If a knife is your only option, just be very careful and go slowly so your slices come out even.
4 Italian eggplants (about 1 pound/455 g each), peeled and cut lengthwise into slices ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick
2 cups (480 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for cooking the vegetables
2 medium summer squash, cut lengthwise into slices ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick
2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into slices ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick
7 ounces (200 g) anchovies marinated in olive oil (about 1 cup)
6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
½ cup (120 ml) fresh lemon juice, from about 4 lemons
1 cup (40 g) chopped fresh parsley
Line two baking sheets with a double layer of paper towels and lay the eggplant slices over them. Lightly sprinkle the eggplant with salt. (This process is called degorging; it helps to bring the moisture out of the eggplant so when it’s cooked it will get crisp rather than soggy.)
Line a separate baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside (if all your baking sheets are being used for the eggplant, use a platter or a few plates). Drizzle a little oil into a large sauté pan or grill pan and wipe the pan with a paper towel. Set the pan over medium-high heat and heat until screaming hot. Lay down enough squash and zucchini slices to fill the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until browned and turning translucent. Drizzle some more oil over the vegetables and cook for 3 to 4 minutes more, until browned on the other side. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Season the vegetables very lightly with salt and pepper. Continue cooking the squash and zucchini slices in batches in the same fashion until all the slices are cooked. Add more oil to pan with each batch. Note that the pan will get hotter as you continue to cook, and the vegetables may burn if you don’t keep a watchful eye; you may need to lower the heat a little and cook for a minute or so less on each side.
Pat the eggplant with paper towels. Cook them in the same pan and in the same manner as you cooked the vegetables, using about twice as much oil in the pan as you did for the squash and zucchini.
In a food processor, combine the 2 cups (480 ml) of oil, the anchovies, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Process for a minute or so. The marinade will not need any salt, because the anchovies are already very salty.
Arrange a layer of the vegetables in a glass casserole dish or baking dish. Cover with some of the marinade and repeat with additional layers of vegetables and marinade until all the vegetables have been used. Cover and refrigerate overnight before serving. Keep the vegetables in the marinade when serving.
LUCA’S TIPS: Using a mandoline can be very dangerous if you don’t pay close attention and use a hand guard. If you don’t believe me, just ask MasterChef contestants Lynn and Jessie (they both cut themselves using a mandoline on the show).
ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH BACON
Cavolini di Bruxelles con Pancetta
I have always had a passion for Brussels sprouts. Salty, crunchy, almost burned, that’s how I love them! The best is when they are cooked in bacon fat—plenty of it, so you can really taste the bacon. This bacon-heavy Brussels sprouts dish is one I made for a successful MasterChef challenge as a side to my spice-rubbed grilled pork chops. The secret is to render the fat from the bacon very slowly and use that fat to coat and cook the Brussels sprouts to perfection. My wife doesn’t like to eat pork, so I’ve made this dish with turkey bacon. Forget about it! Don’t waste your time; it will never taste the same.
8 ounces (225 g) Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed
½ cup (about 3 ounces/85 g) finely chopped bacon
1 tablespoon freshly grated Grana Padano
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Fill a large bowl with ice and water to make an ice bath.
Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the Brussels sprouts and cook for about 3 minutes, until softened but still crisp. Drain, then transfer to the ice bath and let cool for a minute. Drain and pat dry with paper towels, then cut the Brussels sprouts in half and set aside.
Heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the bacon. You are going to cook it very slowly because you will need to render all the fat and crisp it up. This will take about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the cooked bacon from the pan and set aside in a small bowl, leaving the rendered fat in the pan. Set the pan over high heat, and when the bacon fat is very hot, add the Brussels sprouts, cut-side down, and sear for 4 to 5 minutes, until well browned, almost burned, on the underside and almost completely cooked through. Turn the sprouts; return the bacon to the pan and cook all together for a minute. The bacon may be very salty, so you may not need to add any salt, maybe just some black pepper. Anyway, we still need to add the Grana Padano, another salty element, so be careful with the salt!
Transfer the Brussels sprouts and bacon to the prepared baking sheet, sprinkle with the cheese, and bake for about 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Transfer to a bowl and serve immediately.
