Welcome, October. Fried green tomatoes + links
Welcome, October. Fried green tomatoes + links
A letter with 10 recipes to cook this month, and an insight on what I'm reading, watching, listening to, and cooking right now.
Do you feel Autumn in the air? A chill in the morning when you open up the windows, while the house is still dark and silent. Flocks of birds dancing in the sky, getting ready to leave the Tuscan countryside for warmer lands. Pumpkins and butternut squashes lined up on my kitchen cabinet, taking the space once reserved to bowls of tomatoes and peaches. The first porcini mushrooms from Garfagnana hit the market stalls, and I could not resist them. My mum is slowly uprooting tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers from the vegetable garden, creating space for garlic, broccoli, fava beans, and peas.
Livia, an advocate for pasta al pomodoro, now opens up her mouth like a baby bird, waiting for warm soups, her favourite being my minestrone with fresh pasta quadrucci.
I feel Autumn, I love Autumn, and I’m embracing its colours, its sense of cosiness, my change of appetite, the shorter days - that are a nightmare for photography, but a blessing when it comes to spending time on the sofa with your daughter, reading for the 10th time her favourite book on farm animals.
What I am cooking
Soups like pasta e fagioli, or pasta e ceci. I roast butternut squash at least twice a week and turn its sweet, dense pulp into seasonal risotto, soups, savoury pies, side dishes, and pasta sauces. My cuisine in October takes a deep orange hue that will last until Springtime when green will knock on the door.
I bake bread and schiacciata, I’m getting ready to bake pan co’ Santi, and my annual Christmas cake, which I’ve been baking since 2010 without interruption. I love traditions, rituals that mark the passing of time, and I’m always ready to welcome new habits, especially when they gain a more profound meaning for my family and me, and when they are related to Christmas.
What I am reading
In September I received two cookbooks and now I’m delving into their recipes and stories.
The first one is Chris McDade’s The Magic of Tinned Fish, published by Artisan Books. As an advocate of pantry staples, I love Chris McDade’s approach to tinned fish: it is nutritious, affordable, sustainable, and involves minimal food waste.
Like fruits and vegetables, seafood has a terroir and a time when each fish is at its best. This is where tinned fish come in.
Then, should we talk about the punch of flavour a tiny, umami-packed anchovy can add to a dish? The book is divided into 5 chapters, focused on Anchovies, Sardines, Mackerel, Shellfish, Squid and Octopus, and Trout and Cod. There are clear explanations on how to treat each fish and vibrant recipes with a bright Mediterranean touch. I can’t wait to try his spaghetti with puttanesca sauce, and the fusilli with sardines, ‘nduja, and pecorino.
The second book is Laurel Evans’ Liguria: The Cookbook; Recipes from the Italian Riviera, published by Rizzoli. I’m incredibly fascinated by the Tuscany neighbouring region, Liguria, by its food, its local products, and its unique landscape. Laurel Evans shares with us her love for Liguria and the Italian Riviera, her second home, a land that stole her heart the first time she set foot in Moneglia to meet her boyfriend and now husband’s family. The food, the passed on recipes, the traditions, the family bonds and the three Ligurian nonne, everything feels fresh, real, heartfelt.
This is a land of contradictions, defined both by the extravagance of wealthy, baroque, cosmopolitan Genoa, and by the thrift and ingenuity of the hard-pressed, arduous entroterra (inland). (…) This region offers a treasure trove of recipes that are inventive, seasonal, waste-conscious, and often plant-forward.
I’m already dreaming about the focaccia, and the focaccia col formaggio di Recco, not to mention the many savoury pies full of vegetables that are so typical of Liguria.
What I am watching
You know I love a good crime series or mystery dramas, they help me to unwind, as all my mind is focused on finding who is the culprit. We are watching now Truth be Told, on Apple TV+, with Octavia Spencer and Kate Hudson. Apart from the mystery Poppy Parnell is trying to solve, I love that she is a journalist that uses her podcast to seek the truth.
As a podcaster myself, I find it inspiring, and I try to use her confidence and calm whenever I’m recording a new episode (speaking of this, we’re working on a new season). Luckily I’m just talking about food and recipes, and there are no murders involved!
What I am listening to
I’m slowly catching up with past episodes of my favourite podcasts. BBC Radio 4 The Food Programme is one of them, a podcast I started listening to years ago. I often browse through their ample archive, discovering gems, interesting food stories, and inspiring conversations. One of the latest episodes, Tastefully Worded: Exploring food in language, allowed me to spend an hour in good company, giving interesting insights into food writing, the use of adjectives, and the clichés we all too easily fall into.
I’ve already mentioned Keep calm and cook on with Julia Tursheen, and every time there’s a new episode, it reinforces my absolute admiration for Julia Tursheen and for her work. In episode 64, Body Stuff with Grace Bonney, Julia and her wife, Grace Bonney, have an honest talk about body stuff. It is eye-opening. Recently, I’ve been mulling over diets, diet culture, society, and my own, personal journey in the relationship with my body. Julia Tursheen and her conversations and insights have been incredibly helpful. I wish I’ll be able to share my journey soon. What I can say is that this deep analysis of my fears, of imposed needs and expectations, feels liberating.
Where I have been
Every month I used to share places I was dreaming to visit. Now I want to be an optimist, hoping that we’ll keep on travelling, even though on a smaller scale. So from now, I’ll share places we have actually visited, new restaurants, cafés, bakeries… everything that has caught my attention, or my appetite, in the past month. And we’re beginning with a bang.
We spent three days at @granduniverselucca feeling at home, pampered by their kind, warm hospitality, busy exploring the town thanks to the activities they organised for us: an aperitivo on the rooftop bar, a guided tour of Lucca through the centuries, a bike ride on the walls with a picnic basket all for us, and a ride on a horse carriage with a bottle of prosecco and something to nibble on while listening anecdotes on the history of Lucca. And then there have been second and third breakfasts, a thorough exploration of cafes, osterias, bakeries, pastry shops, bars, delis and pottery shops… we collected all the addresses for an upcoming Lucca city guide, so stay tuned.
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A new recipe on the blog
Fried green tomatoes with grapes
This dish belongs to peasant cooking, it is prepared only for a very short time, when the tomatoes on the vines do not have enough sun to ripen. The farmers would find themselves with baskets of green tomatoes and ripe bunches of grapes. I’d love to hug the first person who came up with this idea of pairing green tomatoes and grapes.
There are only five ingredients – green tomatoes, grapes, basil, garlic and chilli – yet each one is essential. The pan-fried green tomatoes are meaty and fresh, the grapes add a delicate sweet note, the garlic and the basil give an aromatic twist, the chilli warms it up.
Find the recipe for the fried green tomatoes with grapes on the blog.
If you try it, share the results with us on social media by using the hashtag #myseasonaltable and tagging @julskitchen on Instagram.
If you have questions about the ingredients or the recipe, if you have a special request for one of the next cooking projects, or if you just want to have a chat, just reply to this email.
Ten recipes to cook this month
Pasta alla boscaiola. Pasta alla boscaiola, a mushroom-based sauce for pasta, made in the woodland style. It is a recipe with a delightful ’80s allure, like all the dishes featuring cream. It is impossible to trace back to the original recipe, as there are endless variations.
Butternut squash risotto with clams. Be generous with clams, they not only will add an unusual purple shade which will create a stunning colour contrast with the orange risotto, but will also soften the sweetness of the butternut squash with their natural saltiness.
Porcini mushroom risotto. No butter but good extra virgin olive oil in this risotto, then a light aromatic stock made with fresh herbs, porcini mushrooms, and grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
Potato and pumpkin tortelli. I started with potato tortelli, then I tried to sneak some pumpkin in, previously baked with olive oil, salt, pepper and a generous pinch of nutmeg.
Savoury butternut squash pie. As my mum's classic potato cheese savoury pie, but more autumnal, rich, and creamy thanks to oven-roasted butternut squash, butter, and Parmigiano Reggiano.
Butternut squash and lamb meatballs. Moist and sweet, they have a distinctive flavour, with a warm orange hue. Brighten them up with a spoonful of pesto and a few wedges of orange and serve them as a main or into a soft bun if you have leftovers.
Baked apples. Baked apples are a simple classy dessert. Serve it as it is, drenched with the spiced syrup they are baked in, or accompanied by English custard, cream or gelato.
Coffee and vanilla pound cake. A vanilla pound cake marbled with coffee, designed to wake you up in the morning. Use white farro flour, white sugar and dark cane sugar, Greek yoghurt and butter.
Butternut squash jam. My butternut squash jam, flecked with almond slices, has the same colour as autumn leaves. You will be tempted to slather this jam on a slice of fresh bread, better if a wholewheat or brown bread.
BONUS. Listen to episode 01x24 of Cooking with an Italian Accent, In conversation with: Frantoio Pruneti about Extra Virgin Olive Oil. One of the ingredients that have always caused more questions and doubts during my cooking classes is olive oil. I’ve grown up worshipping olive oil as a key ingredient in Tuscan cooking, it is still my favourite one. So this is why we decided to dedicate a whole episode to extra virgin olive oil, interviewing Paolo Pruneti from Frantoio Pruneti on the history and qualities of extra virgin olive oil.
What are you planning to cook this month? Is there something you are excited to reintroduce to your cooking routine? Let me know in the comments, I’m always happy to add new recipes to my cooking repertoire.
Are you in the Southern Hemisphere?
Let me tempt you with asparagus and ricotta crepes, pea soup with pancetta and mint, and Artusi’s lemon pudding.
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