Italian Cooked Water

Last night's was dinner really good.It was soup. I wish that the name was a little bit more creative, but I really liked the soup. The name sounds better in Italian. It is called "Acquacotta". Doesn't that sound better? It could have been worse. Much worse! At least I didn't serve "Strozzapreti". That translates to Priest stranglers! Don't worry, it's only a shape of pasta. Even the food can be dramatic in Italy, with the exception of my poor Cooked Water evidently. Ugh! Now who's being dramatic? (I was born there. I can't help myself.)

Acquacotta is native to the Lazio region of Italy. It is traditional peasant food. It is one of those recipes that you will look at and say "How could this possibly be good? There's hardly anything in it." It is amazing what hungry people created out of nothing. Look to any culture and you will find similar dishes.




Acquacotta feeds 4 generously
(adapted from a recipe by Julia della Croce)

3 qts vegetable broth or water (or chicken broth)

6 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 large handful chives, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped thin (I don't like this so I don't use it)

1 head garlic, cloves peeled and lightly smashed

2 potatoes, diced small

a few sprigs thyme

5 basil leaves

Bring everything to a boil together and lower. Simmer until the potatoes are al dente.

Add:

1 endive,chopped

1 bunch arugula, chopped

Cook for another 20 minutes or so. They will become part of the soup instead of floating around like they don't belong.

2 slices peasant bread per person (a few days old)

Fantastic Olive Oil

Romano Cheese

Put 2 slices of the stale bread in the bottom of each bowl and pour a few tablespoonfuls of olive oil over the bread. Ladle on the soup and sprinkle on some Romano.

Enjoy!

Got that part down! Trial and error is good! The picture is a little blurry and I don't need to do a new post every time. I can just continue. Here's the rest of the Ricotta and Homemade Blueberry sauce, just in case anyone really is out there! The first picture was just the whole milk and the buttermilk together in the pot with the thermometer. The one thing I have to stress here is NOT to use ultrapasteurized milk products. You won't be a happy camper. I'm not a food chemist, so I can't explain it, but it doesn't work well. The picture below is where we are starting to approach 175 degrees. You can see where the milk is starting to curdle. Remember "little Miss Muffett and her Curds and Whey"? This is the stuff they were talking about. The photo is a little yellow, but that's just my lack of photographic skill. It is actually a creamy white, which you can see from the other photos!
This next photo is the drained ricotta. Looks much better than the stuff out of the plastic tub any day! This stuff is amazing. Technically, this isn't really ricotta at all. Some people might call it the cheaters way out. The real stuff is a by-product of the cheese making process and this is the closest thing that we can make in our own kitchens. It's pretty tasty if you ask me and I'm just too lazy to make real cheese to get real ricotta. This recipe is from Michael Chiarello. If it is good enough for him, it is certainly good enough for me! He puts a Blackberry Topping on his and I twisted mine a little with my Homemade Blueberry Sauce.

Fresh Ricotta (adapted from Michael Chiarello)

1 Gallon Whole Milk
1 Quart Buttermilk
A Candy Thermometer or an Instant Read Thermometer
A Colander lined with dampened cheesecloth

Mix the milk and buttermilk in a large, non-reactive pot and heat over high heat, stirring with a rubber spatula until the mixture is warm. Be sure not to miss any spots on the bottom of the pan or you may scald the milk solids as the curds form.

Watch the thermometer. When the temperature reaches 175 degrees F, the curds and whey will separate. Take the pot off the heat and ladle the solids into the cheesecloth lined colander. Let it sit for a while to drain and don't press on the cloth so you don't push any of your cheese into your cloth. Wouldn't want to do that! Turn the cheese into a container and seal it tight. It will last a week refrigerated, but I'll bet you won't have it around that long!