Ok, if you're looking for warm fun in the sun or if it's piles of powder you seek, this isn't the place for you.
And sure, the mornings are cool and foggy and the nights might very well be rainy and cold - but the food...oh the FOOD!
This is the time of year when the food of this region really shines: steaming bowls of wild chickpeas cooked in and dressed with fresh, local olive oil; wild game from the surrounding forests, cooked over a wood-fire; giant steaks from the local Chianina cows seasoned only with salt and pepper and served very rare; and of course, the wine.
One the greatest aspects of the cuisine of Umbria is that since they're firmly positioned in the center of Italy, Umbrians can take full advantage of ingredients from both the North and the South. They adore extra virgin olive oil and make incredible examples, but they also have a fondness for butter. Often, you'll see them both in one recipe.
They also use both fresh and dried pasta. Ingredients like chestnuts, braised meats and truffles will usually be paired with the very rich, egg-yolk heavy fresh pasta. And they'll save the dried pasta for dishes with vegetables and cured meats, like pancetta or bacon. A typical dish is grated zucchini sauteed with olive oil and bacon and tossed with penne or bucatini.
One of the most unique agricultural products of Umbria is the cicerchie (pronounced CHI-CHAIR-KEY-EH). This wild chickpea is the beautifully-crazy looking cousin to the legume we're used to seeing pureed into hummus. In Umbria, it's a staple that appears alongside grilled meats, cold as an antipasti, in soups likeminestrone, stirred together with another local product, farro, or tossed with pasta, garlic and lots of olive oil.
Order a bag of Cicerchie now for a special price - $5.00!
Here's our favorite way to serve this humble legume. We don't really have a name for this recipe and, we cannot tell a lie, it's not pretty. But it's so tasty that we don't think you'll object.
Ugly Cicerchie
(serves 6 - 8 as an antipasti, 3 - 4 as a side dish)
- 1 pound of cicerchie from Bartolini (1 bag)
Start this the night before. Place the cicerchie in a bowl and cover with cold water by at least 2 inches. Soak for 12 hours.
- 1 carrot, halved
- 2 stalks of celery, halved
- 1 onion, halved
- 1 head of garlic, halved
- 1 bay leaf
Fill a soup pot with water and place the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaf and drained cicerchie in the pot and place over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 25 - 30 minutes or until the cicerchie are tender. Reserve one cup of the liquid for use later. Remove vegetables and bay leaf, drain and set aside.
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (the 2010 Frantoio di Sommaia just arrived - Florence is close to Umbria!)
- 1 small onion, minced
- 4 slices of bacon, cut into 1/4" strips
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup tomato sauce (you can use mashed canned tomatoes here too)
- salt and pepper
- chopped parsley and extra virgin olive oil, for garnish.
In a saute pan, heat the olive oil, add the bacon and onion and saute until the onion is translucent and the bacon is cooked, but not crispy, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the tomato sauce, lower the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Take about 1/3 of the cicerchie and place in another small bowl. Using the back of a fork or a spoon, or using a coarse mesh strainer, mash the cicerchie and stir into the sauce. Let simmer and thicken for 5 minutes. Stir in the rest of the cicerchie and, if needed, add a little of the reserved cooking liquid and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.
Serve with crusty bread and a good splash of extra virgin olive oil.
NEW! Black Pig Meat Company Bacon
In our quest to provide the best of every ingredient, we've tasted a lot of bacon. And because we've seen so many tasty products from great producers, we've come to appreciate the importance of the details.
Black Pig Meat Company is the inspiration of the two chef/owners of one Sonoma's best and most-innovative restaurants, Zazu. In fact, you may recognize Duskie Estes from Food Network's "Next Iron Chef".
They have really paid attention to every step in the process of making their delicious bacon. They're using heritage pigs from an operation in Washington state that's earned certification from the Food Alliance; they're dry-curing the bellies in brown sugar, forgoing the quicker wet-cure method; and they're using applewood to smoke the bacon for 12 hours.
What you get is astoundingly tasty bacon with a perfect balance of sweet, salty and smoky. The balance of fat to meat is excellent too - since the hogs are roaming about, their bellies have great layers of muscle interspersed with the fat. We love making carbonara with Black Pig Bacon because the fat is so flavorful. And needless to say, it makes a phenomenal BLT.
Remember that the bacon, as with our pancetta, needs to be shipped by either 2-Day or Next Day Air. So if we're going to ship you a box on ice, go ahead and order some other items like some artisan cheese from The Pasta Shop Cheese Counter or our excellent ravioli.
Order a package of Black Pig Meat Co. Bacon for $18.00
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