Everyday Italian (28 page)

An Italian dinner isn’t complete without a side vegetable dish—the contorno. Some of my favorite vegetable dishes are stuffed, which traditionally was a way for home cooks to use up their leftovers. Italians eat a lot of bread and cook a lot of grains, especially rice and, of course, pasta. But what do you do with a few pieces of stale bread? Or a cup of leftover rice? Ever-resourceful Italian housewives used these small portions to round out the next night’s dinner by making stuffings—sometimes for meats, sometimes for vegetables. But whether the stuffing is made from leftovers or from scratch, these not only make great
contorni
but also perfect main courses for vegetarian meals. And they look great, too.
Another benefit of stuffed vegetables is that baked ones can be assembled ahead of time. When your guests arrive, just pop the casserole in the oven, and it’ll be ready by the time you’ve gobbled down your antipasti. And some stuffed-vegetable recipes can—and maybe even should—be eaten at room temperature, which is perhaps the all-time greatest benefit you can ask of a recipe when you’re feeding a crowd.

In Italy, one of the most popular recipes for stuffed mushrooms hails from Liguria, the northern region that stretches along the Mediterranean coast (actually, the body of water here is called the Ligurian Sea) from the border of France all the way down to Tuscany. The capital of the region is Genoa, which on the one hand is the birthplace of pesto, and on the other is a port city where seafood is worked into recipes where you wouldn’t necessarily expect it. Like mushrooms, for example, which they stuff with salted anchovies, marjoram, and bread crumbs. That recipe is a little complex, so I’ve omitted the little fishes and simplified. This is not only a great side dish, but also the perfect antipasto for a casual get-together.

MAKES 28 MUSHROOMS

Lightly coat a large, heavy baking sheet with 2 teaspoons of the oil. Arrange the mushroom caps on the baking sheet, cavity side up, and spoon the filling into the mushroom cavities. Drizzle ¼ teaspoon of oil over the filling in each mushroom. Bake until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is heated through and golden on top, about 25 minutes. Arrange the stuffed mushrooms on a platter and serve.

Eggplant Parmesan is one of the classic red-checkered-tablecloth Italian-American recipes, but I prefer this slightly easier and lighter recipe, with a very similar concept—combining eggplant with cheese and marinara sauce. This makes an elegant, satisfying side dish as well as a great entrée for a vegetarian meal (make sure your vegetarians eat dairy, though—there’s lots of it here). You could also make this dish with zucchini.

6 SIDE-DISH SERVINGS

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for medium heat, or preheat a ridged grill pan over a medium flame. Brush the eggplant slices with ½ cup of oil and grill until lightly browned and tender, about 4 minutes per side.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the pine nuts on a heavy baking sheet, and toast in the oven, stirring once, until the nuts are fragrant and light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Let cool. Maintain the oven temperature.

Lightly oil a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. In a large bowl, mix the ricotta cheese and eggs to blend. Gently stir in the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, and toasted pine nuts. Fold in the basil just to combine (do not overmix). Place 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture at one short end of each eggplant slice and roll up tightly. Place the eggplant rollatini seam side down in the prepared baking dish. (The eggplant rollatini can be prepared up to this point 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Spoon the marinara sauce evenly over the eggplant rollatini and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Bake uncovered until the eggplant rollatini are heated through, about 15 minutes. Drizzle more oil over the eggplant rollatini and serve.

I often serve these tomatoes at room temperature, and believe me, it’s a real relief to be able to serve a dish to which you have to do absolutely nothing while your guests are in your home, other than put it on a plate. That’s truly
Everyday Italian
cooking.

4 SIDE-DISH SERVINGS

Salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat an 8-inch square baking dish with 1 teaspoon of oil. Cut a ½-inch-thick slice off the top of each tomato; reserve the tops. Scoop the seeds, pulp, and juice from each into a small bowl. Place the hollowed tomatoes in the prepared dish. Add ¼ cup of the tomato pulp to the rice and toss to coat. Stir in the basil, parsley, garlic, remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Stir in the Parmesan and season with more salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the rice mixture into the hollowed tomatoes, mounding slightly. Replace the reserved tops and bake until the rice is heated through, about 20 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature. (The stuffed tomatoes can be made up to 4 hours ahead.)

Cooking the
rice
ahead of time helps the
tomato
keep its shape when it’s baked. And so the
presentation
is
better
.

I love roasting vegetables for two reasons: First, the flavor can’t be beat—the natural sugars of the veggies intensify in the oven, and this sweetness transforms everyday produce into nearly dessert-like treats. Second, roasting vegetables is a very do-ahead preparation; I can do nearly all my kitchen labor ahead of time, letting the oven work while I relax and sip a glass of wine.

Note that the ingredients here are something of a hodgepodge: potato and sweet potato, zucchini and carrot, onion and bell pepper. That’s because this is a pretty loose recipe, and you should feel free to substitute whatever you prefer. Just be sure to cut any vegetables to roughly the same size, to ensure that they’re all fully cooked—but not overcooked—at the same time.

6 SIDE-DISH SERVINGS