Cooked Water: A Recipe

I'm nearing the end of my first WWOOF stretch, and next week I promise a post reflecting my thoughts on my experiences so far. One more week of manual labor, then off on a little touristing in Florence, Bologna, and environs. Then off to London before my tourist visa expires for a little touristing with my favorite expat and my mother, who is hopping the pond for a little mother-daughter Scottish Christmas vacation. Then, back to work!

Meanwhile, in the present, I've been spending many hours reading a few Italian cookbooks, one the Big Book of Regional Cuisine:




I spent quite awhile translating a few recipes (minus the many mysterious oven temperatures and grams), from the very simple to the amazingly complex. Imagine, if you will, a dish consisting of a crispy shell of delicious risotto encasing a steaming mixture of meatballs, sausage, tomato sauce, and fresh mozzarella. That sounds like a once in a lifetime type of recipe. On the other hand, I noticed a great tradition in all of the different regions of Italy a skill of making a delicious, simple dinner from whatever might be lying around the kitchen. There are a few different recipes along the same lines, but the Tuscan version is called Acquacotta, or literally "cooked water." This seemed like one of the easier recipes to "translate" to the American kitchen, but be warned it hasn't been tested and the measurements are guess-timated from my own soup-making intuition.

Acquacotta

Serves 4, 30 minutes total cooking time

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh mushrooms (preferably porcini)
2 small peeled tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 eggs
16 small pieces toasted bread
1/4 cup grated parmesan
4 tbsp olive oil
Salt, pepper

Cooking Instructions:

Clean the mushrooms, remove the legs, and coarsely chop.
Cut the garlic in into slices and brown in a medium pot with the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add the tomato and about 8 cups of water. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Distribute the toast between four bowls and sprinkle with about 2/3 of the parmesan.
Beat the eggs in a bowl with the remaining parmesan. Sprinkle the egg mixture into the soup, mixing well.
Distribute the "cooked water" between the bowls and serve immediately.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Bibbona, Livorno, Toscana, Italia