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A big bell pepper with a ding in it, half of a large tomato and a handful of small ones, an eggplant, miscellaneous potatoes, and a couple of onions — I’m cleaning out my vegetable supply and it’s a perfect occasion to make ciambotta.  

Don’t be surprised if you have never heard of ciambotta (sometimes spelled giambotta or cianfotta).  You won’t find it on many restaurant menus, but you can find versions of it in just about any home kitchen in Southern Italy.  It is a vegetable stew made from whatever vegetables are in season.  Though you could eat it hot, it really tastes best when it is just warm. Like a lot of stews, the flavor improves the next day.   I can make a whole meal of ciambotta, but it’s good as a side dish, too, with sausages or chops or chicken.  Eat it plain, sprinkled with basil, extra virgin, or grated cheese, or mixed with scrambled eggs.  Stuff it in a crisp hunk of Italian bread for a great sandwich or toss it with some cooked pasta.  It’s all good.

Ciambotta (pronounced something like giam-boat) isn’t fancy or fussy and it is easy to make.  In fact, in the Italian dialect of the region my family was from, to say that something is a “big giamboat” is to say that it is a big mixed up mess.

Trim  all of the vegetables and cut them into bite size pieces.  You can salt the eggplant if you are concerned that it may be bitter and want to drain off the juices, but I don’t often do that anymore.  Saute the onion in some olive oil, and add garlic if you like.  When the onion is tender, you stir in the remaining vegetables.  Quantities or varieties are not really important and one more or less pepper, onion or potato won’t be a problem.  Sometimes I add zucchini, or green beans.  Some cooks add a hot chili to the mix.  You can put in parsley or oregano if you like, but I think fresh basil, added at the end of the cooking time to protect its delicate flavor, is best.  Fortunately, my garden still has some small basil leaves.

If you are one of those people who likes your vegetables crunchy, this is not the dish for you.  By the end of the cooking, the eggplant and tomatoes will pretty much melt into a sauce and the potatoes will absorb the flavors of the other ingredients.  Ciambotta is nothing if not comforting and rustic — I’m always amazed at how good it turns out.

This recipe is one that appeared in my book, 1,000 Italian Recipes, (John Wiley & Sons).

CIAMBOTTA

Serves 4 to 6

1 medium onion

1/4 cup olive oil

4 plum tomatoes

2 potatoes, peeled

1 medium eggplant

1 medium red pepper

1 medium yellow pepper

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil or freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or   pecorino romano

Trim the vegetables and cut them into bite size pieces.  In a large skillet, cook the onion in the oil over medium low heat until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant,  and peppers.   Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are tender and most of the liquid is evaporated, about 40 minutes.   If the mixture becomes too dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water.   If there is too much liquid, uncover and cook 5 minutes more.

Serve warm or at room temperature plain, or drizzled with olive oil, or sprinkled with basil or cheese.

Variation:  Ciambotta with Eggs:  When the vegetables are ready, beat 4 to 6 eggs with salt until blended.  Pour the eggs over the vegetables.  Do not stir.  Cover the pan.  Cook until the eggs are set, about 3 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tuesday morning in Vaison, Sunday at L’Isle sur La Sorgue, the farmer’s market every evening at Vallerons — each day in Provence is a market day where you can buy anything from tapenade and olives, to fresh fruits and vegetables, to roast chickens, ribs and quail.  It was hard to resist buying too much.

Fortunately our rented house had a well equipped kitchen and with so many good ingredients available, it was easy to put together great meals.  In fact, we all agreed that our home cooked or assembled meals were the best we ate.  Every evening, we drank an apero poolside and watched the sunset.

Egg and Cheese Fritters from Tarallucci e Vino

In Italian,” finire a tarallucci e vino” (literally,  to finish up with cookies and wine), means to say that there was a happy ending.  At the Tarallucci e Vino restaurant at 15 East 18 Street near Union Square in NYC,we were happy not just with the ending of the meal, but everything else from appetizers to dessert.

We had the tasting menu, so we got to try a number of different things.  My photos don’t really do them justice, so I’ll just post a few of the best ones.  Above is a roasted sea scallop with wild mushrooms and a poached quail egg.

Among the starters were these fried sage leaves stuffed with anchovies and mozzarella.  I like to stuff zucchini blossoms this way, but this inspired combination means that I can make them even when the blossoms are not available.  The sauce was nice and fresh, but the crunchy sage and tasty filling really didn’t need it.  Many more good things followed.

Did I mention the bread basket?  Charles could not stop eating the flatbread flavored with squid ink, rosemary and olive oil.  I know it sounds odd, but take my word for it, I was glad he ate it all so I could not.  There were also warm little baguettes and olive rolls.

We’ve long been fans of Tarallucci e Vino and weekend mornings often find us there enjoying one of New York’s best cappuccinos and a perfect Italian-style cornetto.  On our recent trip to Abruzzo, we met Lorenzo, who is the manager for all 4 of the restaurant’s branches.  He invited us to come by for dinner to the 18th Street location and we were glad we did.  It’s one of New York’s best kept Italian restaurant secrets.   The place was cozy and the atmosphere lively.  Charles had only good things to say about the wine list and in honor of our last trip ordered the Cantina Frentana Coccociola, an unusual white wine from Abruzzo, and the Emidio Pepe 2003 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, which was superb.

We ended with this dark, totally fudge-y semifreddo topped with chocolate and cognac gelato.  We’re looking forward to going back again soon to try the rest of the menu.

I’m sorry, slow cooker.  No vacay for you this year.   At 104 degrees F. in New York yesterday, it’s just too hot to turn on the stove, so I’m relying on you to make us a good dinner.  I’ve found a nice sheltered spot for you outside that is protected from the elements and stray critters, so you can do your thing without heating up the kitchen.  You won’t be using up a lot of precious energy either, since you only need as much as a 75-watt light bulb.

Of course, we won’t be wanting any of those heavy stews or hearty roasts you do so well during the cold months, but how about a Summer Minestrone, like I made yesterday, served at room temperature as they do on hot days in Italy, or poached chicken to turn into a warm weather salad, or even a simple frittata?

With more hot days to come, I’ll be turning often to my book, The Italian Slow Cooker.  Here is what you will be cooking.

1. Summer Minestrone (recipe below)

2. Chicken with Rosemary and Garlic

3. Tomato Soup with Burrata or Goat Cheese

4. Farro Salad

5. Salmon with Basil and Lemon

6. Tomato, Ricotta and Basil Frittata

7. Pesto Chicken

8. Rolled Stuffed Turkey Breast

9. Roasted Beets with Orange Balsamico Dressing

10. Summer Squash with Tomatoes and Onion

Summer Minestrone

I was all out of fresh tomatoes, so I used some canned crushed tomatoes instead.  I did have some chick peas that I had cooked previously, but canned would be fine.

Serves 6-8

2 cups canned crushed tomatoes

4 carrots, chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 medium onions onion, chopped

2 cups drained cooked chick peas, or 1 16-ounce cans, drained

2 medium boiling potatoes, such as Yukon Gold peeled and chopped

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium zucchini, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 cups water

1/2 cup white rice

1 cup chopped fresh basil

Extra virgin olive oil

Grated Parmigiano Reggiano

In a large slow cooker, combine the tomatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, onion, chick peas, potatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, and salt and pepper to taste.  Add the water.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high 5 hours.

Stir in the rice and cook 30 minutes more or until the rice is tender and the soup is thickened.

Stir in the basil and let cool to room temperature.  Taste for seasoning.  Spoon into bowls.  Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and grated Parmigiano.

Last week, Charles and I spent a few days in Rome, then headed to Abruzzo.  Here is my Roman favorite dish his trip, the Spaghettoni alla Carbonara at Roscioli.  The bits of guanciale were chunkier than usual and had been fried until crisp around the edges.  The sauce was perfectly made, with just eggs and cheese and lots of black pepper.  Perfection!

In Abruzzo, we stayed in the area known as the Costiera dei Trabocchi where we were the guests of the Cantina Frentana winery.  Trabocchi are wooden platforms built for fishermen that are now used as restaurants.  For a better look at them, see my blog on the i-Italy website.  Not surprisingly, the star attraction in this area is very fresh seafood.

Of course, there was lots of great pasta, too, both fresh and dried.  The town of Fara San Martino is the home of several major pasta companies, including De Cecco, Del Verde and Giuseppe Cocco.

The last one above had tiny little lamb meatballs tangled in spaghetti alla chitarra, fresh pasta made on a chitarra, a wooden frame strung with thin wires used to cut sheets of fresh pasta into long square spaghetti.

Cheese, of course, was only served on pasta with meat sauce.  A plate of long, skinny fresh green chilies was passed with every pasta.

Tender little tarts filled with chocolate and grape preserves were a tasty dessert on at least two occasions.

Throughout our stay, we drank wonderful wines of the region from Cantina Frentana.

Joel Peterson, the owner of Ravenswood Winery, has been called both a vino-revolutionary and the godfather of zinfandel.  That may be, but it doesn’t give you any idea of how knowledgeable he is, or that he is a delightful dining companion.  You may already have guessed that he makes a superb line of California zinfandels.  Joel was in town last week and together with some other writers, I had a chance to chat with him and taste his new vintages over lunch at A Voce in the Time Warner Center.  As far as I’m concerned, there is no better way to taste a wine than to accompany it with food, and A Voce turned out to be the perfect choice.

Joel organized the tasting in 3 flights.  We began with the lightest wine, the Dickerson Zinfandel, named for the vineyard where the grapes are grown.   This wine is made from 100% zinfandel grapes.  As soon as I lifted my glass, I noticed the aroma — like a big bowl of fresh ripe raspberries. It was a perfect way to the start the tasting and went great with the first course, crisp fried cassoncini, little turnovers filled with crescenza, a creamy cheese, and swiss chard, plus tender sliced prosciutto and stracchino, a soft cheese best known as the stuffing in burrata, and fresh fava beans.  Then we moved on to the Big River Zinfandel, also 100% zinfandel, which had a more subtle fruit aroma and concentrated flavor.  The third wine in the flight was the Belloni Zinfandel made from a blend of grapes.  Joel described the aroma as dark fruit like plums, which was true, and boysenberry, but since I ‘m not sure I know what boysenberry smells like I’ll have to take his word for that.

Joel made it clear that he wants to avoid what he called the “3 sins of Zin”:   high alcohol, high sugar, and too much oak.  With the next course we  drank Barricia Zinfandel fom the vineyard of the same name, made with 76% zinfandel grapes blended with petite sirah.  This wine was more complex than the first three with a better balance.  The Old Hill Zinfandel, so called because the vines are thought to be the oldest in Sonoma, went great with my pasta, Sagne alla Amatriciana.  Sagne is a wide fresh pasta ribbon and in this version it was sauced with a smooth tomato sauce flecked with smokey bacon and fresh marjoram.   The wine tasted of dark cherries with a rich leathery quality.  The bacon, tomatoes and spicy pecorino cheese on the tender pasta matched up with the wine beautifully.  The Teldeschi Zinfandel was particularly interesting to me.  Joel said that the blend of 4 grape varieties — zinfandel, petite sirah, Carignane and Alicante Bouschet — used were originally planted by Italian immigrants and this wine was a favorite with traditional grape growing families.

We ended with two more wines.  According to Joel,  the ICON Mixed Blacks was the wine that should have been and would have been made in California if it had not been for Prohibition.   The blend of grapes is the same as the above Teldeschi, but the proportion of zinfandel is much lower — 37% for ICON as opposed to the 75% in the Teldeschi.  That’s why the ICON cannot be called a zinfandel on the label.  To go with the wine, I had grilled quail glazed with fig reduction resting on a bed of fregula, tiny Sardinian pasta similar to couscous.  This was outstanding and the flavors of the fig glaze and grilled meat were an ideal match with the robust flavors of the ICON and the final wine of the day, the Pickberry Red.  This is a Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon blend that shows promise, and will really come into its own with a few years of aging.