LEISURE^27
Food & Drink
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Mashing isn’t just for potatoes, said Aaron Hutcherson in The
Washington Post. Though a bowl of buttery, creamy mashed
spuds is “a thing of beauty and elegance,” you are cheating
yourself if you’re not routinely applying the same simple con-
cept to other vegetables. Root vegetables, such as rutabagas,
turnips, parsnips, and celery root, will be the fi rst alternatives
you think of. But caulifl ower, peas—almost anything that’s
not stringy—are also options, and all can benefi t from the
hidden advantages of a mash.
To roast or to boil? A mash generally begins by cooking
cubed (and mildly salted) vegetables until tender. Roasting
adds textural variety, while boiling produces a more uniform
texture. Boiled vegetables, once drained, should get a little
time in a warm pan to remove excess water moisture. Then
it’s time to mash—with a wooden spoon, a potato masher, or
a food processor, depending on desired texture.
The fat advantage: “When it comes to fl avor, fat is a good place to start.” Stir in either
a quality extra-virgin olive oil or any of a variety of dairy products: butter, heavy
cream, cheese, sour cream, crème fraîche, or yogurt. Besides fl avor, the fat contributes
a luxurious mouthfeel. And you can choose to increase the liquid content by adding
stock, milk, or even alcohol.
Spices and acid: As for other fl avors that can be stirred in or sprinkled on top, “your
entire kitchen pantry is at your disposal.” A bit of garlic “can work wonders,” as can
a dash of citrus, and the selection of fresh or dried herbs is up to you. Garnish with
parsley or celery leaves and perhaps a drizzle of olive oil. “Who knows what uniquely
delicious fl avors you can come up with!”“The best time of day to experience a
Florentine trattoria is a weekday lunch
hour,” said Emiko Davies in Florentine: The
True Cuisine of Florence (Hardie Grant).
The food at a trattoria is “the equivalent
of Nonna’s cooking”— comforting, warm-
ing dishes tied to long tradition. And so
there’s no better place for a simple soup or
pasta dish.Gnudi are a common trattoria menu item.
The name, akin to “nude,” is a charming
way to refer to dumplings that are essen-
tially dollops of ravioli filling cooked before
they even get on their pasta coats. These
are easier to make in Florence because
fresh cooked spinach is sold everywhere
and ricotta is “firm enough to stand on its
own.” But you can cook your own spinach,
and if you can’t find a crumbly ricotta at a
market, you can buy a quart of yogurt-like
supermarket ricotta and strain it. Let it
drain for an hour in a sieve lined with a
dish towel or cheesecloth.Gnudi are delicate things, so make them just
before they’re cooked and served. “They are
almost always served in an elegant sauce of
sage and sweet, just-melted butter.”Recipe of the week
Gnudi (spinach and ricotta dumplings)
2 lbs fresh spinach (about four bunches),Gnudi: Ravioli so unassuming they don’t even wear coats
roots removed, leaves and stalks rinsed
and roughly chopped
12 oz firm or drained ricotta
2 eggs, beaten
A pinch of salt
A pinch of ground nutmeg
½ cup all-purpose flour
3½ tbsp unsalted butter
20 sage leaves
Grated parmesan, to serveTo cook spinach, add a pinch of salt to
a large pot of water and bring to a boil.
Prepare an ice bath as well. After blanching
spinach briefly in the boiling water, drain,plunge into the ice bath, then drain again.
Mince the chopped greens and squeeze to
remove as much water as possible. (The
cooked spinach should be about 20 percent
less in weight and volume than the ricotta.)Mix cooked spinach, ricotta, and eggs
until well combined. Add salt and nutmeg.
Mixture should be thick and compact.Place flour in a bowl. With a spoon and
floured hands, create walnut-size balls of
the mixture and roll them in flour to coat,
then place on a lightly floured plate until all
are ready. You should have about 20.Bring a large pot of salted water to a steady
simmer. Carefully drop gnudi one by one
into the hot water and cook until they begin
to float, about 4-5 minutes.Meanwhile, prepare sauce by melting butter
in a medium skillet. Add sage leaves and 2
to 3 spoonfuls of cooking water and swirl
pan to create a thick sauce. Season with salt
and pepper.When gnudi are ready, remove them from
water with a slotted spoon and place them
in sauce. Turn heat to low. Swirl pan gently
for 1 minute to coat gnudi. Spoon into
individual dishes and top with a generous
grating of parmesan. Serves 4.The sage-butter sauce lets the cheeses sing.Home cooking: The case for mashing your veggies
A rutabaga mashupMontepulciano d’Abruzzo, a red wine
produced in central Italy’s Abruzzo
region, can be many things, said Eric
Asimov in The New York Times. But
the montepulciano grape lends itself
particularly well to the kind of honest
everyday wines that “hold an exalted
place in my heart.” These three
bottles are exactly that.
2019 Cirelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
($18). This inky red from an organic
winery combines “bright, juicy,
fl oral, mineral fl avors” with a
“breezy freshness.”
2017 Tiberio Montepulciano
d’Abruzzo ($20). A “superb”
wine made by one of my favorite
producers, this montepulciano is
similarly “bright and lively,” with
“lingering fl avors of fl owers,
minerals, and sweet-bitter fruit.”
2018 De Fermo Montepulciano
d’Abruzzo Concrete ($24). Fer-
mented in concrete, this wine is
still juicy but feels “both more
substantial and more subdued.”Wine: Hail, Abruzzo!