Meals in Milano!

The weekend in Milan was fantastic!  Not only did I get to catch up with my friend from grad school, Lilla, and her family, but I relaxed in a truly Roman fashion at a spa in the middle of Milan, and enjoyed as many homemade Italian meals as there was time to eat them.  Hey.  Playwriting takes a lot of energy - I have to keep my strength up!

Glowing Post-Spa



I have never experienced so many different ways of throwing water around in one place at a time!  There were outdoor jacuzzis, jacuzzis with music therapy pumped into the tubs, jacuzzis with color therapy pumped into the tub, tiny bubble tubs, waterfalls, things that looked remarkably like showers, a steam room, and 2 kinds of saunas.  And herbal tea and fresh veggies.  A great way to spend the evening, and prepare for more eating!

Lilla made us pasta all the time in grad school, and I've tried to recreate some of her dishes at home, but I'm never sure if I'm doing it right!  I paid close attention and took notes this time (and reciprocated by making apple pancakes with NH maple syrup, which everyone enjoyed)! 

Here are some of Lilla's yummy recipes for pasta and veggies!

Zucchini-Mint Pasta

This was one of my favorites that I remembered from grad school.  I have tried to recreate it at home,  but I can never remember whether or not to use balsamic vinegar.  The answer is yes.  How much?  "a little if it is not strong.  More if it is strong."  So there you have it.

Ingredients:

zucchini - sliced very thin

garlic - minced

mint-chopped

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

parmesan cheese

pasta - a chunky kind

1.  Slice the zucchini paper thin.  Dice the garlic, and chop the mint.

2.  Saute the garlic lightly in olive oil. 

3.  Add the zucchini and saute until they are translucent.

4.  Meanwhile, boil the pasta with some salt in the water.

5.  While the pasta is cooking, turn off the heat on the veggies and add the balsamic vinegar (more if it's not strong, less if it's strong). 

6.  Add the fresh mint.

7.  When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add the pasta to the pan with the veggies.  Mix it all up.

8.  Add shredded parmesan directly into the mix.

9.  Eat it!

Baked Treviso

Treviso is a kind of radicchio that has large leaves and looks kind of like a red napa cabbage.  You can make it into a pasta sauce or prepare it as a side dish.  This is the loose recipe for the side dish.  I'm curious about trying it with regular radicchio instead of the Treviso because Treviso can be hard to find in the US.  However, that is the same reason that I won't try that experiment until I get back to the States, where I won't be able to find Treviso anymore!

Ingredients:

a head or two of Treviso (depending on how many you're feeding - this cooks WAY down, so I would use at least 2 heads of Treviso for 4 people).

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

salt

pepper.

1.  Wash and separate all of the leaves of the Treviso.

2.  Prepare a glass baking dish with olive oil.

3.  Layer the Treviso one layer at a time:  Treviso topped with a sprinkle of salt, a bit of balsamic vinegar, and a dash of pepper.

4.  Press the layers down as you go.

5.  Top the whole dish with foil and bake for about an hour, turning evey once in a while.

6.  Note that the Treviso should turn brown as it cooks.

Broccoli Orecchiette

Broccoli Pasta.  Can't go wrong.  Orecchiette means 'little ears' in Italian.  They are a chewy, solid pasta, actually not difficult to make by hand, but you can buy them at the store as well.

Ingredients:

broccoli - chopped

orecchiette

about 6 whole anchovies

garlic - chopped chunky

olive oil

salt.

1.  Bring a pot of salted water to boil.

2.  Add pasta and boil for about 5 minutes.  Then add the chopped broccoli to the cooking pasta.

3.  While the pasta and broccoli are cooking, lightly saute the chunky garlic and the anchovies in the olive oil.  The anchovies will dissolve.  Pick out the garlic chunks (the olive oil will absorb the garlic flavor)

4.  Drain the pasta and broccoli and add to the pan with the olive oil.  

5.  Toss it all together.

6.  Enjoy!

For those of you who are interested, I am actually getting a lot of writing done.  But it is good to take a break and cook something that I can really appreciate in reality rather than in theory (I can theoretically imagine that I understand parts of string theory and black holes, the origins of the universe, etc..., but I can really enjoy some broccoli pasta!).

The end of the month brings my mid-grant report.  I won't include the recipes, but I think I have done enough research to count for something!!

In the meantime, buon appetito!