Food & Drink
Glasgow-based restaurateur Giovanna Eusebi draws on the recipes of her grandparents in Italy for these rich, moreish winter dishes
Giovanna Eusebi with Italian winter dishes, plus Rose Murray Brown on Christmas whites
Italy is breathtakingly beautiful in winter. Wherever you go, from north to south, mountains form a backdrop to every town; from the lakes of Como, Mount Etna in Sicily, Vesuvius in Naples or the Apennines – which particularly come to life in the colder months.
No space is wasted in Italy; fruit orchards adorn the high slopes, as do wild herbs and herds of animals. In fact, mountain food is richer, simpler and pure; think of unpolluted mountain air.
In southern Italy, my grandparents, although near the sea, used the backdrop of the mountains to source their ingredients. I have fond memories of searching for wild asparagus in the thorny undergrowth, and foraging for mushrooms and wild herbs.
Winter pears and stone fruits would be preserved in alcohol and syrups and saved as Christmas gifts or treats.
I fondly remember asking my paternal grandmother, Nonna Giovanna, when she got married.
She recounted the tale of her as a 16-year-old girl being taken to the mountain church in a cart pulled by a donkey.
The poor animal was struggling and slipping on the snow dusted cobbled track. “It was just after the chestnut festival,” she said.
To my calculation this was late October, early November. It’s such a beautifully simple way of measuring time; not by the clock, but by the seasons.
My winter Italian dishes are inspired by the seasons, by the fruits of the natural landscape and the rhythm of another time. n @eusebi_deli
Bagna cauda
Italian winter food is rich and moreish. Inspired by Piedmont, the sharing starter of bagna cauda is the ultimate Alpine cool dish. This fondue style option is easy to prepare, served warm and used as a dip for vegetables or even bread.
Serves four
200ml extra virgin olive oil 12 brown anchovy fillets 300ml full fat milk 6 garlic cloves, crushed crudites, for dipping
1 Add the anchovies and garlic to the milk and slowly bring to the boil.
2 Once brought up to temperature, take off the heat and blitz the mixture until smooth.
3 While still blitzing the mixture, slowly add in the oil. Serve immediately with crudities such as carrot, celery, radish and fennel.
Pasta e fagioli
If ever there was a season that was made for the southern style “cucina povera” it’s winter, and pasta e fagioli fits the brief perfectly. I have fond memories of my Nonna in Italy, cooking outdoors in the cold Italian winter months, using all the branches she had cut from the trees in the field – ever resourceful! She would cook this hearty soup on the embers. I adapted the dish slightly with the addition of a bread crust, which is great for soaking up the juices. It’s my favourite one pot dish, both easy and inexpensive to make.
Serves four
50ml olive oil 100g pancetta, diced 1 white onion, medium diced 2 carrots, medium diced 2 sticks celery, medium diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 250ml white wine 200g dried borlotti beans, soaked over night, cooked next day until tender 1 tin canned tomatoes 2 bay leaves 500ml chicken stock 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced, and sprigs to decorate 200g dried pasta, macaroni or ditalini Parmesan rind 1 packet of dry yeast 15g sugar 230ml warm water 340g strong flour 30ml extra virgin olive oil 15g salt
Make the dough by incorporating the yeast, sugar, warm water, strong flour, extra virgin olive oil and salt into a mixer with a dough hook and mix until a smooth dough has formed. Cover with cling film and leave to double in size at room temperature.
2 To make the soup, preheat the oven to 200C/gas Mark 6. On the hob, sweat down the onions, carrot, celery and garlic in the olive oil. Add the rosemary and pancetta and cook off for a further five minutes until the pancetta renders its fat.
3 Add the white wine and reduce until nearly evaporated, then add the tomatoes, chicken stock, bay leaves, borlotti beans, pasta and Parmesan rind. Simmer for around 30 minutes and season.
4 Once the soup has been made, transfer into individual terracotta dishes along with a sprig of rosemary per bowl. Grab around 100g of dough and stretch out by hand to cover the whole of the terracotta dish. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and place in the oven at 200C, until the dough has cooked and coloured slightly. Serve immediately.
Bonet
The north of Italy is always my go-to place for winter comfort desserts. Bonet is a great boozy, classic Piedmont dessert. It is served in slices and is particularly nice alongside a liqueur such as marsala or vin santo.
Makes one loaf tin
100g amaretto biscuits, blitzed 50g cacao 200g egg yolks 275g caster sugar 40ml dark rum
500ml full fat milk berries, to garnish chocolate flakes, to garnish dash of water 100ml double cream 15g icing sugar pinch of ground cinnamon 200ml red wine 1 Preheat the oven to 180C/gas Mark 4. 2 First make the caramel. Slowly melt 125g of caster sugar and a dash of water in a pan until a medium brown colour has been achieved, then pour directly into the loaf tin.
3 Make the bonet by whisking the yolks and 100g of caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add the rum, then the milk and finally the amaretto biscuits and cacao. Pour into the tin and gently tap to remove any air bubbles.
4 Place the tin into a roasting tray and pour in hot water until it reaches half way up the loaf tin. Bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.
5 While this is cooking, make your cinnamon chantilly by whisking the double cream, icing sugar and cinnamon together until you get soft peaks. Make the red wine syrup by mixing the red wine and 50g of caster sugar in a pan, then bring to the boil and reduce until a syrup is achieved.
6 Remove the bonet from the bain marie and allow to cool for at least four hours in the fridge before slicing.
7 To serve, place a slice of the bonet on a plate with a blob of cinnamon cream, berries, chocolate flakes and a drizzle of the red wine syrup.