Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [225]
For 6 servings
1 pound fresh green beans
3 tablespoons butter
Salt
Béchamel Sauce, made using 1¼ cups milk, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, and ⅛ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Whole nutmeg
A 6- to 8-cup soufflé mold
½ cup unflavored bread crumbs, lightly toasted
1. Snap both ends off the beans, soak them in a basin of cold water for 10 minutes, drain, and cut into pieces about 1 inch long.
2. Choose a saute pan that can contain all the beans snugly, but without overlapping. Put in 2 tablespoons butter, the green beans, 2 or 3 pinches of salt, just enough water to cover, and turn on the heat to medium high. Cook, turning the beans from time to time, until all the water has simmered away. Continue to cook for a minute or two, turning the beans in the butter, then take off heat.
3. Preheat oven to 375°.
4. Make the béchamel sauce, cooking it to medium density.
5. Beat the eggs lightly in a mixing bowl, and swirl in the grated Parmesan and a tiny grating of nutmeg—about ⅛ teaspoon. Add the green beans and the béchamel, mixing thoroughly to obtain a uniform blend of all the ingredients.
6. Smear the inside of the soufflé mold with the remaining tablespoon of butter, and sprinkle with enough bread crumbs to coat the bottom and sides. Turn the mold upside down and give it a sharp rap against the counter to shake away loose crumbs. Pour the contents of the mixing bowl into the mold.
7. Place the mold on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven, and bake until a light crust forms on top, about 45 minutes.
8. To unmold, run a knife along the side of the pasticcio while it is hot, loosening it from the dish all the way around. Allow it to settle for a few minutes, then cover the mold with a dinner plate turned bottom up, grasp both the plate and the mold with a towel, holding them together tightly, and turn the mold upside down. The pasticcio should slip out onto the plate easily, with at most a little shake. Now you want to turn it right side up onto another plate. Sandwich the pasticcio between two plates and turn it over. Allow to settle for several minutes before serving.
BROCCOLI
We have come to expect broccoli to be in the market all year, but it does have a natural season, from late fall through winter, when it is at its best. When buying it, the florets or buds are the best guide to its freshness: They should be tightly closed, and their deep blue-green or purplish color must show no hint of yellow. The meatiest and tastiest part of the vegetable is its stem, which only needs be trimmed of its tough outer skin to become eminently edible. The leaves are also excellent, with a taste like that of kale, and in Italy, where broccoli comes to the market freshly picked and enveloped by its leaves, they are highly prized. Unfortunately, they are also highly perishable, and in North America the packer strips them away. If you grow your own, try the leaves in a vegetable or bean soup.
Sautéed Broccoli with Olive Oil and Garlic
THE TECHNIQUE illustrated by this recipe—sautéing blanched green vegetables in olive oil and garlic—is analogous to that used for spinach and Swiss chard, and it is one of the tastiest ways to prepare broccoli.
For 6 servings
1 bunch fresh broccoli (about 1 to 1½ pounds)
Salt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic chopped very fine
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1. Cut off about ½ to ¾ inch of the butt end of the stalk. Use a sharp paring knife to slice away the tough dark-green skin that surrounds the tender core of the main stalk and the branching-off stems. Dig deeper where the stalk is broadest because the skin is thicker there. Split the larger stalks in two or, if quite large, in four, without detaching the florets. Wash in 3 or 4 complete changes of cold water.
2. Bring 4 quarts water to a fast boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt and