Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [45]
5. If using thawed frozen peas, set them aside for later and go now to Step 6 below. If using fresh peas, proceed as follows: Into the pot put the peas and the pods you have stripped, stir for 3 or 4 minutes to coat them, and add enough water to cover. Put a lid on the pot, reduce the heat to medium low, and cook for 20 minutes.
6. Drain the artichoke slices, rinsing off the acidulated water. Put them into the pot with salt and a few grindings of pepper. Cook the artichokes in the uncovered pot for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring them well.
7. Add enough water to top them, cover the pot, and make sure the heat is medium low. Cook the artichokes until very tender when prodded with a fork, about 30 minutes or so, depending on their freshness and youth.
8. If using frozen peas, add them now and cook for another 10 minutes.
9. Before turning off the heat, add the parsley and stir once or twice. Ladle the soup into individual plates over the optional slice of bread. Serve promptly.
Ahead-of-time note The soup may be cooked up through Step 8 several hours ahead of time. Reheat gently and finish as in Step 9.
Spinach Soup
For 5 or 6 servings
2 pounds fresh spinach OR 2 ten-ounce packages frozen whole leaf spinach, thawed
Salt
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 cups Basic Homemade Meat Broth, OR 1 cup canned beef broth diluted with 1 cup water
2 cups milk
Whole nutmeg
5 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Crostini fried bread squares
1. If using fresh spinach: Discard any wilted, bruised leaves, and trim away all the stems. Soak for several minutes in a basin or sink full of cold water, drain, and refill the basin or sink with fresh cold water, repeating the entire procedure several times until there are no more traces of soil in the water.
2. Put the spinach in a pan with no more water than what clings to its leaves. Add 1 tablespoon salt, cover the pan, turn the heat on to medium, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes or less, depending on the freshness and youth of the spinach.
3. Drain the spinach and, as soon as it is cool enough to handle, squeeze gently to force it to shed most of the moisture, and chop it rather coarse.
If using frozen spinach: Squeeze the moisture out of it when it has thawed, and chop it coarsely.
4. Put the butter and onion in a soup pot and turn on the heat to medium. Sauté the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold. Add the cooked fresh or the thawed spinach, and sauté in the uncovered pot for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring it to coat it well.
5. Add the broth, milk, and a tiny grating—no more than ⅛ teaspoon—of nutmeg, and bring to a simmer, stirring from time to time.
6. Add the grated Parmesan, stirring it thoroughly into the soup, taste and correct for salt, and turn off the heat.
7. Ladle into individual plates or bowls, and serve the crostini on the side.
Crostini
Crostini are the easy-to-make Italian equivalent of croutons, so delicious in many soups, particularly if you can manage to make them shortly before you are going to bring the soup to the table.
For 4 servings
4 slices good-quality white bread
Vegetable oil, enough to come
½ inch up the side of the pan
1. Trim the crust from the bread slices and cut them into ½-inch squares.
2. Put the oil in a medium-size skillet and turn on the heat to medium high. The oil should become hot enough so that the bread sizzles when it goes in. When you think it’s ready, test it with one square. If it sizzles, put in as many pieces of bread as will fit without crowding the pan. It doesn’t matter if they don’t all go in at one time, because you can do two or more batches. Turn the heat down, because bread burns quickly if the oil gets too hot. Move the squares around in the pan with a long spoon or spatula, and as soon as they become colored a light gold remove them using a slotted spoon or spatula and place them on paper towels or a wire cooling