STILL NEW YORK-HUNGRY

16. Lasagna Brokkoli e Salsiccia e Zuppa Spazzare.

Oh, her again with her bloody Italian! I hear you groan and see you roll your eyes. But... Hell Yes!

And it's all really simple.

1.. Zuppa = Soup But the former sounds yummier.
3. Spazzare = swept up

The latter because that's literally what I did: snatched + prepped everything in the fridge / storage that needed to get used up.

Guess what?

Except for the brokkoli, I had everything at home!

I've found this recipe earlier in the year – and once more – in Jamie Oliver's Mentor's, Gennaro Contaldo's Cucina. I'd even bought the salsicciae (and frozen them as other culinary projects "piled into" me).

So this week it was due.

In the German translation, the book's title "Cucina Povera", the "poor peoples' kitchen." It hints at the strives Italians not too long ago (and some still nowadays) have to endure to get good food... and how they make good food out of the little they have.

This falls back to my Novel (/ Short Story) Series' MMC, Vince Romano, who's grandfather, Aurelio runs a successful restaurant in Manhattan's (remaining) Little Italy, and that since decades. Since back in Rome (yes, in Italy), he, his big sister Antonella and their carpenter father, Vincenzo, lived in relative poverty, making the best of the little was trump.

And so Aurelio still cooks today – although he could be called a wealthy man by now, as he owns the building where his restaurant's in; a true rarity in NYC, nowadays – and this cooking he's also taught his children (among them his only son, Vincenzo) and grandchildren (among them Vince).

This "spazzare cooking style" also appeals to the Novel (/ Short Story) Series' FMC, Laura Zimmermann, who out of monetary scarcity as a student began growing fruit and veg on her balcony in Munich, which she still uses as a base for some quite creative cooking (although it wouldn't be economically necessary anymore, either).

I plan on using this dish when Vince pays her an unexpected visit at the end of "Book" 3 and beginning of "Book" 4, as he's truly "earned" it–

Okay, enough babble.

I'm sure you're hungry, just like me, eh?

So off to the kitchen!

Someone wants a bit of Puglia while we're at it?

Okay, los geht's!




Serves: 2-4 servings lasagna Depending on how hungry you are E.g., yesterday afternoon – where did the time go!? – when I finally ate the Hockey game was so nerve-racking that I was very hungry, and inhaled half the thing!

2-3 plates / bowls soup


Prep Times: 3 hrs lasagna; about 1.5 hr soup

Degree of Difficulty: Easy Overall! But very tedious because of all the shredding / chopping But very meditative, too.



WE NEED


Lasagna


350 gr / 12-13 oz. brokkoli florets => 2 whole brokkolis
3 tbsp Olive oil extra vergine
2 garlic cloves
300 gr / 11 oz. salsiccia A savory, coarse sausage, which I got from our local Italian deli
1/2 onion As always, my fave red
40 gr / 1.5 oz. Parmegiano Reggiano Try to get the real one, not the inferior poop supermarkets sell you
(sea) salt
pepper
lasagna sheets Recipe says 6, but I used 8 – very sustainable ingredients.


Béchamel-Sauce

40 gr / 1.5 oz. butter
40 gr / 1.5 oz. flour Used my fave, spelt
500 ml / 2.1 cups milk whole fat
10 gr / 0.25 oz. Parmegiano Reggiano
pinch of nutmeg



Soup

450 gr/ 1 lb. useable brokkoli From the remaining stems after removing the woody parts... which are only hard & not tasty

1 large potato about 7 oz.
1 large red onion about 3 oz.
4 garlic cloves
10 gr / 0.25 oz. green onion As garnishing
170 gr / 6 oz. salsiccia mince Which remained from the Lasagna
20 gr / 0.75 bacon cubes remaining from another dish
100 gr / 3.5 oz. natural sour cream. Not flavored, sweetened, or otherwise ruined.
salt
pepper To taste.
other spices: nutmeg, smoked / spicy paprika Not necessary! I just used them for extra Oomph!




WE DO


Lasagna


0. PREPPING: chop the florets off the brokkoli – and cut smaller, if needed. Finely chop the onion. Crush the garlic. Grate the parmesan.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas mark 6.


1. Cook the brokkoli in boiling salt water in a saucepan until tender (about 5 minutes). Drain, but keep some of the cooking water. Like already in "13. Nonno Aurelio's Ricotta-Cinnamon Mac (Yup, Hi-Carb)" , I took the water directly out of the pot, 12 tbsp to be precise.



2. Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a frying pan, sweat the garlic over medium heat for 1 minute then add the brokkoli and stir-fry for another 5 minutes. Then take off the heat and blend together with the preserved cooking water until smooth. I "transferred" the mix from the pan into a jigger, otherwise my kitchen would've looked like after that scene in the Exorcist.



3. Remove the skins from the sausages and crumble the meat with a fork. Tough is not the removing but the crumbling part; so use both hands for crumbling as it counts for an arm work-out.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a (separate) frying pan – I used the "brokkoli"-pan as it was a non-stick oats and I could easily wipe it out before re-using.

Sweat the onion over medium heat until softened, then add the sausage meat and a little salt to taste, and stir-fry for about 10 minutes OR until the meat is golden-brown. Just like ovens, stoves are individuals, too, and it can take longer / shorter.



4. For the Béchamel-Sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Then take it off the heat, quickly whisk in in flour, then gradually whisk in the milk. To facilitate this, measure the required milk in a jigger. Easier to pour. Return the mix on a low heat and whisk until the sauce thickens slightly. Remove the sauce from the heat, add salt + pepper, nutmeg + parmesan.





5. Line an ovenproof dish with Béchamel-sauce, then put 2 lasagna sheets on top. Spread a layer – in my case 2-3 tbsp – brokkoli cream on the sheets –evenly for looks – then sprinkle with a bit each of the sausage meat + parmesan. Make layers until all ingredients are used up, ending with a "top layer" of Béchamel + Parmesan.





6. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and finish baking until golden + bubbling. Recipe says 15 minutes, my oven said 27 minutes It's like with little kids... don't leave 'em alone with matches!



7. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes, then



8. Serve!




Soup


1. Chop the remaining brokkoli, but before free it from the woody=hard parts. You'll see and feel them. Also cut away shoots and the like. Chop the other vegs, and the green onions into thin rings (and only the green part of 'em.)



2. Sweat first the onion,and when it's tender + lucent add the garlic. After about 2 minutes, add the rest of the vegs and stir-fry them for a few minutes. No, crunch! Then fill up with water – in my case: 3 US legal cups. Slow cook them for 15-20 minutes.



3. In the meantime, fry the bacon cubes, and when they've lost their fat and are crunchy, remove the bacon from the pan and park it on some kitchen towel. Then add the – in my case raw– salsiccia meat – after forking it– and stir-fry until it's golden brown.



4. Blenderize the vegs with a hand-blender. So it's not such a Sauerei, I did it punctually, from the rim => center of the pot. While at it, blend in the sour cream.


5. Season with salt + pepper –and whichever other spices you fancy. Sprinkle the green onions on top of the soup and


6. Serve!




Guten Hunger e Buon Appetito!