"What Aria Cooking" by the San Francisco Opera & "Defensive Eating with Morrissey (an English singer/songwriter) - Grammy Night 2017!

Date I made these recipes:  Sunday, February 12, 2017 – Grammy Awards!

What Aria Cooking? – The San Francisco Opera Cookbook, edited by Donna M. Casey for The San Francisco Opera Guild Auxiliary

Published by The San Francisco Opera Guild Auxiliary

© 1974

Purchased at Kona Bay Books, Kona, Hawaii

Recipe:  Egg Noodles Alla Bolognese from opera singer Ezio Flagello – p. 59

Defensive Eating with Morrissey – Vegan Recipes from the One You Left Behind – Recipes by Joshua Ploeg, illustrations by Automne Zingg

Published by Microcosm Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-62106-203-5; © 2016

Purchased at Common Good Books, St. Paul

Recipe:  Asparagus [with tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, onion, garlic and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar] – p. 13

Ah, the Grammy Awards!  This was the 59^th time these awards for achievement in music have been handed out and as always, the music and the "What are you wearing" moments achieved new levels.  Not necessarily great levels in terms of fashion (or what I hesitantly call "fashion") but new levels, nonetheless.

So of course, with the award program looming, I set out to see if I had an appropriate cookbook to mark the occasion and folks, I found two – two – music-related cookbooks and I am just so chuffed with myself, I cannot tell you!

And so let's discuss our two disparate music cookbooks.  "In this corner, representing classical music..." we have What Aria Cooking by the San Francisco Opera Guild Auxiliary.  This cookbook is filled with recipes submitted by opera singers who have performed with the San Francisco Opera.

"And in this corner, representing alternative rock..." we have the British rocker, Morrissey.  Morrissey (Steven Patrick Morrissey) was lead singer for The Smiths before striking out on his own.  My local and favorite radio station, 89.3 - The Current, plays a great mix of music that hits just about every genre, and every once in a while, I hear a Morrissey song. I have to say that my favorite is probably "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful," because let's face it, that is a pretty accurate statement, musical or otherwise! Fair warning:  his cookbook, Defensive Eating with Morrissey, contains vegan recipes but several are workable for omnivores like me.

Those, then, are our two musical genres and so as Seth Meyers (formerly of Saturday Night Live, now host of his own late night talk show) says "For more on this, it's time for a Closer Look."

What Aria Cooking (an aria is song for solo voice, usually sung by a female) gives us a snapshot of artists involved with the San Francisco Opera in the way back i.e. 1974.  I like opera and have attended several over the years.  I must admit to being somewhat of a purist though, in that I am not necessarily fond of more modern operas as they strike me as precocious.  I mean really:  "The Manchurian Candidate opera?"  "The Shining opera?"  (Yes, these are actual operas, adapted from films.  Sigh.) Mozart and company are rolling around in their graves!  This is not to say that every "older" opera is great, but many are and besides, it is so much more fun to hear someone say "I shall smite thee and take off thy head" in Italian.  As a friend and I used to joke "It sounds so pretty!"

The recipe I used for tonight's dinner was from Italian-American bass Ezio Flagello.  Ezio sang primarily with the Metropolitan Opera from 1957-1984 and favored Italian opera productions such as Tosca, The Barber of Seville, and Don Giovanni.  And then I found this tidbit and it is most cool:  Ezio made a brief appearance as an opera impresario (opera company manager) in the movie, The Godfather II.  Nice!  I have no memory of that, but who needs an excuse to re-watch a Godfather movie?  Not me!  Poor Ezio had a shortened career as he passed away in 2009 at age 78.  (These days, that is on the "young" side of old.)  By the way, men's voices ranges are tenor (high), baritone (middle range) and bass (Low.  Sometimes very low.  "Basement" low.)  Ezio was a "basement" bass.

Now I have to share that I think my dad would have not only enjoyed this meal, but liked the fact that it came from an opera cookbook.  I come from a long line of opera lovers:  my grandfather, a Sicilian immigrant, used to listen to Met (Metropolitan Opera) radio broadcasts way before the dawn of the TV age, and my father listened with him as well.  My dad had a great baritone voice and although he never sang opera (at least to my knowledge), he played Captain Corcoran in his high school production of Gilbert and Sullivan's H. M. S. Pinafore, an operetta which is basically "opera, light."  He was also a member of a mixed chorus while attending Michigan State University. And although my singing voice is a mezzo-soprano and although I have performed more classical pieces (not opera though), I really enjoy singing what we would call "pop standards" songs by Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and the like rather than more serious, classical music.

Still and all, a friend of mine (who has since passed away) and I attended for many years regional tryouts sponsored by the Met, the winner of which went on to NYC to compete for a coveted spot on the Met stage. We joked that sometimes we went more for the fashion critique (or what I called "What Not to Wear to an Opera Audition") than we did for the singing, but we mostly wanted to be able to say "We saw him/her 'when'" and you know what, sometimes we did!

Speaking of "I knew him when," although I didn't recognize a lot of names on the "Artist Index" (and you probably won't as well), I hope most people are familiar with the name Luciano Pavarotti, whose dish for "Maltaliati con Fagioli" (pasta and beans) was high on my list of "for your consideration" until I switched it at the last minute.  Pavarotti is probably best know for singing Nessun Dorma from the opera Turandot, a production I saw a few years ago at the Minnesota Opera, and it requires the singer to hit ridiculously high notes which Pavarotti did on a regular basis until one day, he didn't.  He cracked the upper notes of whatever he was singing and I am not kidding when I say the opera world was just beside itself.  Jeez, the man has one bad day and he's vilified for life!  If you didn't know, the Italians love their operas and you had better have your A game when you perform at places like La Scalla (famous opera company) or else!

I also recognized the name Anna Moffo as she appeared on the Firestone and Goodyear (Tires) Christmas albums my parents bought every year.  These albums were popular during the 60's and 70's and I remember that Anna Moffo sang Ave Maria on one of them.  I must say that these albums were a great way to learn the names and style of many popular artists (classical, opera, jazz, pop) of the time and I miss listening to them.  Sadly, they do not seem to be available in CD form, only vinyl and we got rid of our turntable a long time ago.  Drats.

Beverly Sills and Frederica Van Stade (spelled "Van Staade" in the book) were also included in this cookbook.  Beverly Sills was an extremely well-known operatic soprano who appeared on various variety show specials in the 70's, and Frederica is a mezzo-soprano who has appeared in countless opera productions and countless recordings.  And on a "who knew" side note, Frederica and her ex-husband were involved in a law suit over marital property, the likes of which appeared in one of my law school text books and I'm willing to bet that I am one of a handful of law school students anywhere who knew who she was. And for those of you who just have to know the dirt, here's the citation:  Elkus v. Elkus, 572 N.Y.S.2d 901 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991).  (PS—I was also stunned to see another familiar name in a case found in my Wills and Trust case law book.  Not only was the name familiar, but I had met her previously – yikes! And I tell you what, in order to get a case in a law school textbook, you had to have a doozy of a situation going on and hers so qualified it was ridiculous!)

Now, one of the reasons I selected the dish I did, Ezio's very tasty pasta Bolognese, is because I needed something to match the recipe I selected from Morrissey's cookbook and boy, that was not easy.

As the title says, Morrissey's cookbook is a vegan cookbook and vegan cooking can be challenging which is why I took the easy way out and made a vegetable dish!  And it's not that some of the other vegan dishes didn't appeal, it's just that I did not feel like going out and buying ingredients I knew damned well I would never use again such as "nutritional yeast," or "miso," or "tempeh," a soy meat substitute.  Also, some of the recipes were rather involved, like his recipe for [vegan] "Lasagna" – p. 56 or "Spaghetti for Two – p. 73-75 and when it comes to cooking, the shorter the ingredient list and cooking times, the better.

And let me be clear that I don't care what Morrissey says, these two words do not go together:  "Vegan" and "Bologna."  Ew.  Ew, ew, ew and furthermore, why?  Why, why, why? (See p. 95).

In the end, I think I came up with the perfect food combination and that was Egg Noodles Alla Bolognese from the opera book, with a side of Asparagus from the Morrissey book.  I am a genius!

As between the two, Morrissey's recipe title, Asparagus, is a tad misleading because here's what it really is:  asparagus yes, but asparagus sprinkled with a mix of chopped onion, tomato, garlic, and oregano, then tossed with olive oil, roasted, and then completed with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.  It was fantastic!  Plus, this dish took only 20 minutes to make and that worked out well.  The other thing I loved was that I was able to score some fresh and hearty asparagus from a local grocery store, something that used to be near-impossible during the winter months.  All in all, I am tucking this recipe away for future use!

The Bolognese recipe was also very easy although I had to siphon off the grease from the ground beef several times to avoid having a greasy mess on my hands.  This then left the sauce a little on the dry side, but no worries, just add more wine or, if wine is not your thing, some water or broth.

I also "cheated" a bit with the recipe and added a handful of chopped tomatoes that were left over from the asparagus.  Waste not, want not, don't you know.  All in all, this dish was very good and was light to eat despite the pasta and the ground beef.  I think the use of white wine made it so.

And so these dishes were winners (I am on a roll as so were my Super Bowl selections) but alas, just like the Super Bowl, some Grammy nominees did not walk away with their golden gramophone and that's a darn shame but there's always next year.

Congratulations then to all 2017 Emmy winners and to those who didn't win, perhaps a nice plate of pasta and some asparagus will help ease your pain?  (It did mine!)

Egg Noodles Alla Bolognese – serves 5

1 pound egg noodles

1 large onion

1 small can mushrooms

1 bell pepper, cut in 1" strips

3 slices ham (Ann's Note:  although the recipe didn't say, I chopped my ham into smaller pieces)

1 tablespoon diced celery

1 ¼ cups water

1 teaspoon tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pound chopped meat (Ann's Note:  I'm pretty sure he meant ground beef as the recipe instructs you to "brown the meat."  That said, I bet you could substitute ground chicken or turkey if you wanted.)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon carrot shirrings (Ann's Note:  I have no idea what this means and neither did Google so I decided it meant "carrot peels" and that is what I used.)

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1/8 teaspoon marjoram

1/8 teaspoon basil leaf (dried)

1 cup white wine

Grated cheese

Brown meat, onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper in two tablespoons of oil.  (Ann's Note:  I made a half a recipe and thought that even one tablespoon of oil was too much.  When coupled with the grease from browning the "chopped meat," it made for quite a bit of grease that I had to remove or risk "ruining" the sauce.)

Add water, ham, garlic powder, parsley, marjoram, and basil.  Cook slowly, until water evaporates.  (Ann's Note:  yes, but trust me, after you let the water evaporate, you are going to want to add more liquid back in or the sauce will dry out.  You can either add more wine (the recipe calls for 1 cup), or more water or broth and that should do the trick.  Even then though, I had to keep taking out some of the grease...sigh).

Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, mushrooms, and wine.  Cook for one hour.  Pour Bolognese sauce over 1 pound cooked egg noodles and serve.  Add grated cheese if desired.

This recipe is from his forthcoming book "There's a Basso in the Kitchen."  Ann's Note:  It doesn't appear that this book was ever published as I cannot find it anywhere online and that is a damn shame because I would so add it to my collection!

Asparagus – Serving size not listed but 2 pounds should feed about 4-6

2 pounds asparagus

1 cup tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup onion, chopped

2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, pureed (Ann's Note:  he doesn't say whether or not to use oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes or not but I'm guessing you should.  I have dried, but not oiled, sun-dried tomatoes at home and they don't puree well—not that this stopped me from trying!)

Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste

Balsamic vinegar to drizzle

Mix all ingredients together except balsamic vinegar, and then place in a casserole.  Roast at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, and then mix again.

You can cook it for less time, if desired.

But with a bit more time and a few more gentler words and looking back we will forgive.

Broil for 3 to 5 minutes to finish.  Ann's Note:  I didn't broil but I did drizzle and then bake for another 3 minutes.

"Sharon O'Connor's Menus and Music Dining and the Opera In Manhattan" - Carrot Soup - Minnesota Opera's opening night!

Date I made this recipe:  September 26, 2015 – Opening Night at the Minnesota Opera

Sharon O'Connor's Menus and Music:  Dining and the Opera In Manhattan – Recipes from Manhattan Restaurants; Opera Arias Selected by the Metropolitan Opera Guild

Published by:  Menus and Music Productions

ISBN:  1-883914-03-5

Purchased at Bloomington Crime Prevention Association (BCPA) annual sale

Recipe:  Carrot Soup from Cafe des Artistes – p. 33

This past Saturday, September 26^th, a friend invited me to attend the opening night of the Minnesota Opera, an event of high elegance to be sure.  Opera buffs take an opera opening very seriously and although the crowd was not as decked out as the Met Opera would be in NYC, we are no slouches when it comes to fashion.

And so, what to wear, what to wear?  I have a couple of evening gowns in my closet but alas, they were last worn circa 2008 and I'm pretty sure that one of them, if not both, would not fit.  So that left me with a "party dress/no party dress" conundrum because while the weather outside was spectacular, the inside temperature with air conditioning was sure to be freezing (it always is) and so hmm...did I want to sit through a 2 hour, 36 minute production freezing or did I want to be warm?

Warm won out.  My compromise was a sequined top over black pants and a jacket with sparkly earrings and a divine little evening bag.  And I was feeling just fine about that until I spotted the veritable fashion week parade going on in front of me:  evening gown, more evening gowns, tuxes, more tuxes, rinse and repeat.  Well if that wasn't discouraging, I don't know what was.

But no matter because besides gawking, we were there to enjoy the opera and I have to say that despite misgivings, the production was fabulous and who would have thunk it?  Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne on Naxos) was written by Richard Strauss and his stuff can be kind of odd.  Plus it's in German and I am sorry, but German is not a pretty language.  One could say something like "Your mother is a toad and your dad is a goat" in Italian or French and it would sound pretty but in German?  Not so much.  But we overlooked all that because the story of an opera within an opera was told so well and sung so beautifully and was so funny that we were surprisingly entertained. 

Now this was not my first rodeo at the opera, a musical form I do enjoy although I go sporadically.  The most memorable opera experience I ever had was in Vienna when my husband and I thought we had tickets to the famous and beautiful Vienna State Opera only to find out at the very last minute that our tickets to the Marriage of Figaro were at the Volksoper Wein (Folk Opera House) all the way across town.  Hilarity ensued, such that we could have written a comedic opera about our dash to a different theater, but we didn't.   Anyway, we made it to the opera and were seated after the first act was underway, doing the whole "excuse us, pardon us" drill as we had to climb over several people to take our seats.  And that was just the start of the evening!

Locally, for many, many years, a friend of mine (now deceased) and I used to sit in the audience of the Metropolitan Opera's regional and district auditions in St. Paul where opera hopefuls vied for the chance to go to NYC to compete further to try to win a spot in the Met.  This competition is both intense and incredibly fun to watch and listen to as each year, my friend and I tried to figure out who would win the local series.  We often ran into friends who also liked opera and would compare notes.  Although my notes were often musically-related, I also created my own version of "What NOT to Wear to the Opera," as several hopefuls came out in just disastrous outfits that made us cringe.  Happily, the winners each year seemed to have figured out that to be a diva, one must dress like one. These are words to live by.

Once all the district winners get to NYC, they compete in the semi-finals and then as my dad would say, "Many are called, few are chosen," as the pack is reduced to about 20 of which up to 10 will become grand prize winners.  This process was documented in The Audition (which I have on DVD) and wouldn't you know that one of the 10 winners from that documentary, Amber Wagner, was our star diva in Ariadne auf Naxos.  So now I have to re-watch that DVD to see her go through the process.  I'll tell you this much, if you are one of the winners of that competition, you have survived the equivalent of Marine book camp meaning you can sing and I mean SING and that you are Met-worthy to take your place on the big stage.  Carol and I always said that we'd love to go to NYC to see the final competition but alas, she passed away before we could make plans.

Now I have never been to the Met in NYC but I have visited their gift store several times over because believe it or not, in addition to every type of opera CD you could ever want, they used to carry a series of show-tune CDs that I think they produced and I have almost the entire set starting from the 1920's and ending in 60's; the series also includes the 70's and possibly the 80's but I didn't buy those.  These CDs are no longer produced and it's a darned shame because they contained many great numbers, previously unknown to me and I imagine, to many others.  At any rate, a trip to the actual Met is on my to-do list (for which I will need to lay down some serious jing, but in the meantime, the Minnesota Opera is top-notch and so they will continue to feed my opera-fix for the time being.  (By the way, in NYC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is also referred to as "The Met" but somehow the natives know of what you speak when you refer to one or the other.  I have been to that "Met" several times and was even a member for a while but have yet to get to the "opera" Met.)

And so speaking of feed, this book – Dining and the Opera in Manhattan – is a hoot because people, almost every recipe either contained expensive ingredients (lots of lobster and caviar to be sure) or was cumbersome to make.  And I was almost ready to throw in the towel on this book and relegate to the "Never going to cook from it list," when I went through it for a fourth time and decided on the very easy, very yummy and very inexpensive carrot soup from the restaurant, Cafe des Artistes which operated in NYC from 1917 until 2011 when a new restaurant took its place.  Like almost all the restaurants listed in this book, Cafe des Artistes catered to what my parents called the "hoi polli" i.e. wealthy folks.  Other restaurants of interest (from 1994, the year this was published) are Felidia Ristorante, The Four Seasons, Le Bernardin and Le Cirque.  All four of these restaurants are currently in operation.  All the restaurants provided a menu but I decided to just make the soup and in fact, put it on the stove Saturday night so I had time to eat it before leaving for the opera's 8:00 performance.  Also included in the book are "Music Notes," suggestions on what to listen to along with a brief description of the opera so you can follow along at home.  Suggestions included here range from Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte and Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute, a production I've seen several times over); another Richard Strauss production, Der Rosenkavalier; Charles Gounod's Faust; Handel's Giulio Caesar (Julius Caesar) and Turandot by Giacomo Puccini, a Minnesota Opera production that I went to a few years ago with another friend.   If I had more time, I would have listened to more of the music recommendations but alas, there are more cookbooks to be cooked from and very few available hours to do so and so we march on (just like the opera, Aida – I reference the Triumphal March - complete with elephants!).

Carrot Soup (Potage Crecy) – Makes 6 servings

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled and coarsely grated

2 large boiling potatoes, peeled and diced

2 shallots, or 1 small white onion, coarsely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pinch of sugar, or to taste

4 cups veal stock, chicken stock, or canned low-salt chicken broth

Minced fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley for garnish

Fresh chervil leaves for garnish

In a heavy 6-quart saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.  Add the carrots, potatoes, and shallots or onion and season with salt, pepper, and sugar.  Reduce the heat to very low, cover and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often, or until the carrots are very soft, almost a puree.  Stir in the stock or broth and simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Remove the pot from the heat.  Force the soup, in batches, through the finest blade of a food mill set over a large bowl, until pureed and smooth.  Alternatively, puree in batches in a blender or food processor.

Return the soup to the saucepan and place over low heat until warmed through.  Adjust the seasoning and garnish with the parsley and chervil.  Ladle the warm soup into bowls and serve.

"A Table In Tuscany" - Spring Risotto (Risotto Primavera) (Bonus recipe: Stuffed chicken)

Date I made this recipe:  April 21, 2013

A Table in Tuscany – Classic Recipes from the Heart of Italy – Collected and Illustrated by Leslie Forbes

Published by:  Chronicle Books

ISNB:  0-87701-832-4

Recipe:  Spring Risotto (Risotto Primavera) – p. 91; Bonus Recipe: Stuffed Chicken (La Gallina Ripiena) p. 135

As previously reported, we have not been blessed this year with springtime weather, instead bracing ourselves for snow and more snow.  So I can see where you might be tempted to think that this recipe for Spring Risotto (Risotto Primavera) is sort of a “screw you” to Mother Nature but you’d be wrong.  This recipe selection is a result of going to the opera.

On Saturday, April 20th, a friend invited me to a performance of Turandot by the Minnesota Opera.  This opera, written by Tuscan Giacamo Puccini, is set in China and tells the story of a cold and cruel princess, Turandot, who kills all suitors who do not correctly answer the three riddles she poses to them.  And then along comes Calaf, the unknown prince, who does correctly answer the three riddles and gets to hang on to his head.  I know—feel the love, right?

So I came home and thought about what to make the next day (Sunday is typically cooking day in our house) and at first thought something Chinese to go along with the opera’s theme.  But then I thought about pasta to honor Puccini and that also made sense because Marco Polo brought pasta to Italy from China, and then I got real creative and looked to see where Puccini was born (Tuscany) and thought “aha!” – risotto, the Italian version of rice – perfect!! (By the way, one of my uncles was named Giacomo, which means James.  He later switched it to James but the family calls him Jack as that is how “Gia” is pronounced.  As far as I know though, he does not write operas.)

In the interest of disclosure, Andy and I have cooked from this cookbook, A Table in Tuscany before, making the Stuffed Chicken dish several times over including Thanksgiving and Christmas (I’ve included the recipe as a bonus below).  But since I was bent on making risotto, I tried a new recipe.  I can’t say I’ll repeat it though, as it was good but not great (unlike the stuffed chicken which is fantastic).  Plus, I felt that the recipe needed a few adjustments.

First, the recipe calls for beef stock and I just thought the beef flavor was too heavy for “spring” risotto and all those spring vegetables.  Were I to make it again, I’d use a chicken stock or even vegetable for a lighter flavor.

Next, the recipe called for greenish tomatoes and good luck finding those the day before a snowstorm, and so I used regular.  They were quickly pulverized by the stirring that needed to take place to make the risotto.  Had I to do it over again, I’d make the risotto and then add the vegetables so they don’t turn mushy.

Next, risotto is a tricky bugger to make (and one that my Sicilian family never put on the stove – ever).  You need to find the right balance between creamy and al dente and I think we cooked it too long.  This was all my fault – I just didn’t want to eat al dente risotto and so suggested to my husband that he cook it a bit longer.  It was still creamy but was “this close” to becoming paste.  Clearly, I am lacking the gene needed to totally nail this dish.

Finally, as I was eating it, I said to Andy that I thought it could use a little lemon zest to brighten up the dish and to perk up the vegetables.  This was as close as I got to a “foodie” moment.  I think I was right on this one though, and so suggest you try it to see how it goes.

As it turned out, I got a reprieve of sorts on Sunday when I made this dish as the weather was somewhat decent but on Monday night it snowed again and it looked like Winter Wonderland around here. My favorite radio station, The Current, played Christmastime is Here from A Charlie Brown Christmas, and also played Sleigh Ride in the background as the DJ’s were talking.  I love a radio station with a sense of humor.  Even more hilarious was the week before, the Twin Cities was testing out tornado sirens for tornado awareness week and damned if we weren’t having a snowstorm at the time.  It’s kind of hard to take the directive to “take cover” seriously when the snow is swirling but with any luck, it won’t be long before the snow is gone and the weather warms up and all is well (sans tornados).

Happy “Spring!”

Spring Risotto (6 servings)

1 lb 2 oz Italian Arobrio Rice

11 oz greenish tomatoes, diced

12 oz zucchini, diced

7 oz green pepper or asparagus, diced

4 oz carrot, diced

1 onion or leek, chopped

Beef stock (Ann’s Note:  Directions don’t say how much to use so I bought a re-sealable carton and heated about half of it, adding more as needed.)

5 oz butter

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

Cook the onion in the oil in a saucepan and when beginning to brown, add all the vegetables except the tomatoes.  Cook 10 minutes over moderate heat and add tomatoes and salt and pepper.  Cook for 15 minutes and then pour in the rice and a little hot stock.  (Ann’s Note:  I recommend that you cook the vegetables separately and add the tomatoes at the very end and maybe cook for 1-2 minutes until softened but not mush.  Doing it this way almost turned the vegetables to mush and the tomatoes totally disintegrated.)

Continue adding the hot stock every few minutes as the rice absorbs the liquid.  It should take 20-30 minutes for the rice to cook to the ‘al dente’ stage.  Then stir in butter and serve.

Bonus recipe:  Stuffed Chicken (La Gallina Ripiena) – serves 6

1 large boiling fowl with giblets

2 carrots

1 stick celery

1 onion

Salt

1 leek

Olive oil

For the stuffing

2 slices ham or Mortadella sausage; chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped

3 slices bread, soaked in milk

6 tbsp pecorino cheese, grated

8 oz ground (minced) veal or lean beef

1-2 eggs

2 cloves garlic, crushed

4 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

½ - ¾ tsp nutmeg

First make the stuffing.  In a large frying pan gently cook the chicken giblets in the oil until they change color.  Chop finely and reserve.  Add the sausage, meat and garlic to the pan and cook just until the meat starts to brown.  Mix with giblets, herbs, bread, cheese and 1 beaten egg.  If this does not bind the stuffing, add another beaten egg.

Clean, wash and dry the inside of the chicken.  Pack loosely with the stuffing – the stuffing tends to swell in cooking and you don’t want an exploding chicken.  Sew up both ends of the chicken so that nothing can escape.  Put in a large flame proof casserole with the carrots, celery, onion, leek and salt and cover with water.  The water should be about 1 inch over the chicken.  Bring to a boil and then simmer over a low heat for about 2 ½ hours, until the chicken is cooked.  Remove it from the pan, cut the threads, carefully lift out the stuffing which should be quite solid, and serve both the chicken and the stuffing sliced thinly and garnished with either fresh thyme or Tuscan salsa verde.