28
Ciambotta
by DANIEL PATERNA
INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 small potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 large sweet onions, peeled and quartered
Fresh oregano leaves from 2 sprigs
Fresh basil leaves from 2 branches
5 small zucchini, sliced
4 sweet red peppers, sliced
1 pound medium-size eggplant, sliced and quartered
35 ounces canned plum tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon salt, more or less to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Parmigiano cheese, dry chili flakes for topping, optional
Photo by Daniel Paterna.
My mom’s vegetable stew. If I had to pick a
desert-island dish, this may just be it—with a
piece of crusty bread, of course. Serves six.
DIRECTIONS
Heat the olive oil in a 4-quart pot over medium heat.
Add the potatoes and garlic and cook about 15 minutes
until the potatoes are golden brown on all sides.
Remove the potatoes and set aside. Add the onions
to the same pot and cook until they are golden
brown. Add the oregano and basil to the onions and
sauté for 1 minute more.
Add the zucchini, sweet peppers, and eggplant, and
sauté for another 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, salt,
and black pepper, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce
the heat and simmer for one hour. After one hour of
cooking, return the potatoes to the pot and continue
simmering for one more hour. Season to taste.
Serve the stew in a bowl with grated parmigiano
cheese, crushed red pepper, and some crusty bread.
—From “Feast of the Seven Fishes: A Brooklyn
Italian’s Recipes Celebrating Food and Family,”
powerHouse Books, 2019.
FOOD