Stufato - the Garden in a Pot

From The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens by Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

Copyright 1999 by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Serves 3 to 4

This vegetable ragu is one of those sublime one-dish meals that for me captures all the nurturing goodness of the Italian food I was raised with. What Ciambotta is to southern Italians, Stufato is to northerners—the concepts are the same. Vegetables, from greens and beans and zucchini to tomatoes and peppers, all cook together, making their own sauce and becoming a lavish vegetable stew. Merely heat a little olive oil in a big shallow pan, stir in whatever is fresh and good at the moment, sear everything, then cover. When vegetables cook in their own juices, their flavors open up and their textures go from crisp to silken.

I grew up eating my Tuscan grandmother’s Stufato, and when I began visiting farms, I discovered everyone did some version of it. This easy way of preparing memorable food is natural for Italian women who cook from their gardens. In Spring, it might include fava beans, artichokes, leeks, and new potatoes; in winter, it can be cabbage, beans chard, kale, potatoes, carrots, and squashes. And always there is onion and garlic.

Cook to Cook: Use a heavy pan and don't shy away from taking the initial sauté to a full rich brown to give this dish its full flavor. Then, keeping the heat low, cover the pan tightly with a lid or aluminum foil to hold in juices and steam. Along with, or instead of olives, season Stufato with any one or a combination of the following: capers, anchovies, hot peppers, herbs, cured pork, wine, or vinegar. Cook Stufato several hours ahead and reheat, or eat it at room temperature. Grated cheese or a little extra olive oil drizzled over the top is wonderful. A rough multigrain bread is perfect with Stufato.

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 3 large fresh sage leaves
• 1 tightly packed teaspoon each fresh marjoram and basil leaves, chopped 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and halved
• 3 small pale inner stalks celery with leaves, coarsely chopped
• 9 small (2 pounds) zucchini, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 large (1/2 pound) yellow sweet pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1-inch dice
• 6 oil-cured black olives, pitted and minced
• 2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3 to 4 medium (about 3/4 pound) ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped (not seeded), or 1 14-ounce can whole tomatoes, completely drained
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Lightly film the bottom of a 12-inch sauté pan (not nonstick) with olive oil. Set over high heat. Add the onion, herbs, beans, celery, zucchini, sweet pepper, and olives, lower the heat to medium, and sauté until the zucchini is golden brown.

2. Stir in the garlic and tomatoes, crushing canned tomatoes with your hands as you go. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook 55 minutes, or until the vegetables are extremely tender and richly flavored. Adjust the heat to keep the vegetables from scorching, and add a little water if necessary.

3. If the stew seems too liquid, uncover and cook over medium-high heat a few minutes to reduce and concentrate flavors. Taste for seasoning. Serve warm or at room temperature.