giambotta!

giambotta is an italian stew, which i found in the awesome 'moosewood: low fat favorites' cookbook. again, i cannot stress that its a good idea to purchase this baby, especially since you can get it cheap on places like amazon. however, since i've already found this recipes post multiple times online, i'm letting that be my guide for making it ok to put here:

giambotta

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium onions, chopped

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. olive oil

1 small eggplant

3 small potatoes

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced (bulb only— fennel is optional.)

1 medium zucchini

3 fresh tomatoes

1/4 C. chopped fresh basil (1.5 tbls dried)

salt and pepper, to taste

in a covered soup pot on low heat, sweat garlic, onions and salt in olive oil for about 5-7 minutes, until onions are translucent. stir frequently.

chop up and add to the pot, the vegetables in the following order: eggplant, potatoes, fennel, peppers, zucchini and tomatoes. if using dried basil, add it now. otherwise, fresh basil is added later. (it's important to add the vegetables in this order, since eggplant and potatoes take longer to cook than the other veggies.)

increase the heat and simmer vegetables, uncovered, for about 40 minutes, or until veggies are tender. stir in fresh basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

**

and here is what the process was like for me. but before i show you the pot of veggies, i thought i'd show you how i cut an onion. i think i saw this on tv once, and it basically works. as we all know, my goal is to be a TOP CHEF. i think this technique might make me a middle earth chef, but not a TOP CHEF. probably because it is an actual technique, but it lacks any kind of speed. without further ado....

first i slice through the middle of the onion, about 4/5 of the way through, and then make little cuts down the opposite side of the onion:

after that, its just a matter of cutting across the cuts i've already made, like this:

i don't think i've just explained that very well, but the cuts are pretty. anyway, dump the stuff - and the garlic - into the pot and cook it.

then chop the eggplant and add that.

then chop the potatoes and add them, too. at this point the pot is looking disturbingly white on white. but it helps to think of the opening scene of 'girl with a pearl earring.' and i'm talking the book, not the film. and if don't know what i mean, read the book. really, read the entire book, because it is worth it. and, after you've read it, we can talk about how the screenwriter made such grave errors. same thing with 'memoirs of a geisha.' lovely cinematography, but they really butchered what was a lovely piece of work. oh well.

anyway. on to fennel. this is what it looks like:

interesting. this is what a naked fennel bulb looks like:

and this is what i did to it:

i know - talk about butchering. but it was starting to remind me of celery, which i hate, and i was getting nervous. away and into the pot:

and then...look at this! the white streak ends with pepper!

and then some green with a zucchini!

bestill my heart! you may be thinking that this looks like more than three tomatoes, and it is: its 2 small cans of crushed tomatoes. because i like it this way.

this is after the hour of cooking. i really heart fresh basil.

and with some locatelli romano. very tasty, indeed.