Save money wisely: The antique Italian art of cooking with leftovers
I challenge you to come up with some low cost, healthy and delicious recipes using leftovers and inexpensive ingredients – just like the Italians do. As you may know, Italians throw nothing away and utilize every part of the animals they consume (think of head cheese or pickled pigs feet)! This is true now more than ever.
Some of my favorite meals as a child resulted from my father or mother using kitchen leftovers. Most people know about the delicious Tuscan soups (like ribollita or pancotto) made utilizing breads – usually stale breads. Have you heard of polpette (meatballs made from leftovers – sometimes coated and fried) or fresh pasta ravioli with stuffing made from leftover fish or meat? Have you heard of soups or pasta sauces made with fish bones and fish heads or those flavored with parmesan crust?
The current depressed economic situation is international. My friends and family in Italy are not as frightened as people in the .jpg)
U.S. over this deep recession. Perhaps it is because Italy has undergone thousands of years of invasions, famines, and wars (including two brutal wars in the last century) before being ranked as one of the top 10 world economies. Italians know how “make do.”
The Italians are not despairing. They have rolled up their sleeves and gone back to basic principals of La Cucina Povera (cooking rooted in old and rustic traditions). Even restaurants in Italy have joined the trend. Some are featuring panini with “fish tripe,” fried potato or zucchini skins, specialties made from artichoke stems and so on.
All this does not mean that anyone is steering away from preparations that are absolutely delicious. On the contrary; this is where creativity and attention to each detail and ingredient (as always) comes in. You will be surprised at the delicious creamy soups you can make with leftover peas or beans or the desserts you can concoct with leftover egg whites or egg yolks. What about carrot or beet greens in your arsenal of vegetable recipes?
As an example, here is a recipe for Tuscan Ribollita Soup. It is an abundant recipe (for 10 or 12 people) so that you can store some in the freezer for another meal.
Please send your best frugal and delicious recipes to serenella@toscanamia.biz and put “recipe” in the subject line. I will share them for all our readers to enjoy. I am excited to see how creative we can be!
Buon appetito.
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