Christina Cooks: Back to the Cutting Board

I'm all about cooking.

In case you were wondering.

Cooking for your friends, your family, your loved ones is the ultimate superpower.

Fresh seasonal ingredients give us health and wellness and strength like you can't imagine.

Cooking and serving beautifully prepared food says I love you in the most delicious way.

So let's cook dinner together in Tuscany.

Today on Christina Cooks: The Macroterranean Way.

Underwriting for Christina Cooks is provided by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties.

Sweetness the way Mother Nature intended.

and by Jonathans Spoons.

Individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

Additional funding provided by: Hi, Im Christina Pirello and this is Christina Cooks, where each week we take fresh seasonal ingredients and whip them into amazing dishes.

Will they all be plant-based?

Yup.

Will they all be delicious?

Absolutely.

Listen, I don't know about you guys, but when I was growing up, if you were in at the dinner table, you needed a really, really good reason.

Like maybe you were dead.

More than 80% of American families eat dinner together only once a week.

How sad.

I know we're busy, but cooking and eating together weaves the fabric of society.

We learn to share, communicate.

We discover each other fresh, everyday at the table.

On top of that, we live in a culture where more single people than ever before live alone.

In 2021, more than 120 million people reported living alone.

But that doesn't mean we should stop cooking and live on takeout.

It's time to value ourselves by cooking for each other and value ourselves by cooking for ourselves.

My dear friend Elisabetta lives in the little tiny village of Regello in Tuscany.

When I told her I needed to cook with a great home cook, she knew just the person.

Alessandro Materazzi is a retired banker turned home chef.

Not by any stretch a vegan, his vegan dishes will knock your socks off, as will his commitment to eating together.

He was so amazing that he determined to cook for the entire crew so we could celebrate our collaboration after we were through.

This is going to be yummy.

Let's go to Italy.

[Italian music plays] Wait, wait, wait.

Stop the bus!

Stop the bus.

It's market day.

Im here in Regello, a small town outside of Florence, and we're having lunch with my friend Sandro, who's cooking for us.

So it's a very exciting day for me.

And I thought, well, as a nice Italian girl, I best bring a gift.

So what better place than to find some fresh seasonal ingredients right here at the market?

So I'm looking for my friend Enzo.

We're buying a lovely schiacciata which is a local bread made from his own production.

So it's going to be a lovely gift for our Alessandro.

[Speaking Italian] CHRISTINA: Alessandro!

buongiorno.

[Speaking Italian] CHRISTINA: So we're going to start a vegetable broth.

[Speaking Italian] Three big chunks of red onion, four big pieces of carrot.

We're dividing two small plum tomatoes in half.

[Speaking Italian] This is celery.

[Speaking Italian] CHRISTINA: So no salt, okay.

So by using big chunks in the broth this way it's just going to give a mild flavor to the dishes that we make.

And this is going to simmer un'ora?

About an order about one hour!

One hour!

Okay,.

So you see we have two different methods of peeling squash.

and Alessandro is much faster than I am.

Okay, so we're going to dice some onion from this last piece.

So some extra virgin olive oil.

[Speaking Italian] So the onion goes into the oil.

Some more sliced garlic.

And so by using sliced garlic, it's not so strong as minced garlic.

So because pumpkin is sweet.

[Speaking Italian] So we're cutting the squash into small pieces so it cooks pretty quickly so that we can puree it.

[Speaking Italian] [Speaking Italian] Okay.

So he said there's much more squash than onion and garlic because obviously it's a risotto with squash.

So that's your main flavor.

And the others are there as supporting cast.

[Speaking Italian] So we're going to take the rest of these squash pieces and slice them really in tiny, tiny pieces because they're going to go into the risotto.

So this is going to be pureed.

I just said, how do you want me to finish all these pieces of squash?

And he said, I don't know.

We're cooking.

We're cooking for a bunch of us.

How many people?

So it's you, you look and you see how much you need.

So now we're just adding a little bit of salt to the squash that's already cooking.

Thank you very much And a little bit of black pepper.

[Speaking Italian] So now he's adding to the squash a little bit of our vegetable broth, which was really simple and mild flavor.

So it's just going to contribute to the sweetness of the squash.

[Speaking Italian] He's saying that his son is a chef and does things very differently than he does.

Things are more dry or more strong.

And but he doesn't sound so he doesn't consider himself a chef at all.

Chef.

No, no, no, no.

So just give me saw.

So you said the difference between as I said, he's like a chef.

He said, no, not at all.

Because unlike a chef, he opens his fridge and what he has, he turns into a meal.

Whereas a chef has to be precise.

And this dish and we know in America that the dish you have today in a restaurant has to taste the same next week.

So it's very different.

The precision of a chef versus a cook, cooking by instinct.

[Speaking Italian] Hes adding broth to the squash so it continues to get soft.

So the squash is just a tiny, tiny bit hard.

And he said that would result in a puree that's not mixed well.

Not homogenized well.

So you need your squash to be just a little bit soft.

It's delicious, but it just needs to be a little softer [Italian music plays] CHRISTINA: Alessandro.

ALESSANDRO: Si.

[Speaking Italian] So he worked in a bank in Firenza.

He said that he spent most of his time traveling back and forth, back and forth to work.

You said like a pendulum.

[Speaking Italian] Pendolare, which is to go back and forth.

And so you decided, non pi. No more.

Bon bene.

[Speaking Italian] I asked him, what's a typical day? He said because of this, when Elisabetta called he said he could do it!

[Italian music plays] So the squash is ready.

[Speaking Italian] So the cooked soft squash is going into this little sort of mixing pan.

It's almost like there's a cream in the pan that just came from the olive oil and the squash cooking together.

Perfect.

Okay.

So you can see that it's so soft and, um, rich looking just from the sugars in the squash and the garlic and the oil.

And so now we're just going to use an immersion blender and make a puree of squash.

[blender noise] And we're not adding any liquid.

We want a nice thick puree.

[blender noises] Right.

See how lovely this got?

It's, just... it's... it's... Buonissimo.

Perfetto!

Alora.

We're going about to start the risotto and he prefers to use his oil, local oil for something like this.

So again, use the best olive oil you can find.

If you don't grow your own olives, you'll have to just buy the best you can.

Sandro, I just want to say I want to say something that Sandro said earlier that I missed, which is that he may not be the best at technique.

And sometimes he doesn't know if he's the best cook.

But the most important thing for him, and it's true, is that everyone gathers around the table tutti al tavolo so that everyone is together eating.

And I think that that's the most important thing to take away from this idea of cooking dinner Okay.

[speaking Italian] And this is riso di molinella which is nearby the beach in Tuscany.

Yes.

So you want to cook this for a few minutes stirring until the rice is almost toasted.

It becomes shiny with oil.

It doesn't matter.

The squash will soften as it cooks.

But you really want to get the rice sort of toasted.

But the temperature is not as important as it is to keep your eye on it.

And you'll know when your rice is toasted, it'll just start to shade a little bit and it's all shiny with oil, so you'll know that it's ready to go.

It's not so much about your flame or the time - you have to pay attention.

[speaking Italian] He's stirring very sort of gently that he's sort of nurturing the rice.

This isn't a saute where you're in there active and aggressive.

This is a very rice is a very calming, gentle food anyway.

So to cook it this way is quite lovely.

[speaking Italian] A little bit of white wine.

[Speaking Italian] You can hear when it's ready, it sizzles a little bit, the rice.

So now he said you begin the process which is very traditional.

You go around the edges and now you begin to slowly add the broth.

And when you cook risotto, you want to add your broth to sort of cover the rice like this, and then you'll cook it until the rice absorbs the broth.

And then you do this over and over and over.

So it's important at this point to lower your heat.

The rice has toasted.

You don't want to cook this aggressively any more.

You want your rice to keep a small boil.

So it's not a super low, but it's like a medium low because you can see it's still boiling a bit around the edges and that's all you want.

So the rice cooks.

At some point in your life.

Now we're going to watch it and pay attention and slowly add broth as it absorbs.

And midway through cooking, we'll add the pureed squash.

So we'll keep watching this and then we'll come back and you'll see when we add the squash.

[Italian music plays] So Alessandro said as the rice gets close to finishing, the most important thing is as the rice finishes cooking that it takes on the flavor of the pumpkin, of the zucco, the squash.

And this is going to change the consistency and everything in the... Oh my goodness, this is lovely.

And we are now about, I would say, about eight minutes from it being finished.

And so now you you stay very vigilant, keep your boil, and then the next time we see this, it'll be finished and creamy.

We're lowering the flame a little bit.

Okay, bon bene.

Now we finish.

[Italian music plays] He just added the last bit of the pureed squash because what's the point of risotto with squash if you don't taste squash?

Oil?

[Speaking Italian] So he told me to go around with the oil.

Wow.

[speaking Italian] And here we have.

Come, come, come.

Here we have a risotto with squash [Speaking Italian] [Italian music plays] We're going to start the preparation for the pappa al pomodoro.

The tomato bread soup.

So we're only using a small amount of onion because the flavor outside of tomatoes and bread in this dish is garlic.

[speaking Italian] So now we're putting in a good amount of garlic.

[speaking Italian] [speaking Italian] So the garlic is more finely diced for this recipe because we want a stronger garlic flavor.

So he's using his hands to pull apart the tiny pieces of the onion so that they separate.

You know how when you put onions in a dish, sometimes they stick together?

He wants them all pulled apart.

So you have to use an abundant amount of oil to make a good pappa al pomodoro.

You can't be cheap with your oil.

You got to go for it.

I'm bringing over his basil from his garden.

So the stems go into the bottom of the pappa, and the leaves remain here.

It's not a really aggressive heat because he wants the onions and the garlic to soften slowly and then the tomatoes will soften slowly, and then the bread will soften slowly so that all the flavors come together to create one wonderful pappa.

[speaking Italian] We have to get the bread ready for bread soup.

[speaking Italian] He said he's going to keep his eye on our sofrito, which is the base of the soup.

So I'll cut the bread.

So that we don't burn the onions.

So we have all this bread here, but Alessandro just said, if it doesn't seem like it's enough, we have more bread.

There's always more bread when you're in Italy.

And this is just sort of what we would call a rough chop of the bread and its crust and all because the crust will melt.

So he's taking the basil stems out now.

Because they've cooked enough.

[speaking Italian] Okay.

So he said even though you're buying tomatoes that might be canned, you really... the goal is that you buy the best quality you can find.

I mean, he's, of course, using Tuscan tomatoes, canned tomatoes.

They're very good quality.

But even when you're in the supermarket, you can find the best that you can find.

He's using a fork to break the tomatoes...

I said I do with my hands.

And he said... [speaking Italian] He said, either way is right.

Because the texture of this soup is not smooth, smooth, smooth.

It's kind of a chunky.

It's a lovely, rustic, satisfying, heavenly... You can never get enough of pappa al pomodoro.

so we're putting a little bit more fresh basil in.

And Alessandro said, If you put in too much basil, it's too exaggerated.

You just want a little bit as like an under flavor.

[speaking Italian] He said... [speaking Italian] He said, for this, super uses a heavier, coarser salt.

So how much do you put?

Who knows?

Like this!

[speaking Italian] This is the big moment where we add the bread.

[speaking Italian] And now what happens in this soup, for those of you unfamiliar, is the bread will melt.

[speaking Italian] [speaking Italian] You sort of mix it around and you kind of smash the bread down a little bit and make sure that the tomatoes sort of cover it so the bread can soften.

There's different schools of thought.

Some people like to break up the bread before it goes in.

Some people use it whole.

He's using it in chunks like this before he adds any broth.

He likes to flavor the bread with the tomatoes the way his mom did so that you can see the the bread is turning pink with tomato.

And so then he will add the broth after, by ladles, so he knows how much to add so he doesn't add too much and make the soup too thin.

[speaking Italian] So the bread melted really quickly and he added enough broth to just cover and then he said, We'll see if we need more.

So he said, a lot of people say at this point where the bread is melted, the tomatoes are in, the broth is in, you're done, you're ready.

But he said you have to really let it simmer for a little bit so that the flavors all blend and the bread really melts.

And you have this lovely, sort of homogenized pappa al pomodoro.

[speaking Italian] Okay, so now we're adding the rest of the basil, so you don't want the basil to become too exaggerated.

So now you add just a little bit more at the end and you can see that it's already becoming really, really creamy, even the crust.

And that's the goal that even the crust becomes creamy.

So that there's no difference between the inside of the bread and the crust of the bread when you bite into pappa al pomodoro.

So he's going to put a little more broth because the bread keeps soaking it up, which of course, would happen.

It's bread.

[speaking Italian] Oh!

He said a grand error that people make when they make pappa al pomodoro they take an immersion blender and mix it instead of letting it melt.

And I said, that's as bad as breaking spaghetti.

So don't do it.

[speaking Italian] So the flame now is really, really low.

You just want a tiny, tiny, tiny little see how it's just a tiny little bit of bubbles.

That's what you want.

So the soup is pretty quick.

In half an hour, it'll be completely ready.

But a low, low, low simmer.

[Italian music plays] [Italian music continues] Sandro, grazie mille!

I loved cooking dinner with my new friend, Alessandro.

So what are you waiting for?

Let's get back to the cutting board, and I'll see you next time on Christina Cooks: The Macroterranean Way.

Underwriting for Christina Cooks is provided by Suzanne's Specialties, offering a full line of alternative vegan and organic sweeteners and toppings.

Suzanne's Specialties: Sweetness, the way Mother Nature intended.

And by Jonathans Spoons individually handcrafted from cherry wood, each designed with your hand and purpose in mind.

Additional funding provided by: You can find today's recipes and learn more by visiting our website at ChristinaCooks.com, and by following @ChristinaCooks on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Learn how to add delicious plant-based dishes to your daily diet with the companion cookbook VegEdibles, featuring more than 80 easy-to-make recipes.

To order your copy for $29.95 plus handling, call 800-266-5815 Or visit ChristinaCooks.com.

Add Back To The Cutting Board and get both books for $49.95 plus handling.