“Travels” in Le Marche

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This is another region that I have not visited, but for which I have a lovely regional cookbook. The food reminds me of Abruzzese cooking, particularly the use of pork and rosemary, which should not be surprising considering that the regions border each other.

I have experiment with a few recipes from the cookbook, including a truly excellent baked, stuffed zucchini recipe. The flavor was elevated by grated lemon zest, something I will confess that I would not have thought to include in a meat, mushroom, and Parmigiano-Reggiano stuffing. In the past when I’ve made stuffed zucchini, I have cut the zucchini the long way and scooped the center, making a boat of sorts. This recipe called for cutting the zucchini in two inch lengths then scooping with a melon baller, which makes for much more reasonably sized pieces.

The braised spare ribs recipe also came out very well. It was similar to cif e ciaf, but with more tomato. The photo was after the meat had cooked to the point that the bones fell out of the ribs, and I had removed the bones.

The recipe that I keep going back to, and that I’ve modified a bit to my own tastes, is white beans with pork. The recipe is technically white beans with salt pork, with an option to use pancetta rather than salt pork. I have been using pancetta and preparing it slightly differently than described in the recipe. I have also been increasing the amount of rosemary steadily with each batch. The recipe in the cookbook calls for one sprig of rosemary. I used eight in my last batch. You can obviously reduce the amount of rosemary to taste, but I like a good strong punch of rosemary flavor. The recipe also calls for boiling the rosemary with the pork, but I have been crisping the pancetta before adding it to the beans and infusing the beans with the rosemary.

Second batch
Most recent batch

As with many good things, this involves olive oil, onions, garlic, pancetta, and tomatoes.

But what really makes this dish is that the beans should be served on toasted crusty bread, then drizzled with an excellent extra virgin olive oil. Beans on toast should not be able to taste as good as this does.

"Travels" in Le Marche
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“Travels” in Le Marche

Course: Appetizers

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried cannellini beans, picked over and rinsed

  • 2-8 rosemary sprigs – to taste

  • 1/4 pound sliced pancetta, finely diced

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

  • 1 small onion, finely chopped

  • 1 clove garlic, minced

  • 2-3 tomatoes from a can of plum tomatoes, drained, seeded, and finely chopped

  • Crusty bread, toasted

  • Ground black pepper

Directions

  • Cover beans with water, bring to boil, boil 1 minute then remove from heat and let sit for one hour. Beans could also be soaked overnight instead of this quick soak method.
  • Drain soaking water from beans. Place beans in a medium pan, cover with water about an inch above the beans, add the rosemary sprigs, and bring to simmer. Simmer for about 1 hour with the rosemary.
  • While beans are simmering, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in medium skillet. Add the finely diced pancetta, and cook until pancetta is crispy. Add the onions, and cook until the onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook jut until garlic begins to give off aroma. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes more until tomatoes are soft.
  • Remove the rosemary sprigs from the beans. Add the pork and onion mixture to the bean water. Bring to a simmer and simmer partially covered for about 30 minutes to an hour, until the beans are very tender and the liquid has reduced.
  • Serve drizzled with olive oil and topped with crushed black pepper with or on crusty toasted bread.