BROCCOLI PURÉE WITH CROUTONS AND WALNUTS crema di broccoli con pane croccante e noci Preparation time: 20 minutes + 45 minutes cooking time
4 Servings
Method
1 lb. (500 g) broccoli, cut into florets, plus more florets for garnish, if desired 1 1/3 lbs. (600 g) potatoes (about 3 medium), peeled and diced 3 1/2 oz. (100 g) onions (about 1 1/2 small), sliced 6 1/3 cups (1 1/2 l) water Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 2 oz. (60 g) day-old bread, diced (about 1 3/4 cups) 2 tsp. (10 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for baking sheet 4 walnuts, cut into pieces
Put the vegetables in a saucepan with the 6 1/3 cups (1 1/2 l) of water and boil them, then purée them when they’re done. Dilute the purée with a bit of water if necessary and season with salt and pepper to taste. Dice the bread and toast it in a nonstick pan with a bit of oil. Garnish each serving with the croutons, a broccoli floret, and a few walnut pieces. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
Did you know that... In the past, food was often a sign of individual identity and social belonging, and in some ways it still is. During the Middle Ages, the ecclesiastical category clearly demonstrated a person’s alterity in comparison to others (through clothing and lifestyle). A monk’s choice to follow a spiritual path, mortifying his body and denying himself all sensual pleasures, was even manifested in food. And medical and scientific theories at the time held that certain foods could induce temptation and incite inappropriate behavior in men of the church. So vegetable soups, which were often made with vegetables grown in the monastery gardens by the monks themselves, became a fundamental meal in the cloistral life. While the powerful flaunted their social status through food (abundant, rare, and original), farmers and the general population were left to a poor and simple diet without any choice in the matter. And in the middle, as far away and different from one end as the other, were the men and women of the church who renounced food as a sign of devotion. In short, as food historian Massimo Montanari emphasized, “even hunger became a luxury item” in the Middle Ages.
Difficulty 42