‘Italy: The World Vegetarian’ cookbook: Recipes from Farro soup to mushroom gnocchi

These meat-free dishes from the Mediterranean nation are timeless and delicious every time, says Christine Smallwood

(Mike Cooper)

Spicy Farro Soup

I first ate this soup in the town of Orvieto, Umbria, on a damp, wintry day. A big, spicy bowlful, a glass of Sagrantino and some eavesdropping on a heated political discussion at a neighbouring table set us up for a bracing walk around the city and its renowned cathedral. Reliably warming and nourishing when the weather is cold and blustery, this soup is now one I cook regularly.

Soaking the farro for four hours is not essential, but it does reduce the cooking time. If you don’t eat this all in one go, the farro continues to absorb the liquid so that it thickens and becomes almost risotto-like.

Serves 4-6

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve

½ onion, chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped

200g semi-pearled farro, soaked in cold water for 4 hours

1l hot vegetable stock or water

1 x 400g can of chopped tomatoes

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. When hot, add the onion and chilli and fry, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until softened.

Drain the farro and add this to the pan. Stir to combine. Add half the hot stock or water, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes, until the farro has softened somewhat.

Reheat the remaining stock or water and add it to the pan with the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for a further 20 minutes, until the farro is tender. (Note that farro absorbs a lot of liquid so you may need to add extra hot water from time to time if the soup starts to thicken too much.)

Serve the soup very hot, drizzled generously with extra-virgin olive oil.  

Beetroot risotto with Jerusalem artichokes

Cesare Battisti serves this beautifully coloured dish at his restaurant, Ratan, in Milan. He’s such an acclaimed risotto maker that he was named the Rice Ambassador for Milan’s Expo 2015. In a region where rice is revered, that is recognition to be taken seriously.

For the mantecatura (the end of the risotto making when butter, and cheese if appropriate, is beaten into the rice with a wooden spoon to make it creamy), Cesare uses top-quality mountain butter and 24-month matured Lodigiano cheese. Use the best butter you can – although you may wish to use less than suggested here – and note that it does cool down the rice quite rapidly, so be ready to serve straight away.

Serves 4

2 large beetroots

about 1l vegetable stock

3 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for frying the Jerusalem artichokes

1 small onion, halved

240g carnaroli rice

2 Jerusalem artichokes, washed and thinly sliced with a mandolin

80g butter

60g vegetarian Italian hard cheese, grated

a handful of cress

Cook the beetroots in lightly salted simmering water for 2 hours, until tender. Leave to cool in the water, then peel them and puree them in a blender. Set aside. (While the beetroots are cooking is a good time to make your vegetable stock)

Put your stock in a pan, heat it through and keep it gently simmering on a medium-low heat. Place the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat and when hot, add the onion and the rice. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring. Remove the onion when it browns. When the rice becomes translucent, start adding the hot vegetable stock, one small ladleful at a time, stirring the rice continuously as you do so and adding the next ladleful after the previous one has been absorbed. After 10 minutes, add the warmed beetroot puree and continue cooking the rice, adding the stock a ladleful at a time, and stirring until it is tender with the amount of bite that you like. Shortly before it is ready, prepare the artichokes.  

In a frying pan, fry the Jerusalem artichoke slices in olive oil to give golden crisps. Set them aside to drain on kitchen paper.  

Remove the rice pan from the heat; stir in the butter, then the cheese. Arrange the risotto on 4 plates and decorate with the artichoke crisps and a few snips of the cress. Serve immediately.  

Tip

The vegetable stock needed for this recipe is easy to make. Add the following to a pan with 1.5 litres of water, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 hour, season and strain: 1 carrot, peeled and quartered; 1 celery stick, quartered; 1 small onion, quartered; 1 leek, quartered; 1 bay leaf; 1 tomato, quartered.

Mushroom-filled potato gnocchi

Gnocchi stuffed with minced meat are found in various regions of Italy, and the idea works well with mushrooms. I use Desiree potatoes, as they hold together well without the need for too much flour (which can make gnocchi claggy and unpleasant). Chop your mushrooms very finely as this will make the parcels easier to form, and make sure your filling is as dry as possible to prevent them becoming soggy (the drained mushroom liquid adds great flavour to the melted butter).

Serves 2-4

For the mushroom filling

2 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil

180g mixed mushrooms, very finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

a small handful of thyme leaves

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the gnocchi

450g potatoes (such as Désirée), peeled and cut into pieces

85g plain flour

a splash of extra-virgin olive oil

120g butter

a handful of sage leaves

First, make the filling. Heat the oil in a pan over a low heat. Add the mushrooms, garlic and thyme, season to taste with salt and pepper and cook for 4-5 minutes, until the mushrooms are browned and have released their liquid. Tip them into a sieve set over a bowl to drain and leave to cool. Reserve the liquid.

Meanwhile, make the gnocchi. Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain them thoroughly, then pass through a potato ricer, or mash them until they are smooth and creamy with no lumps. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour into the warm potatoes. Tip out the mixture onto a very lightly floured surface (you want to add as little extra flour as possible) and knead together to form a dough. Roll out to about 4mm thick with a rolling pin, and using an 8cm pastry cutter or the equivalent rim of a glass, cut out discs, re-rolling the dough when necessary. You should have about 20.

Place a small amount of the mushroom mixture onto each disc and then gather up the edges over the filling and press together to form balls.  

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the gnocchi a few at a time and leave for 4-6 minutes, until you have cooked out the flour and they are heated through (they will rise to the surface when ready, but the boiling water can throw them around making it hard to tell). Remove them gently one by one, with a slotted spoon, and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.

Heat the splash of oil in a non-stick pan over a medium heat. Add the drained gnocchi and cook in batches for 3-4 minutes, turning very gently until browned on all sides.  

In a separate pan melt the butter (let it caramelise slightly) with the sage leaves and add the reserved mushroom liquid to form a sauce.  

Divide the gnocchi equally between 4 plates. Spoon over the flavoured sauce and sage leaves and serve immediately.

‘Italy: The World Vegetarian’ by Christine Smallwood (Bloomsbury Absolute, £20) is out now. Photography by Mike Cooper