Italian Vegetable Garden. Rosalind Creasy
a rich heritage of vegetables that are at the heart of Italian cuisine. To give you an idea of this vast range of vegetables, as well as the huge selection of Italian varieties unfamiliar to Americans, these are some of her favorites: romanesco broccoli, both the bronze and the chartreuse types; a purple spouting broccoli; ‘Pepperoncini’ peppers for pickling; ‘Roma’ and ‘San Marzano’ tomatoes for sauce; white and green varieties of pattypan squash; black salsify; the peppery arugula; many chicories, including ‘Palla Rossa,’ ‘Castelfranco,’ ‘Treviso,’ and a Catalonian type; three varieties of Italian chard; white and purple eggplant; Italian parsley; yellow and green romano beans; and a type of large vining zucchini that produces long, meaty fruits with almost no seeds.
For many years Vicki used her garden vegetables for everyday eating, as well as for the many visitors at the winery. The vegetables would become part of an antipasto or minestrone or, in many cases, are simply steamed or boiled lightly and served with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. As Vicki said, “When you start with superior vegetables picked at the peak of perfection, they’re very special in themselves.”
Italian Garden Encyclopedia
Famous as Italian cuisine is for its meats and cheeses, it is based first and foremost on its fresh vegetables and fruits, offering tasty options for vegetarian and vegan meals and providing the lion’s share of nutrients and flavor to dishes containing meat. Listed below are some of the most popular Italian vegetables, along with recommended varieties. I give both the Italian and Latin names in case you want to select seeds from an Italian catalog. Fratelli Ingegnoli of Milan (www.ingegnoli.it) has an extensive catalog written in English as well as Italian. Pagano is a wholesale source of Italian seeds distributed by Lake Valley Seed (www.lakevalleyseed.com) in Italian markets throughout the country. I have included a few varieties of vegetables and herbs available only from Ingegnoli and Pagano; the vast majority, however, are available from the American seed companies listed in Resources (page 109). There is much overlap between the gardens and cooking of Italy and France. I have not covered in this book some of the vegetables that are enjoyed in Italy, since they are covered in great detail in my book The Edible French Garden, including mâche, asparagus, melons, sorrel, leeks, and carrots.
Italian cuisine is unadorned. Food is prepared with a minimum of sauces, soufflés and other multi-layered techniques. Its strengths lie in using the very best ingredients, especially fresh, succulent vegetables picked in their prime, presented in a simple manner. A layout (LEFT) of just-harvested zucchinis, complete with their still-open blossoms; ripe tomatoes; fresh ‘Piccolo Verde Fino’ basil; eggplants; and baby leeks could be the spectacular foundation of just such an Italian meal.
ARTICHOKES, GLOBE
(carciofi) Cynara scolymus
Probably no vegetable is more typically Italian than the arti-choke. There are dozens of varieties, and Italians cook these thistle buds in endless ways—far beyond serving them whole and dipping them in butter. Gardeners lucky enough to have many plants can let a few buds develop into massive blue-purple thistles that are extremely showy.
HOW TO GROW: Six plants should be ample for the average family. These large 4-foot-tall (1.2 m) dramatic plants prefer cool, moist summers and mild winters but grow in summer heat if the soil is kept continually moist. Below 28ºF/-2.2ºC they need winter protection, for example, an overturned basket filled with leaves or straw and placed above the roots. In coldest-winter areas artichokes are usually not successful unless the roots are brought inside during the winter and kept moist and cool. In hot, early summers the artichoke buds open too soon and are tough. Artichokes prefer full sun in cool-summer areas and partial shade in hot-summer climates.
Purple and green artichokes
Start plants when they are bare root when possible. Plants are sold in some nurseries when they are dormant, with their roots wrapped in plastic. They are sold in nurseries in mild-winter areas of the West and in mail-order catalogs in the spring. Artichokes can be started by seeds. Sow them indoors eight weeks before your last spring frost date, about ¼ inch (6 mm) deep and ¼ inch (6 mm) apart. The soil temperature should be between 70º and 80ºF/21.1º and 26.7ºC Transplant seedlings to 4-inch (10 cm) pots. Grow at cooler temperatures (60º–70ºF/15.5º–21.1ºC during the day, 50º–60ºF/10º–15.5ºC at night). Transplant them to the garden when they’re six to eight weeks old. (They need at least 250 hours of temperatures under 50ºF/10ºC to induce budding.) Protect them from frost.
Artichokes require rich, constantly moist but well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter. They respond well to deep mulches, compost, and manure. Extra nitrogen should be added halfway through the growing season and after the harvest. The plants need to be dug up and thinned every three or four years.
Aphids, earwigs, and snails are sometimes a problem. In commercial artichoke-growing areas the plume moth is a problem treated with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) applied to the center of the plants when they’re moist.
To harvest artichokes, cut off the young buds about 4–6 inches (10–15 cm) below the bud (the tops of the stems are edible if peeled) before they start to open. The younger the bud, the more tender it is and the more of it is edible. The small lateral buds are also edible and if harvested while young have no choke. An unseasonable frost can brown the outer leaves of artichokes but improves the flavor.
VARIETIES
Many regions of Italy seem to have their own varieties, but few are available to outsiders. The three described below are the only ones readily available in America.
Green Globe: most common variety grown in the United States, large conical shape, hardy throughout most of the coastal West, most available variety sold as bare root plants
Imperial Star: 90–100 days from transplants, thornless, sweet flavor, meaty hearts and almost chokeless, easiest to grow from seed and harvest the first season
Violetto: produces purple medium-size artichokes, cooking more than two minutes turns them green
HOW TO PREPARE: Artichokes are rich and sweet flavored, with a meaty texture, and the flavors stimulate salivation. Elsewhere, the bud is usually served whole, but in Italy young buds are often cut into pieces or pureed.
Most mature and commercial artichokes must have the choke (fuzzy, inedible center) removed. Homegrown ones, however, similar to those available in Italy, can be harvested while still young and be eaten without removing the choke.
To prepare an artichoke, cut the top inch or so off to remove any thorns and the inedible top part of the “leaves.” You can leave 4–6 inches (10–15 cm) of the stem and peel it to remove the tough outer skin. Then with your fingers peel back the outside layer of leaves to where they break readily, revealing yellowish flesh at the base. Open the artichoke; if there is a fuzzy choke at the bottom, scrape it out with a sharp spoon. Immediately rub all cut edges with lemon juice (or soak them in acidulated water until you are ready to serve or cook the artichoke).
Whole artichokes can be stuffed and baked, steamed, or boiled in water with the juice of two lemons. In Rome they are sometimes braised in olive oil, garlic, and mint and served upside down with 4–6 inches (10–15 cm) of stem sticking up in the air. In all cases artichokes are cooked until a knife inserted into the bottom of the choke comes out clean. They can be presented whole, and can be accompanied with plain or flavored olive oil for dipping. To eat a whole artichoke, pull off the outside leaves and use your teeth to scrape