Meatless Monday with Ciambotta Vegetable Stew and Farinata with Herbs and Onions

Hello and welcome (back) to the Miratel blog for another flavour filled installment of our Meatless Monday series. The Meatless Monday pledge aims to reduce meat consumption 15% by eliminating it one day per week to preserve the health of our planet. We at Miratel support this great initiative and include it as part of its CSR business strategies and we share a new recipe each Monday to help make going meat-free easier.

Tonight we’re taking advantage of the changing weather and enjoying a hearty and warming Ciambotta which is a Southern Italian vegetable stew. This stew takes advantage of local and seasonal produce so feel free to adjust the vegetables based on what’s available. We are serving this with a farinata with herbs and onions which is an easy to make Italian chickpea flatbread. Our Ciambotta recipe is from the Michele Scicolone website and the farinata recipe is from Easy-Italian Recipes.

Ciambotta image courtesy of michelescicolone.com

Ciambotta Ingredients (serves 4-6)

• 1 medium onion
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 plum tomatoes
• 2 potatoes, peeled
• 1 medium eggplant
• 1 medium red pepper
• 1 medium yellow pepper
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil or freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or pecorino romano

Directions

1. Trim the vegetables and cut them into bite size pieces. In a large skillet, cook the onion in the oil over medium low heat until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and peppers. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are tender and most of the liquid is evaporated, about 40 minutes. If the mixture becomes too dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water. If there is too much liquid, uncover and cook 5 minutes more.
3. Serve warm or at room temperature plain, or drizzled with olive oil, or sprinkled with basil or cheese.

Farinata with herbs and onions ingredients (4 servings)

• 1 cup (4 oz/125 g) chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour
• Sea salt and coarsely ground pepper
• 1/3 cup (3 fl oz/80 ml) olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing the pan
• 1/2 yellow onion, very thinly sliced crosswise
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage or rosemary

Farinata image courtesy of easyitalian-recipes.com

Directions

1. In a bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, 192 cups (12 fl oz/375 ml) water, 2 teaspoons salt, and the 1/3 cup olive oil until smooth. The batter should be fairly thin. Cover and let stand at room temperature for at least 4 hours, or refrigerate for up to overnight.
2. Bring 2 cups (16 fl oz/500 ml) water to a boil. Place the onion slices in a fine-mesh sieve in the sink. Pour the boiling water over the onions, then rinse the onions with cold water to remove their bitter sharpness.
3. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 400°F (200°C). Once the oven is preheated, place a 9-inch (23-cm) cast iron pan in the oven to heat about 5 minutes before baking the farinata.
4. While the pan is heating, add half of the sage to the batter and stir to mix. Squeeze any excess water from the onions. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, swirling to coat the bottom evenly.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and scatter the onions and the remaining sage evenly over the top. Bake until the farinata is cooked through and the edges are crisp and browned, about 2 minutes.
6. Carefully slide the farinata out of the pan onto a serving plate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, cut into wedges, and serve at once.

Ciambotta can be served hot or at room temperature and, as is the case with most stews, it is better the next day. This is a hearty and filling meal that remains healthy and gluten-free.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the Meatless Monday pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work to promote CSR business initiatives and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant or salon even greener.

Buon appetito!

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.