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Italian Feasting Recipes
Bollito Misto (Plus Salsa Verde and Lesso Rifatto)

By Judy Witts Francini, Divina Cucina

In Italy, when one thinks of holidays, food come to mind immediately. Each region has its own special recipes to celebrate the seasons.

Easter brings fresh sheep’s cheese and summer grilling brings young lamb, Fall is the season of porcini mushrooms and wild game, and winter is a celebration of soups, stews and slow-cooked dinners – the grandest of them being bollito misto.

My husband, Andrea, is the happiest when I make bollito misto for the holidays – a dish that keeps on giving. I like to make it the day before the meal. We begin our meal with chicken liver crostini, serve tortellini in the brodo (broth) from the bollito misto as the first course, and serve the boiled meats for the main course, along with the vegetables that were cooked in the broth.

The best parts of bollito misto are the sauces on the side. Traditionally, olive oil and salt are the base, then salsa verde, mostarda di Cremona (candied mustard fruits), and perhaps mayonnaise or mustard. A side of giardiniera (pickled Italian vegetables) is good, too.

My favorite dishes are made with leftover bollito misto. I love lesso rifatto, where the beef is stewed with a large amount of red onions in red wine.

The recipes below for these dishes create true comfort food that you can reheat and enjoy for days. With the lesso, I usually freeze any leftover broth in small serving sizes so that I can quickly reheat some whenever I want.

Bollito Misto

• 2-1/2 pounds beef (muscle, tongue, etc., for boiling)
• 2 beef bones
• 1 onion, peeled and left whole
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch lengths
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 tomato
• Parsley
• Sea salt to taste, about 2 tablespoons
• One-half capon or boiling chicken, optional

Place all the ingredients in a large soup pot, and cover with water. Bring to a slow boil, covered for 1 hour. Skim the surface. Add the chicken and cook for another hour. Control the beef to see if it is cooked. It should be very tender; the skin will easily come off the tongue. (I like to make this the night before so I can remove any excess fat from the broth.)

Remove the beef and vegetables from the broth. Throw away the tomato, parsley and beef bones. Strain the broth and replace the beef in the broth. Refrigerate overnight. Remove the solidified fat from the broth the next day. Reheat all together.

To serve, remove enough broth for the soup. Heat the tortellini in broth and serve with grated Parmesan cheese. Serve the beef already cut and arranged on a serving plate.

Salsa Verde

• 1 cup Italian parsley, leaves only
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 anchovy filet
• Red wine vinegar, to taste
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 slice white bread

Finely chop the parsley, capers, garlic, and anchovy, using a sharp knife. Put the mixture into a serving bowl and add olive oil and red wine vinegar. Adjust seasonings. Remove the crust from the slice of bread, and soak the bread in red wine vinegar. Then crumble the bread into sauce. (This is the poor man's technique; the bread looks like pine nuts in the sauce. Instead you can add some chopped pine nuts.)

I love salsa verde on hot green beans and boiled potatoes. I also make an appetizer by removing the yolks from hardboiled eggs and blending them with the sauce. Refill the eggs and refrigerate before serving.

Lesso Rifatto

• 1 pound leftover boiled meat, chopped into small cubes
• 1-1/2 pounds red onions, finely sliced
• 2 cups stewed tomatoes, or red wine
• Olive oil
• Salt

Sauté the onions in olive oil; when golden, add tomatoes or red wine. Season to taste with salt. Bring to a boil and let cook for 10 minutes. Add the leftover beef and cook covered for an additional 20 minutes. To make this even richer, add some cubed raw potatoes to the pan with the onions.