Recipe for a Celebration: a man, a birthday, a book, a dinner.

Sometimes a recipe isn't a lot of stuff from the grocery store. Sometimes the ingredients can be elements brought together to create an experience, an event, precious memories. What's on the menu can be the company of great friends, warm conversation, a candlelit room strewn with holiday leftovers that refuse to be boxed up before Groundhog's Day. Each course can be a dream of a life to be shared with friends, lovers, family, children, neighbors. A hope for peace and happiness for all beings, a meditation on a meaningful, passionate life. And of course there can be food!

A few weeks back, I picked up a used book written by Marlena deBlasi who has written about her experiences living and cooking her way through all of Italy, the places she's lived, the people she's met (and married). This one was called The Lady in the Palazzo about buying an old house in Orvieto, Umbria, the main room of which used to be the ballroom of a much bigger place (i.e. palazzo). It took over two years to move in, at which point she threw a big dinner party for her neighbors, clients and friends. The menu consisted of a number of dishes that she felt were in keeping with that particular region and could be obtained in that season (midwinter). Since the recipes are included in the back of the book, I was tempted to try to recreate at least some of the meal for my friend Larry's upcoming birthday dinner party.

A visit to the Fancy Food Show in SF presented an opportunity to sample artisan cheeses from several renowned cheese making regions in Italy. I absolutely fell in love with one family's wares from a tiny town in Abruzzo (east of Rome). They served samples of pecorino and smoked ricotta to us paired with local honey - chestnut, sunflower and wildflower among others. Out of this world. Magically, FedEx delivered a small sampler packet to my door in time to include them in the feast! Thank you Andy! www.marcelliformaggi.com

We had some vegans on the guest list, so I wanted to make an alternate dish for them. Even though the recipe wasn't "in the book" or even necessarily "regional" I went for a hearty minestrone. Everybody had some. It proved to be the perfect medium for dunkable foccacia. You can refer to Marlena's book to try some of her creations. Olivada, Walnut Focaccia, Roasted Chestnut Polenta, Brown Sugar Gelato were our favorites. I'm including my minestrone here for you to add to your repertoire of winter soups. Truth be told, I like a "cooked down" version of this soup. It brings back the feeling of canned minestrone, though it's much fresher and tastier! I love when the noodles are soft and the once hard, dry beans melt in your mouth. Leave the greens to add nearer the end if you prefer.

Memorable Minestrone

Ingredients

3 T. olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1/4 tsp. chili flakes

1/2 C. each dried kidney, cannellini, borlotti, chickpeas and lentils - soak together in a bowl overnight. Or use 1/2 can of each type of bean added later in recipe.

6" kombu seaweed (cooking with the beans can reduce intestinal gas)

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 large potato, scrubbed, unpeeled and diced into 1/2 " cubes

1/2 small cauliflower, cut into small florets

3 celery stalks, finely diced

1 bunch Italian parsley, leaves only

1/2 bunch Swiss chard, stalks finely sliced, leaves chopped and reserved

2# ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped if in season. Or use

2 - 14 oz. cans diced Italian tomatoes

5 quarts water. Can substitute 1 quart stock and 1 cup red wine.

1/3# pasta (about 1" lengths) I used "strozzapretti" from AG Ferrari Foods

Or try a gluten free (rice, buckwheat, quinoa) pasta if desired.

1/2# broccoli, cut into small florets

1 medium zucchini,cut into 1/2" cubes

1/2# shelled peas, fresh or frozen

salt and freshly ground black pepper

grated grana padano to serve

Directions

If using soaked beans, bring 10 cups cold water to a boil in your stew pot or large dutch oven or casserole. Add a grind of coarse grained salt and kombu. Drain soaked beans, rinse under cold running water and add to the pot of boiling water. Simmer half uncovered, until cooked but still firm, 45 minutes - 1 1/2 hours, depending on the dryness of the beans. Stir occasionally.

When beans are ready, drain, saving cooking liquid. Discard kombu. Put beans in crockery pot or glass bowl and cover.

Meanwhile, prepare vegetables. Heat oil in pot and add onion, garlic and chili flakes. Sauté until beginning to sweat. Add carrot, potato, cauliflower, celery, Swiss chard stalks and parsley and sauté 5 more minutes. Add tomatoes, water and/or stock, wine, cooking liquid from the beans, a grind of salt and pepper and simmer uncovered for 1/2 hour.

Add beans, cooked pasta, chard leaves, broccoli, zucchini and peas and cook for 5 more minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper again. Serve with shaved or grated grana padano.

Buon appetito!