Sauces

Salsa Verde

Green sauce is traditionally served with bollito misto but it goes very well with the lombardy tarts as well. This version is based on a modern recipe, but recipes for similar green sauces to be served with meats with a variety of spicings can be found in a variety of 14th-16th century Italian, Dutch, French, Danish and Hungarian cookbooks. Here is an example from Libre per il Cuoco.

Parsley is the most common green herb, but is sometimes mixed with mint or basil. The sauces are also sometimes thickened with either hard-boiled eggs or bread crumbs. The liquids in the recipes vary from wine, vinegar, verjuice or honey to olive. Spicing might include cloves, cinnamon, pepper, ginger… all the fine spices.

Ingredients

  • parsley (specifically italian/flat leaf NOT curly leaf) ~2 bunches (2 cups chopped and packed)
  • anchovy paste 1 tsp
  • extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup
  • white wine vinegar 3 Tbsp
  • lemon juice 2 Tbsp
  • salt 1 tsp
  • garlic cloves 3 cloves
  • capers 5 capers

Steps

  1. remove parsley from stems
  2. rough chop parsley
  3. Add parsley, EVOO, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, capers to food processor and blend
  4. Add smaller amount of anchovy, salt, pepper to food processor and blend
  5. Taste and add additional anchovy, salt or pepper as needed
  6. Refrigerate and it will stay good for weeks.

Mostardi di Frutta

This fruit chutney currently is one of the traditional accompaniments to bollito misto. The method of preserving fruit goes back to preserving it in honey. There’s a good write up of the history of mostarda here.

Ingredients

  • Apricots (dried) 4 oz
  • Cherries (dried) 2 oz
  • Crystallized ginger .75 oz
  • Shallots 2 shallots / 3 oz
  • Dijon Mustard 1 tsp
  • White wine vinegar 3 tbsp
  • Dry white wine 1/2 cup (we used Cavot pinot grigio)
  • Butter 1 tbsp
  • Sugar 3 tbsp
  • water 3 tbsp
  • mustard powder 1 tsp

Steps

  1. dice apricots, cherries, crystallized ginger, shallots
  2. add diced apricots, cherries, crystallized ginger, shallots, white wine, white vinegar, water, and sugar to saucepan
  3. bring to a boil
  4. cover and cook on medium for 10 mintes
  5. add mustard, mustard powder, butter and stir in
  6. simmer with lid off for 5 minutes