La Vellutata del Recupero: A Delicious Approach to Reduce Food Waste
24 Nov 2020
We received a story of resilience and community from the Italian Cooks’ Alliance Network. A story of respect for food, its origins, and the best way to use every bit of each ingredient to feed the soul. From the medieval village of Pianetto di Galeata, the story of La Campanara is one to bring joy and hope.
The Beginnings
Fifteen years ago, in the area between Romagna and Tuscany, a surveyor and a teacher fall in love with a ruined building abandoned for fifty years in the splendid setting of the medieval village of Pianetto di Galeata (FC). Since that day it has been a gallop toward the recovery, first of the buildings of the tavern, former rectory of the 16th century, then of the adjacent 1494 Inn and the traditional cuisine.
Alessandra and Roberto followed their hearts, first abandoning their main professions, then embracing the love for their territory and supporting the most virtuous small local producers.
They used the products of the Slow Food Presidia in the whole of Italy in order to create a network that simultaneously supported the tavern while giving dignity to the producers, in a common effort to bypass the large multinationals for the benefit of those who put their heart into work every day.
They, then, joined the Cooks’ Alliance, aligning with Slow Food’s mission. This has marked their lives and has also traced the main path that allows them to continue without thinking twice about their place in the local food system, even through these difficult times. They have collaborated throughout the years, solidifying their commitment and realizing the leap they took fifteen years ago is their contribution to the world of catering and hospitality; a world too often misleading of the real purpose of food. Sharing the same values led to a collaboration and friendship with Carlo Catani, creator of the cultural association Tempi di Recupero.
For years, in fact, Osteria La Campanara has participated in the association’s events dedicated to the recovery of food in the kitchen. Today Alessandra, Roberto, and all their passionate collaborators welcome you in their kitchen made of non-trivial simplicity.
La Vellutata del Recupero (The Cream of Recovery)
by Alessandra Bazzocchi of Osteria La Campanara
To make our famous “Giardiniera in oil” we use the noblest parts of fresh vegetables. However, we don’t throw anything away! With all the so-called “waste” of the vegetables, we prepare a delicious soup that honors the fifth vegetable. And this is how the carrot peels, the leathery parts of the fennel, the cores of the cauliflower, and the bottom of the celery become the protagonists!
Ingredients
Leaves, peels, vegetable cores
Extra virgin olive oil
1 leek (Reserve a portion for garnish)
Coarse salt and black pepper
Stale bread (for croutons)
Instructions
- Fry one leek in plenty of extra virgin olive oil, and keep a small part to fry later and use as a final garnish.
- Coarsely chop the vegetable craps and add them to the leek that is frying. Use everything you have, for example, the celery base and its fragrant leaves, the external and leathery parts of the fennel and its leaves, the skin of the carrots, the ribs, and the cores of the cauliflower.
- Add water and leave to simmer for a long time until the vegetables are soft. While cooking, add Cervia coarse salt and, when the vegetables are cooked, blend to obtain the cream.
- Serve the soup enriching it with fried leek sticks, croutons, and a grind of pepper.
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