Cooking On Pennies V: Gennaro's Cucina - by Gennaro Contaldo 🌞

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Last edited Thu Oct 2, 2025, 01:08 PM - Edit history (1)

TIBALLO DI RISO
Risotto bake

Risotto is a typical staple of northern Italy. However, Timballo di Riso, also
known as Sartù, is a traditional Neapolitan dish that dates back to the
1700s. At this time, rice was considered a poor and insipid food and so the
Neapolitan royal cooks set out to enrich it by adding meat, cheese and
vegetables and creating a substantial baked dish to satisfy the king. It
worked and, over time, it has become a great recipe to use up leftovers –
ragù, vegetables, cheese, ham, cured meats, and anything else you like.
And even leftover risotto rice can be used – simply mix with a béchamel
or tomato sauce and some grated cheese and bake.

This is my version of a Sartù Napoletano, but, you can use pretty much
any ingredients you like. You can bake it in an ovenproof dish or, if you
dare, try a cake tin so you can serve it like a cake. However, if you do this,
ensure you have a loose-bottomed tin and grease it well. Be warned, this is
a very substantial meal. Buon Appetito!

Serves 4–6

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ celery stick, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped
200g (7oz) beef mince
2 tbsp (30ml/1fl oz) white wine
1 x 400g (14oz) can chopped tomatoes, blended until smooth, or use 400g
(14oz) tomato passata
250g (9oz) risotto rice
approx. 780ml (27fl oz) hot vegetable stock100g (3½oz) frozen peas
25g (1oz) butter, plus extra for greasing and dotting
35g (1¼oz) grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp dried breadcrumbs, plus extra for coating
1 x 125g/4½oz ball of mozzarella cheese, drained and roughly chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
For the béchamel sauce
20g (¾oz) butter
20g (¾oz) plain flour
250ml (generous 1 cup) milk
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onion, celery and carrot and
sweat over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the
beef mince and cook until well sealed, about 7 minutes. Add the white
wine and cook until it has evaporated. Add the tomatoes or tomato
passata, cover with a lid, then reduce the heat and cook for 40 minutes.

Stir in the rice, add a ladleful of hot stock and cook over a medium heat,
stirring with a wooden spoon, until the liquid has been absorbed.
Continue adding the hot stock like this, a ladleful at a time, cooking and
stirring for about 17 minutes until the risotto is cooked to al dente and all
the stock has been absorbed. About 5 minutes before the end of the
cooking time, stir in the peas. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter
and half of the grated Parmesan. Leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas mark 6. (400° F)

Grease a deep 26cm (10½in.) spherical cake tin (approximately 21cm in
diameter) or a similar ovenproof dish with some butter, then sprinkle with
the breadcrumbs to coat, tapping out the excess.

While the oven is heating, make the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a
small saucepan, remove from the heat and whisk in the flour, then
gradually whisk in the milk. Return the pan to a medium heat and cook
until the sauce thickens slightly, stirring continuously. Remove from the
heat and season with a little salt and pepper.

Stir the mozzarella, egg and half of the béchamel sauce into the risotto
mixture.

Pour the risotto mixture evenly into the prepared cake tin or ovenproof
dish and top with the remaining béchamel sauce. Combine the remaining
1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs with the remaining grated Parmesan,
sprinkle over the top of the sauce and dot with butter.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until the rice and potatoes are cooked and
a nice golden crust has formed on the top. Remove from the oven, leave to
rest for about 5 minutes, then serve.


From "Gennaro's Cucina: Hearty Money-Saving Meals from an Italian Kitchen"
by Gennaro Contaldo

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67353150-gennaro-s-cucina



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CALZAGATTI
Polenta and beans

This traditional rural dish from Modena in Emilia Romagna has a funny
story about how it came to have the name Calzagatti. A lady was making
polenta and beans separately, and while bringing both to the table, she
tripped over the cat and, as a result, the beans fell into the polenta. I really
don’t know how true this is, but polenta and beans make a very nutritious
dish. I used dried beans, but you can also use the canned variety. This dish
can be cooked and served in three different ways – as a gooey polenta, or
in slices that can either be fried or grilled. All three are delicious, but my
favourite has to be the fried slices.

Serves 4

200g (7oz) dried borlotti beans, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water, or use
2 x 400g (14oz) cans borlotti beans
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus (optional) extra for frying
2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed and left whole
60g (2¼oz) pancetta, cubed
2 small rosemary sprigs
800ml (28fl oz) reserved cooking bean water (or plain water mixed with
the liquid from the cans of beans, if using canned beans)
200g (7oz) quick-cook polenta
20g (¾oz) grated Parmesan cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper,

Drain and rinse the soaked borlotti beans, then place in a saucepan with
plenty of fresh cold water. Bring to the boil and cook until tender, about 40
minutes – check the cooking time on your bean packet. Drain, reserving
the cooking water. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the garlic and sweat over a medium
heat for a minute or so, then add the pancetta and stir-fry over a medium
heat until the pancetta is golden, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the cooked (or canned) beans and the rosemary sprigs, add a little
salt and pepper to taste and cook for a few minutes until heated through.
Remove from the heat and discard the garlic cloves. Set aside.

To make the polenta, pour the (measured) bean water (or measured plain
water combined with the bean liquid, if using canned beans) into a
saucepan and bring to the boil, then gradually whisk in the polenta, mixing
well to prevent lumps forming. Cook, stirring, for about 3–5 minutes or
according to the timing given on the packet. Remove the pan from the
heat, then stir in the grated Parmesan and the bean mixture (discard the
rosemary stalks).

You can now eat it as it is, or pour the mixture into a 2 litre (3½ pint) loaf
tin lined with clingfilm and leave to cool and set for about an hour or until
required. Once set, tip the polenta out of the loaf tin and cut into 2.5cm
(1in.) slices. You can either fry the slices in a little olive oil in a frying pan
over a high heat for about 2 minutes on each side, or preheat the grill to
high and grill the slices for a couple of minutes on each side until golden
brown and nice and crispy. Serve hot.


From From "Gennaro's Cucina: Hearty Money-Saving Meals from an Italian Kitchen"
by Gennaro Contaldo

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67353150-gennaro-s-cucina


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GNOCCHI ALLA ROMANA
Baked semolina gnocchi

This traditional rustic Roman dish pre-dates the classic potato gnocchi
and comes from a time when potatoes were not yet introduced in Italy and
semolina was used to make dumplings like these. Made with a few simple
but nutritious ingredients, it is popular all over Italy, and with all its
buttery and cheesy goodness, it makes a delicious and satisfying main
course, which I’m sure will become a family favourite. You can prepare the
dough and assemble it in advance, store in the fridge and bake when
required. For a more formal meal, use individual ovenproof dishes that
you can serve at the table.

Serves 4–6

1 litre (1¾ pints) milk
80g (3oz) butter, plus extra for greasing
7g (⅛oz) sea salt
pinch of grated nutmeg
250g (9oz) semolina
2 egg yolks
100g (3½oz) grated Parmesan cheese
40g (1½oz) grated pecorino cheese

Place the milk, 30g (1oz) of the butter, the salt and nutmeg in a non-stick
saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Gradually whisk in the
semolina until it’s all well incorporated and there are no lumps, then
continue to beat with a wooden spoon and cook over a low heat for about
5 minutes, until the mixture is thick and begins to pull away from the sides
of the pan. Remove from the heat, then stir in the egg yolks and grated
Parmesan. Place a large sheet of baking paper on a work surface, pour the mixture
onto it and spread it out to about 1cm (½in.) thick using a wet spatula.

Leave to cool and set.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas mark 6. (400° F) Grease an ovenproof
dish with butter.

Using a 5cm (2in.) round pastry cutter, cut out round discs of the cooled
semolina mixture. Arrange the semolina discs in a single layer in the
prepared ovenproof dish, so they are slightly overlapping. Melt the
remaining butter, then pour it over the gnocchi and sprinkle with the
grated pecorino.

Bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven
and serve immediately.


From "Gennaro's Cucina: Hearty Money-Saving Meals from an Italian Kitchen"
by Gennaro Contaldo

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67353150-gennaro-s-cucina


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RIBOLLITA
Tuscan bean and bread soup

This traditional hearty Tuscan soup is perfect for using up vegetables and
stale bread. It was born out of a necessity to make meals go further and
last longer, hence the addition of bread. It was probably also made to be
eaten for several days, hence its name Ribollita, which literally means ‘to
reboil’, as the soup is kept and cooked again for the next meal. However, as
with all cucina povera dishes, the trick of adding bread to the soup and
leaving it to soak gives this dish extra depth and flavour, making it not only
wholesome but super tasty.

You can use any type of cabbage, spring greens and spinach and basically
any vegetables you have lying around. I have made this version in the
traditional way; using dried beans and blending half of the beans with the
stock, thereby resulting in a very thick soup, which you can eat with a fork!
It does take a little time and planning to prepare, but is so worth it, plus
you can make it in advance and keep it in the fridge to reheat for at least a
couple of meals.

Serves 4–6

300g (10½oz) dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight in
plenty of cold water
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 garlic clove, lightly crushed and left whole
1 rosemary sprig
1.7 litres (3 pints) vegetable stock, plus extra if necessary
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped200g (7oz) ripe plum tomatoes, peeled and deseeded, or use canned
tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 large potato, chopped into small cubes
200g (7oz) cabbage, roughly chopped
200g (7oz) cavolo nero, roughly chopped
200g (7oz) Swiss chard, roughly chopped
200g (7oz) stale bread, cut into slices
dried chilli flakes, to serve

Drain and rinse the soaked cannellini beans. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil
in a large saucepan and sweat the garlic and rosemary over a medium heat
for about a minute. Stir in the beans, add the stock, bring to the boil, then
reduce the heat and cook, partially covered, for about 50 minutes or until
the beans are cooked and tender. Check the cooking instructions on your
bean packet.

When the beans are cooked, remove the pan from the heat and, with a
slotted spoon, take out about half the beans and set them aside. When the
rest of the beans and stock are cool, discard the rosemary stalk and then
blend the mixture until smooth, using a handheld stick blender. Set aside.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a separate large saucepan,
add the onion, celery and carrot and sweat over a medium heat for about 3
minutes until softened. Stir in the tomatoes and potato and continue to
cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in the cabbage, cavolo nero and Swiss
chard and cook for a minute or so until all the leaves wilt a bit. Add the
blended bean mixture, cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for about
45 minutes until, the cavolo nero is cooked. Add a little more water or
stock, if necessary. Stir in the reserved whole cooked beans and then
remove the pan from the heat.

Take a large bowl, line it with a couple of bread slices and top with
ladlefuls of the thick soup mixture, then continue making layers like this
until you have used all the bread, finishing up with the remaining soup
mixture. Cover with clingfilm and leave to cool, then place in the fridge for
a few hours, ideally overnight, so all the flavours infuse and the bread
soaks up the soup.When you are ready to serve, tip all the contents into
a large saucepan and gently heat through. Divide between individual bowls
and serve with a sprinkling of chilli flakes and a drizzle of olive oil.


From "Gennaro's Cucina: Hearty Money-Saving Meals from an Italian Kitchen"
by Gennaro Contaldo

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67353150-gennaro-s-cucina


Gennaro will feed you gloriously while saving you money!