POLLO ALLA MANTOVANA

This is in honour of my visit to Mantova but I admit I've taken some liberties with it:  firstly, you are supposed to make the recipe with rabbit but as I couldn't get any, I used boneless, skinless chicken breast [ask for one if you are in Italy but two if you are in the UK].  Secondly, I used balsamic vinegar although the recipe does not specify this.  I did not, however, halve the amount of garlic cloves - ten - although I was using half the quantity of meat.  You can use less garlic if you want to but I was pleasantly surprised by the subtlety of the flavour.

OK, here we go:  Cut the chicken breasts into fairly large pieces and marinate for about an hour in a wine glass of balsamic vinegar and about a quarter a glass of water.  Meanwhile, pound ten peeled garlic cloves with 2 - 3 sprigs of rosemary in a mortar.  Drain the chicken [no need to be too thorough about it] and put it in a wide, fairly deep pan with 4 tablesp olive oil plus seasalt and black pepper to taste.  Spread the rosemary and garlic mixture over. Cook the chicken on all sides for about 5 minutes, stirring, then turn the heat down, cover the pan and let the chicken cook for about an hour, turning it now and then.  Chuck in a glass of white wine and let it evaporate.

You can serve the dish with "the gold of the north" -  polenta -  to soak up the juices, with rice or just salad.

POLENTA WITH BEANS

It's getting colder outside now so one evening recently I decided to turn to the comfort food that is the "gold" of Northern Italy, polenta.  This is another recipe which I've adapted from the Conad chain's November Bene Insieme magazine. The recipe uses dried beans but, as I don't care for them, I used fresh, green ones:

First blanch or microwave 200 gr fresh, green beans, cut into pieces, until just tender.  Set aside while you cook around 100 gr chopped lardo [Italian white bacon] a chopped onion, 2 chopped cloves of garlic and a handful of chopped parsley in 2 tablesp olive oil.  When the onion becomes transparent, add a can of chopped tomatoes and the beans and mix everything well. Remove from the heat.  Bring 1.5 litres salted water to the boil and add 500 gr instant polenta in a constant stream. Immediately start mixing like mad for the amount of time indicated on the packet. Then add about 200 gr grated parmesan and continue to mix off the heat.  Add the bean mixture too, then tip the lot into an oiled dish.  Leave for a few minutes before cutting into slices to serve. You can also serve this cold.

Buon appetito.