Nonni’s “Jamboth”

Giambotta: a stew for the glut of vegetables you might have on hand

I know what you might be thinking. Stew again? A Nonni recipe again? The truth is, this hearty vegetable stew is all I have cooked for the last couple of weeks, and I don’t quite have it in me to compile my September Cooking Notes yet (it’s coming, I promise!). So I’m staying true to the mission of Home Cooking Diary, which is to embrace what’s real in my life and in my kitchen at this moment. And what’s real is the overwhelming amount of vegetables we continue to get from our CSA, and equally real: my lesser bandwidth for creativity and energy in the kitchen this month. Stella has been living in the fridge of late, if you know what I mean. Which brings us to Giambotta—a Southern Italian stew intended for use of the last garden vegetables before winter (in my case, the aforementioned CSA!)—the glut of eggplant and zucchini, and potatoes—so many potatoes—capsicum, onions, carrots! Whatever you have could work. Of course, I included kale in mine (we have so much kale). I nearly tried beets but decided against it. That’s the one vegetable that would maybe be a bit weird.

I have no memory of eating my grandmother’s Giambotta, but my own mother does. She was the “married-in” member of the family for a brief time, and this is the meal she spoke most enthusiastically about when we discussed my attempts to begin gathering family recipes last fall. When we rolled through Buffalo after Thanksgiving I sought it out in my Aunt Barb’s trove of recipes.

The recipe card, I think written in the hand of my aunt, calls it “Jamboth,” an egregious, delightful misspelling that not only hints at how how to pronounce it (but still hard without a New York accent), but also illustrates the gulf between generations. Nonni, nor her mother or father (or whomever she learned to make Giambotta from), probably never wrote the recipe down. Speaking Italian was probably verboten in their household—I assume, knowing the my grandmother didn’t speak a word of it, despite being first generation—so here we have this spelling. If you look up Giambotta online you’ll see there are a few spellings depending on the various geographic regions of Southern Italy, so who cares?

Aside from the way it’s spelled, what I think is extra special about Nonni’s version, is what allows the flavor to build: the extra step of browning the vegetables in batches, before beginning the actual stew. The vegetables brown and caramelize a bit, leaving all of that flavor behind in the pot for when you begin the sofrito (the base for flavor). And the second special detail is the delightfully lowbrow inclusion of hot dogs (or “wieners” as the recipe states). As if your strew wasn’t already savory enough, the hot dogs give you that added wallop of salt and flavor. She suggests pepperoni as an alternative, and I’m dying to try a version with that. Pepperoni is more than just a pizza topping.

[Side note: we’ve been continuing our Top Chef rewatch, and in Season 8—Top Chef All-Stars—Mike Isabella makes a memorable pepperoni-braised short rib, so unexpected uses for pepperoni have been on my mind.]

Once the vegetables are done browning, the onions and garlic are added to the pot with the browned bits left behind. If you like you could also add celery and carrot to this sofrito. Add some chili flakes, then put the vegetables back in the pot. Once melded together, two cans of San Marzano tomatoes are added, along with water or broth. Once the liquid is added, it’s essential to scrape up any brown bits clinging to the bottom of the pot. I allow it to simmer for about 20 minutes (or longer if the vegetables aren’t tender enough yet), before I add the hot dogs and the kale (or other greens like collards or spinach or swiss chard). And I add more water if the pot seems a bit dry.

Anyway, I realize that the step of browning the ingredients might make this stew sound like a lot of work, but give it a go if you’re wondering what to do with an over-abundance of vegetables. If things weren’t so crazy in my life I would have published this letter in late-summer or early fall, but I think it still applies seasonally. I hope you try it!

xo AV

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Nonni’s “Jamboth” (Giambotta)

[recipe adapted by yours truly!]

Ingredients

Olive oil

2 bell peppers or other capscium, cubed

2 zucchini, cubed

2 large potatoes, cubed

1 large eggplant, cubed

5 garlic cloves, smashed

1 onion, chopped

Large pinch of chili flakes

2 cans of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, chopped (or cut up directly into the pot with kitchen scissors)

Broth or water

4-8 standard sized hot dogs, sliced into bit sized pieces

1 bunch of kale, tough ribs removed and torn into small pieces

Method

1. Heat a Dutch Oven over medium-high heat and add olive oil (or vegetable oil if you’re worried about setting off your smoke alarm). Once shimmering add your first batch of cubed vegetables in roughly one-layer, season with salt, and brown on both sides (don’t obsess about it though)—deeply browned on at least one side will do it! Reserve to a large bowl and repeat until all of the vegetables are browned. Remember to season each batch!

2. Add more olive oil to the pot and add the garlic and onions, season with salt, and saute, scraping up the browned bits remaining as best you can, to get those flavors to meld with the rest of your sofrito. Saute until everything turns gold, but be careful not to burn the onion and garlic. Add the chili flakes.

3. Add the vegetables back to the pot and stir for a few minutes to incorporate flavors. Add the tomatoes and their liquid, then fill the can with water and add it to the pot. Season with salt again. Simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are fork-tender.

4. Add the hot dogs or pepperoni, and the kale, along with more water if you feel too much has evaporated. Or not, if you want the result to be less soupy. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes, stirring periodically, or until the kale is tender.

5. Portion into bowls and serve with a big hunk of toasted bread with butter.