SPICY EGG & PANCETTA BAKE

We have six chickens at our farmhouse in Umbria, and another seven this side of the pond so I am used to getting fresh eggs daily. There is nothing better than collecting eggs that have just been laid from your own chickens. These eggs taste better than store-bought eggs and knowing what you feed the chickens laying your eggs also means that you know that your eggs are very nutritious as well. It took our chickens here a little longer than expected to start producing eggs, but all but one is now laying which ensures we always have a ready supply of very fresh eggs! Having a constant egg bounty in my refrigerator encourages me to find new and tasty ways to prepare eggs, and this dish is one of my favorite quick lunch dishes that I make often.

folks are often surprised to learn that Italians living in Italy do not eat eggs for breakfast. Eggs instead are enjoyed as light meals for lunch or dinner, but breakfast for most Italians is a cup of coffee, often containing milk like a cappuccino along with something sweet such as brioche, a few cookies, or a small breakfast sweet. I am not a breakfast eater myself, but I do enjoy traditional breakfast foods such as eggs and bacon; I just enjoy them for lunch or dinner. Having my own chickens also makes me very aware of where grocery store eggs come from. If I do not have my own eggs from our backyard chickens for whatever reason, I will only buy pasture-raised egg at the store. The term cage-free eggs is very deceptive as many of the chickens raised this way are still held in large buildings and never see the light of day. Regular eggs, the cheapest ones at the store come from chickens who spend most of their lives in cages. In all good conscience, loving my “girls” as much as I do, I could never buy these eggs. The pasture-raised chicken eggs may cost more, but they do taste much better and are even more nutritious!

Peach and amaretti tart

Most of the time I buy fresh produce based on what looks good — and then I decide what to prepare with it at home. I really do feel like it’s the best way to shop and eat because more often than not the things you come home with are the freshest, the most in season, the most delicious ingredients to start out with. Right now the tomatoes look good, the firm, small, ribbed zucchini with bright yellow blooms still attached do too, and the blushing stone fruit is hard to walk past — we have been waiting weeks for the good ones, the ones that easily perfume a room, to appear. Nothing screams summer more than these.

I came home from a market trip recently with a basket of peaches, still undecided about what to do with them — eat them on their own, turn them into gelato (I was contemplating adding some apricot pits for their uniquely almond-like flavour) or bake them, Piemonte style, stuffed with amaretti biscuits (what is it about peaches and bitter almond that makes them such a good pair?). This last one is one of my absolute favourite summer recipes, its only downfall is having to turn the oven on in the heat but I would do it for these! But I was also in the mood for some kind of crostata, a tart or pie, and it became quite clear to me that what I needed to do was put the stuffed peaches recipe into a pastry crust and call it a day.

I made my favourite short crust pastry dough — it is based on one of Pellegrino Artusi’s century old pastry crust recipes — but instead of regular flour with a rather rustic stone-ground organic farro flour that I thought would lend a nice, almost nutty flavour to the tart. I left out any sugar but feel free to add about 50 grams of sugar to it if you prefer a touch more sweetness. I topped it with the peach “stuffing”, a mixture of crushed amaretti biscuits, egg and a couple spoons of sugar, followed by peach slices. It cooks in less time than the stuffed peaches too, so anyone who is impatient or just doesn’t want the oven on for too long will be happy.