Contorni: Italian Vegetable Side Dishes

The contorno belongs to the Italian meal as it is structured in courses: the primo, the secondo, and then the vegetable set beside or after the main dish, so that the plate of meat or fish is not asked to carry its own accompaniment. Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking gives vegetables a chapter of their own, organised by vegetable rather than by method, and so treats each as a subject with its own handling. The practice rests on the produce of the Italian peninsula, where the seasons and the regional gardens, from the Veneto to Campania, determine which vegetables reach the table and how they are prepared.

Italian contorni — the vegetable preparations served alongside the main course — are independent preparations, not afterthoughts. Hazan addresses them with the same technical rigour as the main courses: specific techniques for each vegetable that exploit its particular character rather than applying a single method to all. The principle: each vegetable has one or two cooking methods that produce its best expression; the Italian kitchen applies those methods rather than improvising.

The contorno answers the main dish by contrast and by balance. A secondo of roast or braised meat, rich in fat and savoury depth, is set against the bitterness of greens, the sharpness of a dressing of oil and lemon, or the clean sweetness of a vegetable cooked until tender in its own juices. Fish, lighter in its flavour, is matched with vegetables of similar delicacy, so that neither overwhelms the other. Each vegetable is cooked to bring out what is already in it: spinach, wilted and then sautéed in olive oil with garlic, keeps its mineral edge; artichokes, braised, take on a soft, nutty sweetness; potatoes, roasted, gain a crisp surface and a yielding centre. The seasoning is restrained, usually olive oil, salt, garlic or a little herb, because the vegetable is meant to be tasted rather than disguised. Temperature belongs to the same reasoning. Some contorni are served hot beside the meat, while others, such as dressed boiled greens, are as good warm or at room temperature, and the cook chooses accordingly. The result is a plate in which richness, bitterness, acidity and sweetness are distributed between the main dish and its vegetable, and in which the contorno is judged by how clearly it tastes of itself.