Name: Ciambotta (Summer Vegetable Stew)
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 1 pound new potatoes, unpeeled, cut into large dice; 2 red or green bell peppers, seeded and cut into large dice; 1 eggplant, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces; ¼ cup finely shredded fresh basil; ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped; Ricotta salata or fresh ricotta cheese for garnish (optional); ½ cup Gaeta olives (optional); 2 yellow onions, chopped; 4 cloves garlic, minced; ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Preparation info

Serves
8 to 10

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Italian Slow and Savory

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 2004

About

This rustic vegetable dish is variously called ciambotta in Calabria, ciammotta in Basilicata, and cianfotta in Campania and Lazio. The last spelling is used by famed author Luigi Carnacina and is gleefully translated by the irrepressible Faith Willinger as “John Fuck.” One story suggests that the dish was first made by a famous madam in a Naples brothel, and that the name is derived from cian (slut) and fotta (made). Regardless of how the name evolved, th