Fried sage leaves

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I’ve always been a fan of ‘Pasta Fresca’ and ‘Cucina Rustica,’ the two cookbooks KCRW ‘Good Food’ host Evan Kleiman wrote with Viana La Place, so when I saw that La Place had written a new book called ‘My Italian Garden,’ I picked it up. My garden is running riot with everything Italian right now, and this wonderfully zesty compendium of simple dishes from the garden is just what I need. Flipping through the book, with recipes for barley soup with summer herbs, risotto with pink radicchio and golden beets, broccoli rabe with black olives and fresh bay leaves, I came across one for whole sage leaves in pastella.

The recipe called up a vision of a wonderful long-ago meal at the Montevertine wine estate in Tuscany when the soulful and erudite founder, Sergio Manetti, was still alive. Birds were roasting in the open fireplace. Good smells and the banging of pots came from the kitchen, and someone passed little plates of crisp, fried sage leaves with glasses of wine before we sat down to lunch at a long table in the garden.

Since I go out at least six nights a week, my refrigerator is often half empty. When someone shows up unexpectedly, I’m always casting about for something to serve with a glass of wine. I’ve got sage growing right outside the kitchen door, so why not try this?

Basically, you just pick some sage leaves (the bigger the better). To make the pastella, or batter, add water to a little flour until it’s the consistency of cream. I had to experiment a little, starting with 1/4 cup of flour and adding a little more than 1/4 cup water. (La Place uses 2/3 cup flour to about 1 cup water, but I didn’t want to make that much batter.) You want the batter to barely coat the leaves.

Pour olive oil into a small skillet to come a half-inch up the sides. Actually, I tried to get away with less, about a third of an inch in an 8-inch skillet, which is plenty big to fry four or five sage leaves at a time.

Heat the oil to hot, but not smoking, and dip several leaves in the batter, letting the excess run off. As you finish frying the leaves, La Place recommends keeping them warm in a 200-degree oven. Good idea, but I found myself gobbling up my test leaves so fast I didn’t need to do that.

Oh, also, don’t use your best extra-virgin olive oil for this. The olive oil you use for normal cooking, like the moderately priced Spanish brand I keep in a bottle with a pour spout near the stove, will do just fine. Don’t substitute canola or another oil: You really need the flavor of the olive oil.

Cook each whole sage leaf until golden, picking it up with a slotted spoon. Drain on a paper towel, sprinkle with sea salt and serve hot, with a glass of Orvieto or Vermentino. Four sage leaves per person is about right.

‘My Italian Garden,’ by Viana La Place, Broadway Books (2007), paper, $19.95.

-- S. Irene Virbila
Photo by S. Irene Virbila