Hey,

all the family is collaborating to move handyandtasty up in class. Today my aunt is preparing le crocchette di patate. It is a handy and tasty appetizer, that can be prepared ahead the day before a dinner with friends. The Rotzo potatoes, a high starch potato, are used for this recipe. The content of starch determines the use of a potato. The accompaniment of today is Battiato with "centro di gravita' permenante", for cooking while dancing.

 Recipe for about 16 crocchette: boil 450 gr of potatoes, peel and smash them. Mix with 1 egg yolk, parmesan, salt, pepper, and parsley (take a look). 

Stuff the potato dough with ham and scamorza. Roll the crocchette first in the egg white and then in bread crumbs (take a look). 

Ready! Now you can keep them in the fridge for 12-18 hours. Deep fry in hot oil.

Buon appetito!

Chiara

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22 February 2017

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Hey,

Doc and my mom had some fun last new year's eve (with great music). They decided to give it a try and prepare a "lasagna pizza".

PIZZA with endive, scamorza, and black olives. The endive was cooked previously in a pan with garlic and olive oil.

PIZZA with fresh tomato, scamorza, and rocket

Excellent. Buon appetito.

Chiara

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15 February 2017

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Hey,

this time We did enroll my aunt. She lives in the north of Italy. Rotzo is a lovely village on the Asiago upland. This is the choir of Asiago singing a traditional song "Rindola". The song was written by Giuseppe "Bepi" De Marzi.

It is 40 years now that in Rotzo it is celebrated "la festa della patata".

The Rotzo potato has a red or white peel. It is a "montana" mountain variety (it is cultivated on mountain lands at 700-1000 m above the sea level) and has an extremely high content of starch. The most common variety are the Bintje, the Désirée, the Spunta, the Monalisa, and the Alba with white or light yellow paste.

The potatoes are generally used for making gnocchi which can be served in many different ways, from salvia and butter to sugar and cinnamon. During the festa della patata you can taste many different types of gnocchi recipe and the typical polenta considera prepared with potatoes, flour, onion, lard, parmesan, and cinnamon.

Ingredients for 5/6 people include 1 kg of potatoes and 300 gr of flour. Boil the potatoes and peel them, while are still hot. Smash the potatoes. 

Mix the flour and the smashed potatoes, have a look how auntie does it. The amount of flour depend very much on the humidity of the smashed potatoes.

Once the dough is ready, cut it in pieces, roll it and cut it small cubes (here you are). 

You can dress the gnocchi as simple as can be butter and salvia or with tomato sauce. 

Here are the Gnocchi al Tegamino, with tomato, parmesan, and mozzarella. First boil the gnocchi, then mix it with tomato, parmesan, and mozzarella and keep cooking in the oven. 

Buon appetito!!!

Chiara

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20 February 2017

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According to the Accademia Della Crusca (the international institute for the protection and the study of the Italian language) we can define the arancina as a round shaped fried rice ball made in western Sicily and the arancino as a Vulcano/conical shaped fried rice ball made in eastern Sicily, with the exception of Ragusa and Siracusa. I am pointing this out since Sicilian people are very sensitive to the topic. Since it is not easy to explain and there is a much lively debate about whether to call it arancina or arancino, We will call it fried rice balls. 

Stressing out that We are not from Sicily, I apologize in case this recipe does not reflect perfectly the tradition. Nevermind, here is a Sicilian tarantella which will rise up the spirits.

My mom is preparing the fried rice balls for dinner. She prepared the rice yesterday since it needed to rest. The recipe is for preparing 12 big or 24 small rice balls. Boil 500 gr of semifino rice, drain and cool down the temperature. Dress the rice with parmesan, pepper, two egg yolks, and salt. You can also use saffron or besciamella. Let it rest for at leats 12 hours in the fridge.

1st stuffing - Cook in a pan 150 gr of minced meat with tomato sauce and peas. Remember to include also the scamorza.

2nd stuffing - slices of the scamorza and the ham.

Put the rice in one hand and place the stuffing in the middle. Give it a shape of a cone or a sphere. Roll it in flour, then egg white and finally bread crumbs. 

Deep fry in hot oil, keeping the stove at low temperature.

Buon appetito!

Chiara

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15 February 2017

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