Polpette di pane – bread polpette or breadballs, if you insist

19/04/2024 ~ stefano arturi ~ 20 Comments

Lucca, June 2022 .
London, August 2022. This has been the best, most rewarding recipe of this summer. Just love it

I am a bread collector. All those stale loaf-ends (apparently called “the heels”) that cannot be eaten but cannot be turned into breadcrumbs either, I put aside – “I will make a bread pudding or a pancotto, an Italian bread soup”, I solemnly declare. P and Lucia roll their eyes, because they know their chickens: often these grand plans are not acted upon and, after weeks of ignoring it, I bin my bread, with a bad conscience.

This time, I looked at my collection of odd ends of bread and I decided to make polpette di pane, bread polpette and what an inspired decision that was. Over the last month I have cooked them a few times, actually buying and collecting bread with this purpose in mind.

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Pasta china – baked pasta with mini meatballs and lots of other lovely things, from Calabria

08/09/2023 ~ stefano arturi ~ 19 Comments

“Pasta china” is the name of a sumptuous, festive, baked pasta dish from Calabria, the heel of Italy, in the deep south. In the local dialect, “china” stands for the Italian adjective “piena”, full, and that’s exactly what this dish is about: a riotous affair of short tubular pasta dressed with a spicy tomato sauce, layered with marble-size meatballs, gooey cheese, crumbled boiled eggs, spicy Calabrese sausage, grated parmigiano and pecorino. Definitely, one of those Southern Italian dishes where restraint is out of the question.

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Gatto’ di patate (Neapolitan potato, cheese and salame savory cake)

23/01/202323/01/2023 ~ stefano arturi ~ 5 Comments

Gatto’ di patate… a.k.a. Neapolitan potato savory cake. The plain translation does not do justice to the deliciousness of this classic dish, an over the top layered ‘cake’ of cheesy, eggy, mashed potatoes, mozzarella and mildly hot salame – the perfect comfort food. Continue reading “Gatto’ di patate (Neapolitan potato, cheese and salame savory cake)” →

Parmigiana di zucca (Butternut squash parmigiana)

15/01/2023 ~ stefano arturi ~ 11 Comments

Aubergine parmigiana is one of the most famous Italian dishes: layers of fried aubergines, tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano (in its most basic version). It is not, however, the only parmigiana in town: one can make artichoke, courgette, potato, fennel, celeriac, mushroom parmigiana and even a butternut squash one, which I am sharing with you here. The principle is always the same: the chosen vegetable is first cooked and then layered with tomato sauce and cheese. In richer versions, mortadella and sliced hard-boiled egg are added.

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Ragù alla bolognese in pentola a pressione (pressure cooker Ragù Bolognese, even better than the conventional one)

14/09/202218/10/2022 ~ stefano arturi ~ 14 Comments

Ragù

UPDATE September 2022: please check the end of this post

In her last book, even the arch-traditionalist Marcella Hazan said that making egg pasta dough in the food processor is fine. She was finally acknowledging what home cooks and restaurant chefs had probably been doing for a long time, but it was also testament to her intelligence: food and cooking must evolve to stay alive. It would be foolish to ignore that cooking is an ever changing reality that resists being imprisoned in dogmas: we do not eat, cook or think about food one year for the other.

As much as I love traditions and traditional food, I am also very open to “new ways” in the kitchen, as long as they make my life easier and/or my food better. The pressure cooker is a good example. Continue reading “Ragù alla bolognese in pentola a pressione (pressure cooker Ragù Bolognese, even better than the conventional one)” →