Food Lover's Odyssey

Focaccia di Patate {Potato Focaccia} from Puglia

 

I understand that all I really have to say about today's dish is potatoes and cheese, right? For me, this dish is so much more. It's part of a land I so love, and a food ideology steeped in its cucina povera (pour-man's kitchen) roots. This dish embodies the Italian "keep it simple and delicious" way of thinking. Someone has served me this at least once every trip to Puglia and I never tire of it. It's one of the must eat dishes from Puglia and usually one of the first dishes an Italian mamma gives me when I arrive. I'm certain every Italian mamma has it in her arsenal of dishes to woo and make them feel welcome and loved.

Cheesey, creamy potatoes, a crunchy top and bottom crust, and a savory filling. It goes by two names in Puglia; I hear it called pitta di patate most often. The first time my friend's mother made it for me, she called it focaccia di patate. It's two layers of a Parmigiano-laden mash potato mixture sandwiching together the filling.

The classic pitta Leccese has a briny and salty filling of slowly sauteed onions and cherry tomatoes with olives and sometimes capers and anchovies. Just as good, possibly even better, is this version: one with a center of more cheese and cooked ham. I've had this version about as many times as I've had the classic. We make both versions, and sometimes a third, a whatevers's-left-in-the-pantry version, during the Food Lover's Culinary Tour in Puglia.  So quick and simple to make, yet so darn good, it's comfort food Italian style. With potatoes, cheese, and pork, what's not to love?!

 

Making the Potato Focaccia during our Food Lover's Tour in Puglia

After many, many samplings of this dish from many different Italian mamme; and after my trials to get it just right, I have for you my version of pitta di patate or Potato focaccia, as we might call it in English. There are just the right amount of additions to the boiled-then-mashed potatoes to make them oh-so-creamy, and a generous amount of cheese in the center of the foccacia so that the melted cheese is oozing out when you cut into it. The all important breadcrumbs on the top and bottom give a crunchy, textural contrast to the creamy potatoes and cheesey center.

 

As the weather is getting much cooler, now is definitely the right time to bring this recipe out and introduce a little piece of Puglia to those of you not yet familiar with it. It's usually included in gli antipasti che non finiscono mai (slew of antipasti that never ends), but you can also make it as a side-dish or serve it as a piatto unico (simple, one-dish meal). I hope you make it at least once this cold-weather season, think of Puglia, and that it comforts and warms you from the inside out just as it does me.

 

Layers of mashed potatoes, filling, more potatoes, and a crunchy crust

 

 Focaccia di Patate (aka Pitta di Patate) from Puglia

(Makes one 8x10 inch casserole)

 

2 1/2 pounds (8-9 medium-sized) Yukon Gold potatoes

1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus more for the top

2 eggs

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup whole milk

2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley, optional

About 3 generous pinches of sea salt, plus more to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

 

For the stuffing:

6-8 ounces mild cheese, Provolone for example, sliced

4-5 slices cooked ham

 

Boil the potatoes with the skins on until they are fork tender (very tender), 30-45 minutes, depending on size of potatoes.

Once the potatoes are done, preheat an oven to 375°F

Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain off the water. Peel the potatoes (this is best done while the potatoes are still hot). Run the peeled potatoes through a potato ricer or food mill. You want to get all the lumps out of the potatoes so the texture of your focaccia is nice and creamy. Add the eggs, milk, olive oil, salt, pepper and chopped parsley (if you are using parsley) and stir in until combined. Stir in the Parmigiano cheese and taste for seasoning.

Drizzle some olive oil over the bottom of the casserole dish and rub the oil up along the sides of the dish. Sprinkle breadcrumbs to cover the entire bottom dish with a thin layer of breadcrumbs. Spread some olive oil, you can also use warm water, on your hands (this keeps the potatoes from sticking). Using half the potato mixture, form patties about 1/2-inch thick with the potato mixture. Place these patties in the casserole dish until you have covered the entire casserole dish. With your fingertips dipped in olive oil or warm water, press the mixture together so it is one even layer of potato "cake." Add a generous layer of sliced cheese, a layer of the cooked ham strips, and another generous layer of the sliced cheese.

With the remaining half of the potato mix, wet your hands again and form patties. Place the patties on top of the ham & cheese filling. Once done, press the patties together to form an even top potato layer. Sprinkle grated Parmigiano cheese over the top and another layer of breadcrumbs. (The breadcrumb layers on the top and bottom of the potato mixture give the cake a nice crunch and textural contrast to the creamy potato.) Bake at 375°F for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden brown. Let rest 5-10 minutes to cool before cutting and serving. Buon Appetito!

 

 

Join me in 2014 in Puglia! An amazing 9-day/8 night Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Tour - It's a food frenzy, cooking party, history & cultural lesson through food. You'll have "backstage-pass" entrance to kitchens and Italian homes and immerse yourself in the food and culture of Puglia!

 

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Make enough for next-day leftovers ~ It reheats in the oven marvelously!

 

 

Other Posts on Puglia and its Food You Might Like:

The Art of Making Pasta by Hand: A Pugliese Pasta Lesson with Nonna Vata

Orecchiette and Salentine Breads - Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento

Pizza Makers for a Night in Puglia - Food Lover's Culinary Tour

Lemon and Olive Oil Cake from Puglia

Herb Wreath Bread and Cooking with Mamma Maria in Puglia

Pasticciotto Leccese

Zeppole di San Giuseppe

Crostata di Marmellata

Wedding in Puglia

Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento

Artisanal Cheese at Masseria CinqueSanti in Puglia

Lecce: The Baroque Beauty of Puglia

Tour of Masseria L'Astore and its Frantoio Ipogeo in Salento

 

Involtini di Melanzane - Starter for a Sicilian-Inspired Holiday Dinner

 

 

 

Last weekend we celebrated my cousin Paula's birthdy, and she is also one of my most faithful readers.  For her birthday, she asked me to cook a traditional Italian dinner, meaning we would have antipasti (before meal "snacks" or appetizers), a primo piatto (first plate - usually consisting of a pasta or rice dish or soup), a secondo piatto (second course - the protein course), and a dolce (sweet or dessert).  Since I'm a huge fan of the dolci, I served two desserts, a "pre-dessert" and a main dessert.  In the traditional four-hour Italian dinner, there would also be a contorno (side dish - the vegetable course) which is served along with the main course, but someone (me) forgot to put it in the oven.....oops. Luckily there was enough food, that no one missed it.

 This dinner was especially fun to create, not only was it Italian, but all the dishes sang of the Sicilian flavors, the birthplace of my grandparents.  There was the eggplant, tomato, cheese combination, prevelant throughout the south of Italy.  Salty sea flavors of Sicily, capers and anchovies, were in the pasta.  Pine nuts and currants, that sweet combination from the island, were added to the pork dish.  Dessert was a completely Sicilian affair with granita and the traditional birthday cake from Palermo.  I'm so excited to share this Sicilian-Inspired holiday menu with you. It's a great way to bring a little bit of Italy and Sicily into your holiday dinner, whether that holiday be a birthday or Christmas - or both.

 

 Paula's Italian Birthday Dinner Menu

~ Antipasti ~

Involtini di Melanzane

~ Primo Piatto ~

Spaghetti Siracusana

~ Secondo Piatto ~

Bracioala di Maiale

~ I Dolci ~

Granita di Limone

and

Torta Setteveli

 

Eventually, I will be sharing all the recipes with you, but today I've started with the starter.  Below is the recipe for the Involtini di Melanzane (Eggplant Rolls).  Involtini is Italian term for any food that is rolled, and filled.  You will also see involtini of fish (especially sword fish), beef and veal on many Sicilian menus.  Come back Friday when I'll have the recipe for Torta Setteveli - the birthday cake in Palermo.  I've been wanting to recreate this cake ever since I had it last October. Next Monday, I'll be serving Braciola di Maiale (Braised Rolled Pork Shoulder).  I've provided links to recipes from this menu that I've already shared here on Food Lover's Odyssey: Spaghetti Siracusana and Meyer Lemon Granita. I hope you make the entire dinner for a special occasion, or try one of them to add a little Sicilian flavor to your holidays.

 

 

Involtini di Melanzane
(makes 20 involtini)

3 - 4 eggplants, yielding 20 lengthwise slices ¼-inch thick
2 tablespoons sea salt
About 2 cups olive oil
2 cups Parmigiano-Regiano cheese
1 ½ cups breadcrumbs
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
10 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup tomato sauce (see recipe below)

 

Layer the eggplant slices in a colandar, sprinkling each layer with salt. Cover the top with a paper towel and place something heavy on top of the covered eggplant to help release their juices, which tend to be bitter.  Let sit for 2 hours.  After the 2-hour period, rinse the slices of eggplant with water and pat dry. 

In a large saute pan, add olive oil until it is about 3/4-inch deep.  Heat the olive oil and add some of the slices of eggplant and fry them until they are lightly browned on each side, 2-3 minutes per side.  Take the slices out and drain them on paper towels.  You may have to add more olive oil one or two more times during the frying process.  Make sure to heat the oil before adding the eggplant slices.)

Preheat an oven to 375 F.

Spread about 3/4 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. 

To make the filling, mix together, in a bowl, the grated Parmigiano, breadcrumbs, parsley and pepper.  Reserve 1/4 cup of this filling and set aside.  Take a fried eggplant slices and lay them out on a working surface.  Spread about 2 teaspoons of the filling mixter over each eggplant.  One inch from the top of each eggplant, place 4-5 cubes of the mozzarella.  Roll up the eggplant and place them in the baking dish, with the end part down.  Spread the remaining tomato sauce in a line over the center of the eggplant rolls.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle a little of the Parmigiano/breadcrumb mixture and sprinkle over the top where the sauce is.  Bake for another 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven and serve.  Buon Appetito!

 

Tomato Sauce
(makes about 2 cups)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon salt, divided in half, plus more to taste
3 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup white wine
One 28-ounce can San Marzano peeled tomatoes, chopped or crushed by hand and their juices
½ cup basil, chopped

In a saute pan, heat the olive oil.  Add the onions and half the salt and sweat the onions for 3-4 minutes over medium heat, until they are translucent.  Add the garlic and cook a scant minute (don't let the garlic burn).  Add the wine and turn the heat to high to cook off the alcohol.  Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano and remaining salt, and bring to a boil.  Lower to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

 

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How do your travels and/or heritage inspire your holiday meals?  What are some of those dishes you have included in Christmas dinners?

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***This post is part of WanderFood Wednesdays - Go on over to the site and check out other posts from more food lovers who travel.

 

 

Related Posts:

Cassata Siciliana

Cannoli alla Siciliana

Torta Setteveli - Seven Veils Cake from Palermo

Holiday Dessert Recipes

Eggplant Caponata and Sicilian Market Etiquette 

Cassatelle alla Siciliane (Sweet Fried Ravioli with Ricotta Cream filling)

Pasta con le Sarde (Pasta with Sardines, Tomato and Wild Fennel Sauce)

The Dish from Sicily: Arancino - Sicilian Fast Food

Good Views and Good Eats in Taormina

Foods Not to Miss in Sicily

Totano Festival and a Weekend in the Aeolian Islands

The Dish from Sicily: Granita

Eggplant Caponata and Sicilian Market Etiquette

 

 

Lines don't really exist in Italy. There might seem to be a line, but Italians know all those fools are foreigners. They will walk right by through you and up to the cashier, as if you were invisible. Once during a break from Italian class, we students were in line to pay for our coffee, snacks, etc. Noticing this strange phenomena, the cashier yelled to his colleagues that it was obvious we were stranieri (foreigners) because of the perfect line we had formed.

 

 

 

Street markets are even more chaotic and it's every man, woman, and child for him/herself. If it's crowded and you are timid or polite, forget about ever getting service. I went with my cousin Mariella to the mercatino (little street market) in Palermo. Mariella, barely five feet two, wedged her way through the crowd with her rolling shopping bag behind her. She pushed her way up to the counter and asked, "Chi e l'ultima?" (Who is last?) They politely told her and then each person waited their turn. This happened at each vendor's counter during the day. Imagine my surprise! At one point Mariella asked me why my mouth was agape. There is actually some logic to the chaos of the street market. Who knew?

 

 

 

We shopped for ingredients to make caponata. Caponata is a vegetable dish, mainly eggplant, in an agrodolce sauce. Agrodolce, a sour and sweet sauce, is YUM, YUM YUM!! It's also used with fish, winter squash, and with seafood salads. Here's the thing; it's also easy to make, just 1 part sugar to 2 parts vinegar. (The term agrodolce also describes things that are both sweet and sour at the same time, a movie, a breakup, a graduation or other ending that leads to a beginning. ) The theory with agrodolce is that you need both the sweet and the sour together, each contrasting and accentuating the other, but as a whole the flavor is balanced and harmonious.

Below is Mariella's recipe, with one little additon. I've added some sultanas (golden raisins) to the recipe because I think the sultanas hold the agrodolce sauce and balance the tartness of the capers. Caponata should be served at room temperature---never warm. It's best if served the day after you make it.

 

 

 

 

Mariella's Eggplant Caponata

Makes 8 cups

 

2 pounds of eggplant (about 4)

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 stalks celery, diced

2 cups olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (15 ounce) can peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped

5 ounces pitted green olives, quartered

4 ounces capers, rinsed

1/4 cup sultanas (golden raisins)

2 1/2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste

2 pinches of pepper, plus more to taste

Cut the eggplant into one-inch cubes, leaving the skin on. Place in a colander, sprinkling each layer with salt. Cover with a paper towel and weigh down with plates. Leave for one hour, allowing the excess water to drain.

Sweeten the vinegar by adding the sugar and set aside. Blanch the celery in boiling salted water for 2 minutes.

Rinse the eggplant and pat completely dry. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large sauté pan, and cook one-fourth of the eggplant cubes over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Place the cooked eggplant on paper to drain. Continue cooking the eggplant in this way in 3 more stages.

Drain the excess olive oil from the sauté pan used for cooking the eggplant, leaving about 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan. On high heat, sweat the onion and a pinch of salt for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the celery and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with the juices, the olives, capers, sultanas, salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the eggplant and the sweetened vinegar and cook about 5 minutes more. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Cool and refrigerate overnight. You can serve it as an appetizer on toasted bread or as a side vegetable. Buon Appetito!

 

 

Related Posts:

Involtini di Melanzane -Stuffed Eggplant Rolls

Foods Not to Miss in Italy

Torta Setteveli - Seven Veils Cake from Palermo

Cassatelle alla Siciliana (Sweet Ricotta Cream Fried Ravioli)

When Life Gives You Lemons - Make Lemon Granita

Pasta con le Sarde and Cooking in Palermo

A Taste of the Sea and Spaghetti Siracusana

Cannoli alla Siciliana

Braciola di Maiale - Braised Pork Roll for a Sicilian Holiday Dinner

Good Views and Good Eats in Taormina

A Weekend in the Aeolian Islands

The Dish from Sicily: Arancino

The Dish from Sicily: Granita

Tiramisu Recipe - And How to Almost Get Thrown Out of the House in Sicily