By Christine Salins.
I think any of us who enjoy cooking would like to cook like an Italian home cook, or at least like an Italian nonna.
There’s good reason for that, says Aussie-Italian home cook, Silvia Colloca. “Italians are taught from a young age to cherish the ingredients we cook with, whether home-grown or store-bought,” she says.
“We have observed our nonnas caring for these ingredients with passion and knowledge, and turning them into meals we will never stop craving or recreating.”
In her latest book, The Italian Home Cook (Plum, $44.99), Colloca sets out to show you how to cook like a true Italian, using humble ingredients such as end-of-summer tomatoes, salty anchovies, vibrant greens, oozy burrata and more.
These are the dishes made lovingly in homes around Italy every day, and they are often brought to life with only a handful of ingredients and the simplest equipment.
Among the recipes you “need to know” are Cherry Tomato Risotto, Baked Stuffed Capsicums, Tuscan Ribollita soup, Osso Buco with Cannelini Mash, and her Mum’s Red Wine and Pear Cake.
Having hosted four TV shows on SBS and the ABC, along with authoring six cookbooks, the Italian-born now Sydney resident loves to share delicious recipes that have been passed down through her family for generations.
The recipe here is very filling but could be portioned out and enjoyed as a rich side dish. “If you are strong enough to resist a cake made of mashed potato and melted cheese, then congratulations to you,” Colloca says.
“I have made peace with my weaknesses and fully accept that I can no longer refuse the temptation of the Neapolitan potato cake.”
Gattò di Patate (Neapolitan potato and Mortadella Bake)
Serves 4 to 6
700 g red potatoes, unpeeled
20 g butter, plus extra for greasing and dotting on top
1/3 cup freshly grated parmigiano
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 egg
salt flakes
2-3 handfuls of dried breadcrumbs
70 g mortadella (ask your deli to slice it 1 cm thick), cut into 1 cm cubes
70 g provolone, cut into cubes
Cook the potatoes in a saucepan of boiling salted water until tender. Drain and, when the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel. If you have a potato ricer, you can pass them through the press without peeling them; if you don’t have a potato ricer, place the cooled, peeled potatoes in a bowl and mash until smooth. Add the butter, parmigiano, nutmeg, egg and salt to taste. Mix well and set aside to cool slightly.
Preheat your oven to 200°C. Carefully grease a 20 cm pie dish with butter and coat with 1 handful of the breadcrumbs.
Arrange half the potato mixture in the dish and flatten with a spoon. Add the mortadella and provolone, then top with the remaining potato mixture. Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumbs on top and dot on a few small cubes of butter. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top looks golden brown and crispy. Serve hot, warm (easier to portion out) or at room temperature.
Recipe and image from The Italian Home Cook by Silvia Colloca, published by Plum, RRP $44.99, photography by Rob Palmer.
