Sunday 22 May 2011

Bolla e squittiscono (Bubble and squeak)

I have no idea whether the translation in the title is accurate or not, but a couple of online translations suggested 'Bolla e squittiscono' as a translation for 'bubble and squeak'. And even if it isn't right, I like it.

This isn't a dish of fried sunday lunch leftovers, it's done with fresh ingredients - potatoes, dried pasta, greens, herbs and cheese. Just reading what's in it you know it's going to taste good, even if pasta and potatoes together seems odd at first.

Cooking it couldn't be simpler because you'll only need one pot.

Peel and slice some potatoes, enough for the number of people you're cooking for. Then get everything into a pan of boiling water. Our favourite version so far used potatoes and pasta (fusilli) with spring greens, frozen peas and frozen broad beans.

Once everything is cooked, drain it and get a serving dish. Put a layer of the mixture into the serving dish then scatter over some cheese. The original recipe calls for Fontina, but we haven't managed to get any of that so we used cheddar when we first made the dish. Second time around we used ricotta which was delicious. Anyway, a layer of the boiled mixture gets scattered with cheese, some salt and pepper, fresh or dried herbs (sage is good, or mixed italian herbs) and some olive oil. A grate of nutmeg adds a nice flavour as well.

Keep layering as above and then cover with grated parmesan (if using) at the end. You could pop it under the grill now to get the parmesan melted and browned slightly.

It might not sound much, but this is a very tasty and satisfying dish, so much so that's its worth making more than you think you might need.

No comments:

Post a Comment