Vegetarian recipes from Italian regions: Abruzzo!

From today, we will meet every month with the monthly section of Vegetarian Recipes from the Italian regions.

The idea of sharing some of the vegetarian recipes that I like most took shape when I taught Italian cuisine and gastronomic traditions to American students who came to study in Florence for a semester.

I learned a lot about the gastronomic culture of my country and I was able to pass it on to my students too. The first lesson I did was essentially on:

- Italian cuisine does not exist ... Italian regional cuisine exists

- our gastronomic culture is based on vegetable foods

- every self-respecting family has the best recipe for at least one dish handed down from generation to generation.

Plus I like:

- cooking vegetarian, its tasty, healthy and easy to make food

- I can vary the ingredients and recipes so I don't get bored cooking and we are all happy to have a creative diet.

At home, the meal is usually made up of raw and cooked vegetables in season; a cereal that could be rice, spelt, millet or polenta, or an ancient grain pasta or rye bread; a protein: legumes once a day and then in  turn fish, eggs, white meat, cheese.

Then there are the evenings where the family teenager rebels and the “sofficini” come out of the freezer and we join her and are very happy.

In order not to create competition between the regions I decided to start in alphabetical order and therefore today we are talking about Abruzzo.

Frittelle di patate e zafferano

Saffron Potato Cakes

 

 

• 600 gr potatoes

• a pinch of saffron

• Extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

• 3 eggs

• 1 tbsp chopped parsley

• 1 tbsp chive

• flour

• salt and pepper

 

We boil the potatoes in their jackets, then put them in the potato masher.

We infuse saffron in 3 tablespoons of EVOO.

We combine the potatoes, eggs, parsley, chives, saffron oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix gently until a soft and light mixture is obtained.

We make small burgers or meatballs.

We can bake the pancakes in a lightly greased pan, or bake them in the oven at 200 °.