Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa

8 SLICES OF AUBERGINE

PLAIN FLOUR

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

500G HOME-MADE TAGLIATELLE

500ML FRESH TOMATO SAUCE

1 CLOVE GARLIC, CRUSHED

2 BASIL LEAVES

3 TABLESPOONS GRATED PECORINO

4 TABLESPOONS GRATED PARMESAN

CROCCHETTE DI PATATE

Potato croquettes

Serves 4

Wash and boil the potatoes. When cooked, drain, peel and mash well. Leave to cool. Mix with the eggs, Parmesan, pecorino, parsley and salt. Shape into cylinders 6–7cm long and about 2cm in diameter.

Fry 6–7 croquettes at a time in extra virgin olive oil.

1KG POTATOES

5 EGGS, BEATEN

A HANDFUL OF GRATED PARMESAN, TO TASTE

1 TBSP GRATED PECORINO

PARSLEY, CHOPPED

SALT, TO TASTE

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, FOR FRYING

LO SPEZZATINO DI CAPRETTO

Stewed kid (or lamb) offal

Why is it that the British have lost their taste for offal? I suppose it may be because, unlike most cuts of meat that bear no relation to the living animal from which they came, offal is the essence of animal. A brain looks like a brain, a heart like a heart, a testicle like a testicle. There’s no sliding round the fact that these organs had functions, intimate functions at that. In confronting a brain, a heart or a testicle, we confront our own mortality, and doing so should make us appreciate our living state all the more. It would be charitable to think that the modern tendency in some countries to reject the gift of offal is some evidence of civilised refinement. In truth, it is a throwback to the sixteenth century when offal was thought to provoke ‘euyl humours’.

1.5KG KID OR LAMB (INCLUDING THE LIVER, LUNGS, KIDNEYS, HEART AND SPLEEN)

90ML WINE VINEGAR

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

1 CLOVE GARLIC, CHOPPED

1 BAY LEAF

3 TOMATOES, SKINNED AND DESEEDED

TOMATO PASTE

OREGANO, TO TASTE

FRESH CHILLIES, TO TASTE

CHILLI POWDER, TO TASTE

SALT, TO TASTE

Serves 8

Blanch the offal in water and wine vinegar for about 4 minutes. Drain, leave to cool and chop finely.

Chop the kid or lamb into pieces. Grease a flame-proof casserole with oil and sauté the kid or lamb meat in it with the garlic and bay leaf. After a few minutes, add the offal, tomatoes, a little tomato paste, a pinch of oregano, the fresh chillies and chilli powder and salt to taste. Braise for about 20 minutes. Serve with plenty of freshly baked farmhouse bread.

LA PITTA PIENA

Stuffed focaccia alla nicocastro

When I first saw it, it lay in its baking tray, the colour of ripe wheat on top. Signora Gaetano briskly sliced it the length of its middle, and then in sections across. She lifted out a slice and passed it to me. The inside was pale and spongy, with a fat seam of soppressata, pecorino and hard-boiled egg running through the middle. My teeth sank through. I relished the airy texture of the bread. The rich, spicy, weighty filling boomed through my mouth.

1KG FOCACCIA DOUGH (MADE WITH 1KG FLOUR, 25G FRESH OR 12G DRIED YEAST, 500ML WARM WATER, 1 TSP SALT)

115G SOFTENED STRUTTO (PORK FAT), PLUS EXTRA FOR GREASING

200G PORK RIND, BLANCHED AND DICED

6 HARD-BOILED EGGS, SLICED

250G SPICY SAUSAGE (PREFERABLY SOPPRESSATA), CUT INTO ROUNDS

200G FRESH PECORINO, FINELY SLICED

1 EGG, BEATEN

Serves 10

Mix the focaccia dough in a bowl, knead until smooth and elastic, then leave in a warm place to rise.