Recipes

The recipes you find here have been told by the guests of the Rest Home G. Cis in Bezzecca

POTATOES POLENTA

Potatoes polenta is the most typical dish of Valle di Ledro. Potatoes are the main ingredient that everybody cultivated and also cheese, butter, flour and sausages were own made. There are different recipes to prepare polenta, here is one of them.

Ingredients: 5 Kg potatoes, 4 hg. flour (half wheat, half rye), 3 hg cheese, 2 fresh sausages, salt, pepper and olive oil.

Preparation: a good wood fire and a large paiolo, copper cauldron, are necessary for a good polenta. Peel the potatoes, cut them lengthways and cook them in the paiolo with enough cold water to cover them. When the potatoes are done, take away some water, if there is too much water left. Keep the water in a separate pot, it can be useful to add to the polenta, if it gets too dry. Use the pilot to pound the potatoes, add the flour and mix it well. Apart roast the sausage, cut in small pieces, in oil and add all to the polenta. Mix the polenta very well and poured it out on a large wooden dish.

PEVERA'

Bread is very common and everyday is on Italian tables. It was never thrown away because it could be always used to prepare simple and delicious dishes, like peverà.

Ingredients: olive oil, grated old bread, meat broth, fresh typical sausage, pepper, grated cheese

Preparation: in a pan heat the olive oil and roast the grated bread. Add the broth, the sausage cut in slices and lot of pepper. Cook on a low flame for a couple of hours and then add the cheese. Peverà is very good with corn polenta.

BOHEMIAM DUMPLINGS

During the First World War the inhabitants of Valle di Ledro have been exiled to Bohemia and there they learned how to cook some Bohemian specialities that influenced the typical cuisine of the Valley.
For this dumplings there are different recipes and can be tasted together with goulash, as bread, or sweet with sugar and cinnamon.

Ingredients: 30 gr. brewer's yeast, 1 Kg wheat flour, ½ l. milk, salt, butter, cinnamon or poppy-seeds, sugar.

Preparation: dissolve the yeast in some milk then add the rest of the milk, salt and some flour. Knead good the dough and cover it with a tea cloth and leave it rises in a warm place for a couple of hours. Add the left flour and knead the dough. make dumplings of 6 cm diameter and leave them rise for ¾ hour.
Then throw the dumplings in boiling salted water and let them cook for 10-12 minutes. Melt the butter. Dust the dumplings with sugar and cinnamon and pour the butter.

CAPONEC

Caponec are typical of some villages of Valle di Ledro and nowadays you can taste them especially during village parties at the end of the summer.

Ingredients (for 30 caponec): 300 gr. chopped chard or spinach, 500 gr. bread crumbs, 300 gr. grated Grana Trentino cheese, 2 eggs, 200 gr. lard or fresh sausage, broth, 100 gr. parsley, 3 cloves of garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, 30 wine leaves.

Preparation: mix the brad with cheese and pepper. Separately beat the eggs. Chop the lard and roast it in the oil. Add the chard or spinach and let them cool. Chop the parsley and the garlic. Mix all the ingredients, also a glass of olive oil and the broth and divide the dough into 30 parts and wrap them into the wine leaves and tie them up with a string. Let them cook for about 20 minutes in salted boiling water.
Serve them cold, natural or with a little bit of olive oil.