QUALITALY_133

March/April 2023 XVI MAGAZINE are distinguished: the mezzano , matured in 3/5 months, and the vecchio , matured in 9 months with a slightly piquant flavour. Spressa delle Giudicarie Produced in the Giudicarie valleys: Chiese, Rendena and Ledro. Its shape is cylindrical with a low, slightly convex heel and a diameter of about 30/35 cm. The height varies from 8 to 11 cm while the weight varies from 7 to 10 kg. The semi-hard, compact and elastic dough is white or light straw-coloured, while the rind is irregular and elastic, grey or dark ochre in colour. In the past, cheese was made in copper pots or cauldrons, hung from a beam and with a wood fire underneath; today, rather large double- bottomed stainless steel boilers, heated by steam, are used in modern dairies. For ripening, stainless steel basins are used. For storage, modern air-conditioned rooms guarantee better and more constant ripening of the cheese and have replaced the old warehouses, cold in winter and hot in summer. __________________________________ AT PAGE 52 RECIPES __________________________________ RECIPE Strangolapreti The favourite dish of the Prelates during the Council of Trent. Ingredients: • 1kg fresh spinach; • 500g stale bread; • 2 eggs; • 120g flour; • 200g Parmesan cheese; • Q.b. nutmeg; • onion; • 100g butter; • 1 sprig sage; • Q.b. milk; • Q.b. salt; • pepper; • extra virgin olive oil. Preparation: Cut the stale bread into cubes after removing the crust. Place the bread cubes in a container and soak them in milk for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to absorb the milk. In the meantime, wash and cook the spinach for about 5 minutes and leave to cool. After squeezing it dry, cut it up with a knife and cook it in a little oil for a couple of minutes. Next, place it in a bowl with the soaked bread, milk, eggs, grated cheese, salt and nutmeg. Mix everything with your hands, or a spoon, and then add the flour to make a mixture compact. Now put the mixture into a pastry bag and make small balls by dropping them into boiling water for about three minutes. Once the strangolapreti come to the surface, let them cook for a couple more minutes. In the meantime, melt the butter in a saucepan with some sage leaves and put in the freshly drained strangolapreti and let them mix together without breaking them. A sprinkling of grated cheese and the dish is ready. __________________________________ RECIPE Strudel Strudel is of Turkish origin. Although it has in fact become the pastry symbol of Trentino-Alto Adige, it was the Turks present in Hungary around the 17th century who invented a cake called Baklava. The recipe for this cake was later changed by the Hungarians into that of today’s strudel, adding apples. Ingredients: For the dough • 160 g 00 flour; • 50 g water; • 1 whole egg; • 1 tablespoon sunflower oil or whatever you have available; • a pinch of salt. For the filling • 5 apples (approx. 800 g); • 3 - 4 tablespoons sugar; • 50 g sultanas; • 40 g pine nuts; • 3 tablespoons rum; • grated peel of 1 lemon; • approx. 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder; • 50 g melted butter; • 80 g breadcrumbs; • icing sugar to finish. Preparation: First peel the apples and cut them into small pieces. Place them in a bowl with sugar, sultanas, grated lemon peel, rum and cinnamon. Mix well and set aside. Very lightly toast the pine nuts in a frying pan and add them to the apples only after about 30 minutes of marinating. In a bowl place the flour and pinch of salt, make a hole in the centre and add water, oil and egg. Stir the centre with a fork. Proceed from the centre, gradually incorporating flour and forming a ball. Melt the butter and let it cool, brush the entire surface of the strudel dough and add the breadcrumbs. Add the now perfectly marinated apple, sultana and cinnamon filling, roll it out and fold the dough under and over, then close the two side ends. At this point, roll the strudel with the help of the baking paper underneath. Finally, brush with the remaining melted butter. Bake in a preheated oven on the medium side at 180° for about 20 to 30 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 170° and continue for another 30 minutes. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve warm. __________________________________ RECIPE Apple fritters In Trentino they are made at any time of the year, but especially during Carnival. Ingredients: For the pancakes • 2 Golden apples; • 1 glass of grappa; • 125ml milk; • 20g sugar; • 100g double 0 flour; • 1 egg; Q.b. cinnamon powder. For frying • 500ml sunflower oil. To decorate • Q.b. icing sugar. Preparation: Peel the apples by removing the core and cut them into 0.5 mm slices. Place the apple slices in a bowl and pour in a glass of grappa. Now prepare the batter by separating the yolk from the egg white. In the bowl where the yolk is, add milk, flour, sugar and cinnamon and mix everything with a whisk, avoiding lumps. Separately whisk the egg white and add it to the mixture, stirring from the top downwards so as not to disassemble it. Meanwhile, in a fairly large frying pan, heat the oil. Once hot, dip the apple slices into the batter and then dip them into the oil, letting them brown. As soon as they are drained, place them first on a sheet of paper towels, then on a plate to eat, after having dusted them generously with icing sugar. __________________________________