L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 26 L'Italo-Americano LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES FRANK FARIELLO O n e o f m y favorite pas- t i m e s i n t h e k i t c h e n i s finding ways to make under-appreciated and undervalued ingredi- ents shine. I love an under- dog. Take celery for exam- p l e . I t s h o w s u p i n a n y n u m b e r o f r e c i p e s , b u t almost always in a minor supporting role, either as part of the classic soffritto t h a t p r o v i d e s t h e f l a v o r base for so many Italian dishes, or as an aromatic to be thrown into the stock pot along with onions and carrots. Always a brides- maid, never a bride… Well, actually not quite never. There are a handful of recipes that give the oft- n e g l e c t e d v e g e t a b l e i t s c u l i n a r y d u e . T h i s o n e , polpette di sedano or celery balls, is a spe- cialty of Tuscany. Celery stalks (and ideally a hand- ful of leaves too) are boiled until tender, finely minced, then bound together with e g g , g r a t e d c h e e s e a n d breadcrumbs before being rolled into little balls and fried to a golden brown. Polpette di sedano are perfectly delicious as an antipasto or a vegetarian main course, with or with- o u t a n a c c o m p a n y i n g sauce. They're also quite nice served plain, perhaps as finger food to enjoy with a cocktail. Ingredients Makes about 20 celery balls 500-600 g (1lb) celery, cut into lengths, roughly one bunch, plus some of the leaves if you like 100 g (3-1/2 oz) grated parmesan, or a mixture of parmesan and pecorino 100 g (3-1/2 oz) bread- crumbs, or as much as you need to make a solid dough 2 eggs Salt and pepper F o r f r y i n g t h e c e l e r y balls: more breadcrumbs, q.b. oil for frying Optional: A simple tomato sauce Directions Trim the celery stalks (see notes) and cut them into short pieces. Boil the pieces in well salted water u n t i l p e r f e c t l y t e n d e r , a b o u t 1 0 - 1 5 m i n u t e s . I f using the leaves of the cel- e r y , a d d t h e m a b o u t halfway through the cook- ing. Drain the celery well and let it cool in a colander. W h e n c o o l , s q u e e z e a s much liquid out of it as you can out and mince well. Put the minced celery in a large mixing bowl and a d d t h e e g g s , g r a t e d c h e e s e , s a l t a n d a g o o d grind of pepper. Mix every- thing well, then add in the breadcrumbs, as much as y o u n e e d t o b i n d e v e r y - thing together into a kind of dough. Let this rest for about 15-20 minutes. Form the celery mixture into balls about the size of walnuts. A small ice cream scoop makes short work of this task. When you're done, roll t h e c e l e r y b a l l s i n m o r e breadcrumbs so they are well coated. The quickest and easiest way to do this, I find, is to place a few balls in a flat-bottomed mixing bowl with the breadcrumbs Celery balls, or celery polpette, are a delicious, vegetarian friendly option for a "secondo" or an appetizer (Photo: Dreamstime) Celery is very useful in the kitchen, but it rarely becomes the main ingredient in a recipe (Photo: Dreamstime) Tuscan celery polpette Continued to page 28

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