L'Italo-Americano

LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano already in and, holding the rim of the bowl, toss them g e n t l y u n t i l t h e y a r e a l l well-coated. Shallow fry the celery balls into moderate hot oil u n t i l t h e y a r e g o l d e n b r o w n a l l o v e r , m a k i n g sure they're well spaced. Proceed in batches if need be. As you go, set the fried celery balls on paper tow- e l s o r a b a k i n g r a c k t o drain off their excess oil. Serve your polpette di sedano while they're still warm, if you like on a bed of tomato sauce, or at room t e m p e r a t u r e i f y o u ' r e e n j o y i n g t h e m a s f i n g e r food. Notes on polpette di sedano Be aware that I've writ- ten the instructions above for the kind of celery that is generally grown and sold here in the US. If you are buying your celery else - where, or are using "herita- g e " c e l e r y b o u g h t i n a farmer's market, you will need to make some adjust- ments. In the old days, celery was quite stringy, so old t i m e r e c i p e s c a l l e d f o r r e m o v i n g t h e s t r i n g s before making this dish. This quality has been bred out of most modern celery, but it's worth checking. If you find your celery has some strings, you can pull the strings off easily using a paring knife or peel the outsides of the stalks with a vegetable peeler. Equally, these days most celery, here in the US any- way, is sold without most or even any of its leaves. If y o u r b u n c h h a s s o m e leaves still on, you should t r i m t h e m o f f , b u t a d d some back into the pot as indicated, if you like. And I d o r e c o m m e n d i t . T h e leaves add excellent flavor (a good thing, since some- thing else that's been bred o u t o f m o d e r n c e l e r y i s m o s t o f i t s f l a v o r ) . Y o u should trim off the whitish root end off the stalk as w e l l , a s i t t e n d s t o b e tough. T h e c e l e r y s h o u l d b e perfectly tender after its p r e - b o i l i n g . O l d t i m e recipes calls for boiling the celery for a good 30 min- u t e s , s o m e t i m e s m o r e . Modern celery tends to be quite tender, so 15 minutes or less is usually enough. Variations T h e m o s t t r a d i t i o n a l r e c i p e f o r p o l p e t t e d i s e d a n o c a l l s f o r a m e a t sauce in which you simmer the celery balls before serv- ing. It's obviously non-veg- etarian and more substan- tial than the version pre- s e n t e d i n t h i s p o s t . I ' v e read the dish is traditional- ly served on September 8, f o r t h e f e s t a d e l l a Madonna della Fiera, the f e a s t o f V i r g i n M a r y ' s birth. For the sauce to go with my celery balls, I made a r a t h e r s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d sugo di pomodoro starting with two cloves of garlic, which I gently sautéed in o l i v e o i l , a l o n g w i t h m y secret ingredient—some extra celery leaves—until there were fragrant, then added tomato passata to simmer for some 15 min- utes or so. Tuscany-based blogger Judy Witts makes a sauce scented with garlic a n d r o s e m a r y . B u t a n y simple tomato sauce would go well with these celery balls, in my humble opin- ion. As they do in the more traditional recipes, you can s i m m e r t h e b a l l s i n t h e sauce before serving, much a s y o u w o u l d t h e Abruzzese speciality, pal- lotte cacio e uova, with a s p r i n k l i n g o f g r a t e d cheese on top if you like. The variations for mak- i n g p o l p e t t e d i s e d a n o , some rather subtle, go on and on. You can form the c e l e r y b a l l s i n t o l o g s o r small patties rather than spheres. In some recipes, you flour the balls before r o l l i n g t h e m i n e g g a n d t h e n b r e a d c r u m b s ( t o o much work for little gain, if you ask me). Some add a bit of nutmeg to the celery m i x t u r e ( s o u n d s n i c e ) . Killjoys can bake the celery balls rather than fry them, in a hot (200C/400F) oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. The secret ingredient of celery balls are celery leaves! Use some of them to make the polpette tastier (Photo: Dreamstime) Continued from page 26

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