Home Italy Revisited Bookshelf Plays About Mary Melfi Contact Us
in
X Italian Vegetable and Side Dishes
lettuce cake rice stuffed rolls
Lettuce Cakes (Lettuce leaves rolls, stuffed with rice, cheese and eggs, served with lemon-flavored sauce)
Originated from: Italy
Occasion: Any time
Contributed by: Taken from "Italian Recipes for Food Reformers" by Maria Gironci (1905)

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients

1 lettuce

for filling
4 ounces rice
onion
parsley
2 ounces cheese
3 eggs

for sauce
2 eggs
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 a cup of the liquid the lettuce cakes were cooked in

for garnish
grated cheese



Directions

Take the leaves of one large lettuce, wash them in cold water, then put them for three or four minutes into boiling water. Smooth out on a pasteboard, and put in the centre of each leaf the following mixture: four ounces of half-cooked rice, a dessert-spoonful each of finely-chopped onion and parsley, two ounces of grated cheese, pepper and salt to taste.

Mix well with three well-beaten eggs.

Roll each leaf tightly, and tie with thread.

Place the cakes round a pan, cover with warm water, and cook over a slow fire for half an hour.

Remove the thread, arrange on a dish, and pour over the following sauce: half a cup of the liquor [liquid] the cakes were cooked in, the juice of one lemon, and two well-beaten eggs stirred in by degrees.

Serve with grated cheese.




Notes

The recipe in this entry was taken from "Italian Recipes for Food Reformers" translated and arranged by Maria Gironci. The book was published in London by George Bell and Sons in 1905. Most of Maria Gironci's recipes in "Italian Recipes for Food Reformers" were originally published in the author's first book, titled, "Recipes of Italian Cookery." The second edition of this cookbook was published in 1892 in London by Gaskill & Webb. "Italian Recipes for Food Reformers" caters to vegetarians, omitting all meat-based dishes. Unfortunately, Maria Gironci's wonderful cookbooks are not yet available at www.archive.org, though reprints are available through reputable publishers. According to the Library of Congress all books published before 1923 are in the public domain.... Photo: Mary Melfi.

Back to main list