Ingredients
Liguria
In Liguria herbs and vegetables as well as seafood find their way into the cuisine. Savory pies and cakes are popular in the region. Onions and olive oil are used. The Ligurians, constricted by a lack of land suited to wheat productions made the most of chick-pea in farinata (plain or topped with onion, artichokes, sausage, cheese or young anchovies) and polenta-like panissa. Hilly or mountainous districts used chestnuts as a ready source of carbohydrates and sugar. Ligurian pastas include corzetti from the Polcevera valley, pansoti, a triangular shaped ravioli filled with vegetables, piccagge, pasta ribbons made with a small amount of egg and commonly served with artichoke sauce or pesto, trenette, made from wholewheat flour cut into long strips and served with pesto, boiled beans and potatoes, and trofie, a Ligurian gnocchi made from wholegrain flour or white wheat flour, made into a spiral shape and cooked with beans and potatoes and often tossed in pesto. Many Ligurians were forced to emigrate in late XIX and early XX centuries; as a result, Argentina style Asado a la cruz can be found in local fairs during summer.
Unique dishes by region
Liguria
* Pizza all'Andrea – Focaccia-style pizza topped with tomato slices (not sauce) onions and anchovies
* Scabeggio - fried fish marinated in wine, garlic, lemon juice and sage, typical of Moneglia
* Baccalà fritto - morsels of salt cod dipped in flour batter and fried
* Torta pasqualina – savory flan filled with a mixture of green vegetables, ricotta and parmigiano cheese, milk and marjoran; some eggs are then poured in the already-placed filling, so that their yolks will remain whole and firm when cooked
* Buridda – seafood stew
* Mosciamme - originally a cut of dolphin meat dried and then made tender again thanks to immersion in olive oil, since several decades the dolphin meat has been substituted with tuna
* Mescciüa - a soup of chickpeas, beans and wheat grains, typical of eastern Liguria and likely of Arab origin
* Cima alla genovese - this cold preparation features an outer layer of beef breast made into a pocket and stuffed with a mix of brain, lard, onion, carrot, peas, eggs and breadcrumbs, then sewn and boiled. It is then sliced and eaten as an entrée or a sandwich filler
* Stecchi alla genovese - wooden skewers alternating morsels of leftover chicken meats (crests, testicles, livers...) and mushrooms, dipped in white bechamel sauce, left to dry a bit and then breaded and fried
* Pansoti - triangle-shaped stuffed pasta filled with a mix of borage (or spinach) and ricotta cheese, they can be eaten with butter, tomato sauce or a white sauce made with either walnuts or pine nuts (the latter two being the more traditional ligurian options)
* Bianchetti - Whitebait of anchovies and sardines, usually boiled and eaten with lemon juice, salt and olive oil as an entrée
* Maccheroni con Trippa - A traditional savonese soup uniting maccheroni pasta, tripe, onion, tomato, sausage, thistle, parsley and white wine in a base of capon broth
* Condigiun - a salad made with tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, black olives, basil, garlic, anchovies, hard boiled egg, oregano, tuna.
* Sgabei - fritters made from bread dough (often incorporating some cornmeal in it)
* Testa in cassetta - a salami made from all kind of leftover meats from pork butchering (especially from the head)
* Galantina - similar to Testa in cassetta but with added veal meat
* Torta di riso - Unlike all other rice cakes this preparation is not sweet, but a salted cake made with rice, caillé, parmigiano and eggs
* Panera genovese - a kind of semifreddo rich in cream and eggs flavoured with coffee, similar to a cappuccino in ice cream form
* Cappon Magro – a preparation of fish, shellfishes and vegetables layered in an aspic
* Cobeletti – sweet corn tarts
* Latte dolce fritto - a thick milk based cream left to solidify, then cut in rectangular pieces which are breaded and fried
* Pandolce – sweet bread made with raisins, pine nuts and candied orange and cedar skins
* Panissa and Farinata – chickpea-based polentas and pancakes respectively
* Farinata di zucca - a preparation similar to chickpea farinata substituting pumpkin for the legumes' flour as its main ingredient, the end result is slightly sweeter and thicker than the original
* Agliata - Pesto's direct ancestor, a spread made from garlic cloves, egg yolk and olive oil pestled in a mortar until creamy
* Trenette col pesto - Pasta with Pesto (Olive Oil, garlic, Basil, Parmigiano and Pecorino Sardo cheese) sauce
Directions
Notes
For original text see Wikipedia, "Italian Food." |
