Articles Index

Potato-Walnut Latkes Recipe - Frittelle di Patate e Noci Per Hanuccá

Since Hanuka commemorates the miraculous oil that kept sacred flame of the Temple alight, it is custom to prepare fried foods. According to Giuliana Vitali Norsa, these potato-walnut frittelle, or latkes, are of oriental origin.

Dr. Stu's Crushed Yukon Gold Potatoes

Potaotes gently boiled, and then browned in butter: a wonderful variation on the simple baked or boiled potato.

Jack Seelye's Baked Sweet Potatoes with Lime and Ginger

This recipe has nothing to do with Italy, but I often enjoyed Jack Seelye's cooking. He says, "I've been annoyed that it is hard to find candied orange or lemon zest in local stores, except at Christmas for fruitcakes. Recently I had a hard time finding crystallized ginger. But since I have a supply, I used it yesterday in my baked sweet potato with lime recipe. It was the hit of Thanksgiving dinner!"

Italian Mashed Potato Recipe - Puré di Patate - Simple Mashed Potatoes

The concept of mashed potatoes may be simple, but mashed potatoes are a universe with all sorts of permutations and variations -- at least in the English speaking world. Italians instead tend to be simple with their mashed potatoes, making them with potatoes, butter, milk, and a dash of spices and seasonings, and then using them to accompany stews or roasts. Which is the perfect use for mashed potatoes, one of the finest supporting actors on the food stage.

Lucanian Baked Potato Casserole Recipe - Patate al Forno alla Lucana

This baked potato casserole is from Basilicata, and is similar to a tiella, though simpler.

Patate alla Griglia - Italian Grilled Potatoes

Grilled potatoes are much easier than you might think, and tasty too.

Italian Stuffed Potato Recipe - Patate Ripiene - Italian Stuffed Potatoes

Potatoes stuffed with ground beef: the perfect stuffed potatoes!

Walnut Croquettes Recipe - Polpette di Noci

Walnut Croquettes: Walnuts are more versatile than many might think, and here is a perfect example. This is an Italian Jewish recipe that will work nicely as a side dish with a stew or a roast with gravy, whose drippings they will absorb.

Italian Boiled Potato Recipe - Patate Lesse

Boiled potatoes are among the simplest things imaginable, and also among the most satisfying; in the past they were also one of the things the poor could afford, and I recall more than one elderly person's eyes lighting up at the memory of gathering around a bowl of them, sprinkling them with a little salt because they had nothing else, and digging in. They are of course infinitely better with olive oil and minced parsley, or butter, or the drippings of a roast.

Rich Potato Salad -- Insalata Ricca di Patate

Potato salad comes in many guises, and though it is often creamy there are other options as well. This potato salad recipe features Provolone cheese.

Baked Potatoes Savoiarda Style - Patate in Crostata alla Savoiarda

Baked potatoes Savoiarda Style is a frankly libidinous, almost sinful combination of cheese and potatoes. In short, a tasty cheesy delight.

Truffled Potatoes - Patate Tartufate - Truffled Potatoes

Truffled Potatoes, or Patate Tartufate: Truffles add magic to almost anything, and potatoes are a perfect foil for them.

Piemontese Stuffed Onion Recipe - Cipolle Ripiene

This Piemontese stuffed onion recipe is drawn from a volume entitled Il Cuoco Piemontese, which was published in 1766, and was one of the first books written in Italian to present French recipes. Like all recipes of the time, it provides general directions rather than detailed instructions.

Fried Potatoes - Patate Fritte

Fried Potatoes, or Patate Fritte: The English call them chips, and the Americans French fries; they're a universal that one can find throughout the world, and are very common in Italy.

Roman fried Potatoes - Patate Fritte alla Romanesca

These fried potatoes are a classic dish that's also called patate a tocchetti, i.e. cubed potatoes. The potatoes should be browned, but not crunch, and go perfectly with abbacchio scottadito (grilled lamb chops), or with grilled pork chops.

Potatoes with Capers Recipe - Patate ai Capperi

Potatoes with Capers is a zesty Piemontese recipe.

Potatoes with Balsamic Vinegar Recipe - Patate all'Aceto Balsamico

Potatoes with Balsamic Vinegar, or Patate all'Aceto Balsamico: Balsamic vinegar goes amazingly well in all sorts of things, from strawberries to steak. Here it's an inspired accompaniment to potatoes.

Potatoes with Sour Cream Recipe - Patate con la Panna Acida

Sour cream is quite rare in most of Italy -- it's not always available in Florentine grocery stores, for example -- but one does find it in Friuli Venezia Giulia, which was long under Austrian rule and has absorbed many Mitteleuropean influences.

Quick Easy Oregano Potatoes Recipe - Patate e Origano

Oregano does a beautiful job of flavoring potatoes in this quick, easy potato recipe from Campania.

International recipe crosstalk: Potato Goulash

International recipe crosstalk: Potato Goulash: With regards to the Tiella recipes I sent out last time, Gary writes that, according to Paola Gavin, author of Italian Vegetarian Cooking, (tiella) "dates to the time of Spanish rule in Southern Italy and is the forerunner of the Spanish dish paella." It's quite possible; in discussing national and regional cuisines we often loose sight of just how fluid borders are, of how short the distances are (especially in Europe).