Potato and Onion Torte: Jane, writes, "I'm a bit frustrated....My great Aunt who is now deceased made an onion pie around the holidays and I was too young to ask the important questions. I recall only the following: Pie crust top AND bottom, onions, red sauce and black olives. There must be more in it and I have no idea how to do it. I have been searching for years. Any suggestions? I would love to make it for Easter. My mom is an invalid and I know she would get a charge out of it.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 pounds (1 k) potatoes
- 12 ounces (300 g) button onions, peeled
- 8 ounces (200 g) ripe tomatoes, sliced, discarding the seeds
- 2 ounces (50 g) salted capers, rinsed well
- 4 ounces (100 g) pitted black olives
- 6 salted anchovies (the kind one buys from a tin in a delicatessen, or 9-10 anchovy filets)
- Milk
- Hot water or meat broth
- Lard
- Olive oil
- Salt
Preparation:
Took a while, but I did find recipe from Basilicata, which borders Puglia, and has a filling similar to Aunt Marietta's pie.
Begin by peeling the potatoes, then chop them and put them in a pot with enough milk to cover and cook them, turning the mixture with a wooden spoon, until you obtain thick mashed potatoes. Use 2/3 of the mashed potatoes to line a lightly greased (with lard, the recipe says, though you can also use oil) oven-proof dish. Put down a layer of onions, followed by one of sliced tomatoes, then one of olives and capers.
Next, rinse, bone and break up the anchovy filets, and sauté them for a few minutes in olive oil. Sprinkle the oil and anchovy mixture over everything else, and brush the edge of the mashed potato "crust" with water. Spread the remaining mashed potatoes over all to form a lid and bake the pie in a moderate oven (370 F, 185 C) until it is pleasingly browned.
A wine? I'd go with a white, perhaps a Castel del Monte Bianco.
Begin by peeling the potatoes, then chop them and put them in a pot with enough milk to cover and cook them, turning the mixture with a wooden spoon, until you obtain thick mashed potatoes. Use 2/3 of the mashed potatoes to line a lightly greased (with lard, the recipe says, though you can also use oil) oven-proof dish. Put down a layer of onions, followed by one of sliced tomatoes, then one of olives and capers.
Next, rinse, bone and break up the anchovy filets, and sauté them for a few minutes in olive oil. Sprinkle the oil and anchovy mixture over everything else, and brush the edge of the mashed potato "crust" with water. Spread the remaining mashed potatoes over all to form a lid and bake the pie in a moderate oven (370 F, 185 C) until it is pleasingly browned.
A wine? I'd go with a white, perhaps a Castel del Monte Bianco.
