LA BUONA CUCINA AMERICANA - MADE IN AMERICA - SCALLOPED POTATOES

Recreating the dishes that remind us of home, or of a different time in our lives can be difficult, even under the best of circumstances. There are some dishes that I make that will NEVER taste as good as my mom’s. Even though I use the same recipes and follow her instructions and techniques, some dishes just taste better when someone else makes them.

Here in Italy recreating special recipes from the states can be even more challenging. Sometimes the ingredients for our favorite recipes can’t be found here; no cheddar cheese for macaroni and cheese, no cream of mushroom soup for a quick and easy broccoli casserole (yes, I could make the soup from scratch, and have, but adding that step requires either advance preparation or a lot of extra time). Biscuits or pie crusts can be made with lard, which is easily found in Italy, but I’m used to using vegetable shortening, which is not. I haven’t yet found an acceptable substitute for the American bacon I use to make German potato salad, but I can make meatloaf with mashed potatoes.

Scalloped potatoes are a wonderful way to dress up potatoes and warm up the kitchen. Here’s the basic recipe, but you can make it into a main dish with the addition of ham, or you can add some cheese to sauce and topping. Cheddar, parmesan, or asiago would all work well.

Scalloped Potatoes

1 yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 ¼ cups milk
Salt and pepper
3 potatoes (about 1 lb)

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Grease a 1 ½ qt casserole dish with butter and set aside.

In a small saucepan cook the onion and garlic in butter til soft. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Add milk all at once and cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened and bubbly.


Thinly slice the potatoes and put half into the casserole dish. Pour half the sauce over the potatoes, then add the rest of the potoates and top with the remaining sauce.

Cover the casserole and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for an additional 30 minutes.

Serves 4


La vera Cucina Americana....
ITALIAN VERSION….IN ITALIANO…

Sformato Americano di Patate


1 cipolla gialla, tagliata
1 spicchio aglio, tagliata
60 g burro
2 cucchiai Farina 00
300 ml Latte
circa un cuchiaino raso di sale
pepe qb
3 patate (circa 500 gr)

Scaldate il forno a 175º C

Imburrate una casseruola coperta di 1.5 litri.
In una piccola padella, saltate la cipolla e l'aglio

in burro finchè sono morbidi e trasparenti.
Incorporate la farina, il sale ed il pepe. Aggiungate
tutto il latte e cucinatelo su un fuoco medio,
mescolandolo fino a è consistente e pieno di bolle.

Affettate le patate sottili e mettete la metà nella
casseruola. Versate la metà della salsa sopra le
patate, quindi aggiunga il resto delle patate e
copritele con il resto della salsa.

Coprite la casseruola e infornatela per 40 minuti.
Scopritela e lasciatela cuocere per 30 minuti in più.

Servitela calda. Per 4 persone