In the land of tortelli, gnocco fritto, cappelletti, crescentine and rice cake there is another dish that reigns supreme:weedy. A savory pie typical of the gastronomic tradition of the province of Reggio Emilia, originally known as "scarpasòun", which referred to a peasant recipe which foresaw the use of stalk of beets – the harder white part also called shoe – which was enclosed in two sheets of dough made of flour, lard, salt and water, covered with lard. Subsequently, this Reggio specialty was gradually enriched with excellent Emilian products, becoming "erbazzone", a food protected by the Consortium for the protection of Erbazzone Reggiano which has the objective of promoting and defending its production and marketing. Furthermore, the Ministry of Agricultural Policies has included it in the list of traditional Italian agri-food products (PAT).
Simple and quick to make, today'serbazzone is made with two thin discs of puff pastry or brisè that enclose a filling made of spinach, herbs or chard mixed with a rich sautéed onion, lard or bacon base and plenty of grated Parmesan . The disc placed on the surface of the cake is perforated and greased with lard. But let's see the prescription.
How to prepare the herbaceous
Ingredients
For the filling:
1,5 kg of spinach or chard
1 bunch of fresh, green stemmed spring onions
a handful of parsley
60 g of ham or bacon lard
4 tablespoons of olive oil
50 g of butter
2 cloves of garlic
4 or 5 handfuls of Parmigiano Reggiano
salt and pepper as required
For pasta:
200 g flour
1 nut of lard
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
lukewarm water to taste
For the ricotta pasta:
220 g flour
50 g of ricotta
1 nut of lard
2 tablespoons of olive oil
tepid water, salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Melt the fat of the ham on the fire, adding the crushed garlic and the chopped spring onions together with the stalks. Add oil and butter. Leave the spring onions to dry – without burning them – and add the spinach (already boiled and squeezed). Leave to flavor with salt and pepper. Once everything has cooled, remove the garlic, add the finely chopped parsley and the Parmigiano Reggiano. At this point, prepare the dough: put the flour, salt, oil in a bowl and then slowly pour in the warm water, taking care to mix until everything is mixed and you get a smooth and homogeneous dough which will have to rest for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator covered with cling film. After the necessary time, divide it into two parts. Roll one part with the cinnamon, place it in the oiled mold and pour the pesto. Roll out the other part thinner than the first, flour it and wrap it in floured cinnamon: press the two ends of the dough towards the center of the rolling pin and let the rippled dough slide over the pesto. After pricking the surface with a fork, put everything in the oven at 200° for about 30 minutes.
A few minutes after it is fully cooked, grease the surface with a piece of lard.
Excellent to be eaten hot or at room temperature, theerbazzone can be enjoyed as a quick appetizer a hearty snack or during a picnic.
The mountain herb
There is a variant of the Apennine areas of Castelnovo ne' Monti-Carpineti: themountain weed with rice. A legacy of the rice field workers between the late 800s and mid 900s. Moving from the mountains to the plains, they learned the recipe for Erbazzone and adapted it to the mountain context with the addition of rice. Unlike the classic version, the montanaro is thicker and is not covered on the surface except sometimes by a brush of egg icing or a sprinkling of sugar grains. For some years in Carpineti an event called "Scarpazzone in forma" has been held in the summer to celebrate the typical mountain herb.
Other dishes such as le salty chips and weeds. The former are small squares of puff pastry baked or fried with the same mixture as theerbazzone, typical of Carnival, the latter are small lozenges of dough, filled with the same filling as theerbazzone and fried in lard, very similar with fried dumplings.
