Another Ligurian classic, this dish is a perfect new addition to our lunch series. Easy and affordable to make, this delicious regional dish keeps for days in the fridge and works perfectly in a lunchbox, alongside a simple salad.
I know I am trying to sell you the joys of Ligurian cuisine pretty hard. However, I don’t see why I shouldn’t. Ligurian food is often overlooked in UK or American restaurants (with the famous exceptions of gnocchi, pesto, and focaccia). In reality, it has so much more to offer. With the population of Liguria traditionally consisting of generations of farmers and fishermen, our cuisine is mostly pescatarian. It is also often defined a “poor” type of cooking, meaning that it is incredibly affordable and made with food local to the area. However, this doesn’t mean that it lacks on taste. If you think of it, even the famous gnocchi are nothing more than some potatoes, flour, and water. And yet they taste amazing and are famous all over the world. If there is anything my upbringing in Liguria has taught me, it’s that good food doesn’t have to be posh, expensive, or complicate: you can do very well with what you have available. So to honour Ligurian cooking as best as I can, I am bringing out another staple: Fine Bean and Potato Pie.
Also note that this dish is not really a pie in the British or American sense. In Italian it’s called Polpettone, which basically means loaf (like a meatloaf). Yet, I feel that calling this dish a loaf doesn’t sound right. I don’t know, really. Any suggestion for alternative names would be much appreciated.
This is one of my favourite dishes from home, and I make sure I have it every time I go back. I often buy a slice of Polpettone at a bakery and have it for lunch with some tomatoes on the side. However, the best one is what my nans make. They both have a different recipe, like probably every single Ligurian, but they both taste amazing. My recipe is similar to theirs, though for modern life exigencies I have considerably cut down on the olive oil amount. It is still amazing, though.
When my boyfriend and I go for long walks back in my hometown, I almost always pack some of this pie with me and we have it for lunch, sat on a patch of grass or on the beach. One of the pros of this type of dish is that it keeps great for days in the fridge and is so easy to just carry around in a Tupperware or lunchbox. When I made it at the start of the week, I had enough for six big portions and my boyfriend and I have been eating it every other day, with a side of salad, boiled fine beans, or tomatoes. For this reason, I really recommend you pack it for work or uni: you can customize it with whatever side you prefer, you don’t really need to microwave it (unless you want your pies hot) and it is another meatless meal to add to your week. By the sounds of it then, there is really nothing bad to say about this amazing dish.
Just as a word of warning: I know you might be tempted to think you can just chuck all the ingredients in a food processor and blend. But PLEASE, don’t. By blending the potatoes they will release the starch, and everything will become a big mush. And you don’t want that. Instead you should just roughly mash the potatoes with a fork, or a potato masher. I personally don’t own one, so I do what my mum has always done with boiled potatoes: I press them with the bottom of a glass. Which goes to show that even with an unequipped kitchen, nothing is going to stop you making this Fine Bean and Potato Pie. For what concerns the fine beans, simply boil them until they are soft, let them cool down and then roughly chop them with a knife. And there you are, the most difficult part is done. Do you see what I mean now? It’s such a winner.
Ingredients:
2 medium – large potatoes
200 gr fine beans
3 eggs
3 heaped tbsp grated parmesan cheese
2-3 tbsp fine breadcrumbs
1 big onion
1 garlic clove
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Instructions:
Preheat the oven at 200°C.
Peel the potatoes and chop them into big chunks. Boil them for about 12 minutes or until they are soft. In another pot, boil the whole fine beans until they are soft (about 8 minutes or so).
Once they are both done boiling, drain them and leave them to cool down for a few minutes. In the meantime, finely chop an onion and sauté it in a pan with a dash of olive oil and a splash of water. You want the onion to become soft and golden, but not to caramelise. If you see the onion starting to catch, simply lower the heat and add a bit more water to the pan.
Transfer the potatoes to a mixing bowl and mash them with a potato masher, a fork, or a glass. Roughly chop the fine beans and add them to the bowl. Also add the onion, the eggs, the parmesan, a garlic clove, a good ½ tsp of salt and about 3 to 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Mix everything together until well combined.
Taste and see if you need to add salt, parmesan, or olive oil (remember that potatoes absorb a lot of salt and oil so you will need to use more than you normally would). Pour the mixture in a baking tin (I used a rectangular one) and even it with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Sprinkle about 2 tbsp of fine breadcrumbs over the mixture and drizzle another 2 tbsp of olive oil. If you want to be full Ligurian, you can lightly press a fork on the pie to create a pattern before putting the tin in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the loaf is looking golden brown on the surface. Serve with a side of salad, chopped tomatoes, or whatever takes your fancy.
This pie can be kept in the fridge for 5 days.
Enjoy!