Not just sweets: here is the savory dish of the Neapolitan Carnival

There is no carnival without the savory milleccio, at least in Naples. Here's how to prepare this delicious recipe typical of Shrove Tuesday.

What do Carnival recipes have in common? That of tending to be very, very substantial . We are not just talking about desserts, but also about the preparations that are usually made for Shrove Tuesday, the last day of revelry before the Lenten fast . Among these is the salted mile, also known as Pizza 'e Farenella , a reinterpretation of the classic Neapolitan dessert.

As it is easy to imagine, since it is an ancient recipe prepared by all the families of the city, there is no real original recipe. It was customary to enrich it with what was available while keeping the semolina base almost unchanged. However, there is no shortage of recipes for polenta miles, prepared with corn flour or savory miles with pasta, a different recipe which we will talk about later. So here is our grandmother's savory mile.

How to prepare the savory milleccio recipe

1. Bring the water with the butter to the boil in a pan.
2. Pour in the semolina , stirring with a whisk and leave to cook for 5 minutes. Turn off and let cool.
3. Separately, break the eggs and whip them with an electric whisk.
4. Add the sifted ricotta , parmesan and finally the semolina .
5. Adjust the consistency of the dough with milk . Season with salt and flavor with plenty of freshly grated black pepper .
6. Finally, add the diced provola and salami and give it a final quick stir.
7. Pour the mixture into a 22cm diameter pan greased and covered with breadcrumbs and cook at 180°C for 50 minutes .
8. Serve the rustic Neapolitan mile when it has completely cooled.

The savory milleccio with pasta that we mentioned at the beginning, however, is prepared in much the same way. It is obtained by adding 150 g of bucatini or spaghetti cooked for a couple of minutes less than what is indicated on the package to the basic dough we have just seen and then putting everything in the oven.

Obviously you can't help but prepare the sweetmilleccio with the classic recipe: what Carnival would it be without it?

storage

The salted Neapolitan millet can be kept for 2-3 days in the refrigerator , well covered. We recommend bringing it back to room temperature before serving.

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