Not only sweets: here is the salty mileage of the Neapolitan Carnival

There is no carnival without the salty mileage, 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're 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 salty mileccio, also known as Pizza 'e Farenella , a reinterpretation of the classic Neapolitan dessert.

As it is easy to understand, 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 miles of polenta, prepared with cornmeal or salty miles with pasta, a different recipe that we'll talk about later. So here is our grandmother's salty mileage.

How to prepare the salted millet recipe

1. Bring the water with the butter to the boil in a saucepan.
2. Sprinkle in the semolina , stirring with a whisk and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off and leave to cool.
3. Separately, break the eggs and whip them with electric whisks.
4. Add the sifted ricotta , the Parmesan and lastly the semolina .
5. Adjust the consistency of the dough with the milk . Season with salt and season with plenty of freshly grated black pepper .
6. Lastly, add the diced provolone and salami and give it one last quick stir.
7. Pour the mixture into a 22 cm diameter buttered pan covered with breadcrumbs and cook at 180°C for 50 minutes .
8. Serve the rustic Neapolitan mileccio when it has completely cooled down.

The salty mileccio with pasta which we mentioned at the beginning, on the other hand, is prepared in much the same way. It is obtained by adding to the base dough that we have just seen 150 g of bucatini or spaghetti cooked for a couple of minutes less than indicated on the package and then putting it all in the oven.

Obviously you can't not prepare the sweetmiles with the classic recipe: what Carnival would be without?

storage

The salted Neapolitan mileccio can be kept for 2-3 days in the refrigerator , well covered. We advise you to bring it back to room temperature before serving.