Name: Polpettone (Potato–String Bean Tart)
Yield: Makes one 12-inch/30-cm tart
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 3 large eggs, lightly beaten; 1¼ pounds/1 kilo boiling potatoes, peeled, cut into pieces; 1 cup/115 g freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; Freshly ground black pepper to taste; ¾ pound/340 g string beans, preferably slender; 1 tablespoon/15 ml Ligurian extravirgin olive oil; 1 clove garlic, green heart removed, minced; 1 tablespoon/7 g fresh oregano or thyme, torn into small pieces; ½ cup/60 g prescinseua or ricotta; fine sea salt to taste; 2 tablespoons/15 g fresh Italian (flat) parsley, minced; 1 cup/115 g fine unflavored bread crumbs

Preparation info

Makes
one
12 inch

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Recipes from Paradise

By Fred Plotkin

Published 1997

About

This popular dish, called porpetton de faxolin in dialect, is irresistible. Polpettone in the rest of Italy means meat loaf, but in vegetable-crazy Liguria there is no meat in sight. This tart is wonderful as a snack, an antipasto, or a main course. For Ligurians it has the particular association of being the food that is packed to take along for hikes and country outings.