Skip to main content

Tellia, or Italian style "stuffed pizza"

On a lazy Saturday afternoon watching another one of Lidia's Italian shows, I noticed this interesting green pie that she was preparing. It looked intriguing: escarole cooked, stuffed in pastry bread and baked. It reminded me of the cute spinach pies that my mother and aunts prepared. Half way through this show, I was interrupted by someone wanting to watch the fire truck movie. So, I complied before catching the full recipe. I was determined to make this... immediately. Basically, the filling is escarole cooked in garlic, capers, olives and oil. And the dough, half semolina half white flour (I found-using google- someone had the measurements of the crust). And there is the Tellia, as it was called, a pie from Southern Italy, a town called Gaetta between Naples and Rome to be exact. Simple and delicious. A lot easier to make than those delicate Spinach pies the ladies back home make (the spinach needs to be mixed just perfectly, and the pies hand massaged gently into beautiful pyramid like domes - here, it is one large pizza pie). It was a big hit. I am looking forward to using all kinds of greens in this, may be tomato, may be even artichokes, ...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

60th Birthday Cake

Well, I am sorry I missed it, but it did look good. I will post a picture later. The cake I bought was from Three Tarts Bakery in Northbrook (threetartsbakery.com). It is a wonderful family bakery that I should frequent more often. I wanted to get their COLUMBIER CAKE: Almond cake with orange zest, but it called too late. More importantly, the cake was intended for a 60th birthday of a wonderful person. This is what makes the whole occasion that much better. p.s. Elena: we should make that Columbier at home one day!

NAHA

Elie, love the name. Love the picture. Love NAHA. This was my first trip to NAHA and I couldn't have been more satisfied. I walked in with two colleagues and was seated by the window along Clark Street- just beautiful. The space is open and refreshing, but not bare. And the pop music added a kind of informality to what is a very formal dining experience.Because it was cold and rainy (actually, my only pseudo-complaint is that the heat needed to be turned up a bit), I started with the soup of the day- a potato soup. The presentation was beautiful! Cool, fresh tuna in the center of the bowl, the warm soup poured around it table-side.For lunch the halibut with sweet potatoes and other seasonal flavors. It was perfect. The halibut was light and moist, and there was a warm sauce poured on top, which again, was fitting for a rainy October day. I left nothing. Dessert- the almond clafoutis. We all oo'd and ah'd when the desserts came. From the foam creme anglaise to the spaghetti

It really is that good!