Day 134: Piadine with Kale and prosciutto topping, Mushroom and pesto topping and Smoked salmon and cream cheese topping

 

Donegal are All-Ireland champions! Woo-hoo! I didn’t get to the match but instead watched it from home. I managed to get through the first half ok but my nerves were shot in the second half, so much so that I had to get up and start tidying/dusting/ polishing the living room whilst listening to the match and glancing every few seconds at the TV. It was almost like watching a scary film (not that I like watching scary films) but it was certainly all getting too much. I dreaded the thought of Donegal losing and to go from a 7-point lead to a 3-point lead, it was Mayo’s for the taking at any second.  One goad would have wiped out that lead. Anyway, it's all history now - we won and that’s all that matters. Dear Sister No.1 phoned me afterwards and said the atmosphere was amazing and what better way to celebrate than “The Hills of Donegal” blasting around Croke Park! It’s an amazing achievement for Jim McGuinness, Rory Gallagher, all the players and backroom staff and there’s been such a buzz about the county for the past few weeks that it made me even prouder to be from Donegal. Such a great sense of community.

So, in relation to the Challenge, my main aim was to ensure that I had lunch read up long before the start of the match. I started early – around 12ish, I think. Being a Sunday, I can just about afford to spend more time on a particular recipe so I decided to make the Piadine with the three different toppings – Kale and prosciutto, Mushroom and pesto and Smoked salmon and cream cheese.

The cookbook said to make the Piadine (or La Piadina) and then the toppings but I did it the other way about as this recipe was really four recipes in one. I started by laying out all the ingredients I needed for the toppings and then got on with the piadine. For the piadine, I took a large bowl and into it went plain flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. I gave it a quick swirl and then added in softened butter which I rubbed into the flour mix. Next, I added in milk and warm water and brought it altogether. I then cut it into four pieces, and rolled each piece on a lightly floured surface until each piece was very thin. I cooked each one on a griddle pan on a medium-high heat for a few minutes on each side.

Meanwhile, I got on with the Kale and prosciutto topping. I didn’t actually have prosciutto so I just used ordinary sliced ham instead. I got a lovely big bag of kale at Harry’s local food market yesterday so I began by removing the stalks and centre ribs. I then put it on to fry in a pan along with sliced garlic and seasoning until it wilted.

Next on the list was the Mushroom and pesto topping. I actually used regular mushrooms as I always find button mushrooms so tasteless. I just halved them and then sliced them before sautéing them in a pan with salt and pepper. Once they were slightly browned, I added in cream, grated parmesan and seasoning. I let it bubble on a low heat until I was ready to serve up.

There was no cooking involved for the Smoked salmon and cream cheese topping so I just arranged the ingredients onto plates or into bowls and set everything out on the table. I actually quartered the piadines so that each piece could have a different topping.

  

 

Once arranged, the piadine toppings consisted of the following:

Kale and prosciutto topping: Kale, olive oil, garlic, ham, mascarpone, seasoning.

Mushroom and pesto topping: butter, mushrooms, cream, pesto, parmesan cheese, seasoning.

Smoked salmon and cream cheese topping: smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onion, capers.

The verdict…

When I put everything out on the table, I thought to myself that there was no way that this would feed the four of us or, specifically, Dear Husband – he who has the big appetite; however, there was actually food left over. The piadines were very filling themselves and Dear Son didn’t manage to finish his nor did Baby Daughter. They probably ate half a piadine each. Dear Son had great fun putting together his own combination of toppings so anything that enthuses him to eat  good food I am all for! I gave Baby Daughter a combination of cream cheese and salmon. Dear Husband ate all the toppings and I had the mushroom topping and then kale and cream cheese.

In relation to the three toppings, Dear Husband ranked them as (1) Mushroom and pesto topping; (2) Smoked salmon and cream cheese topping; and (3) Kale and ham topping. The mushroom topping was my favourite by far. Dear Husband awarded the whole lunch 9 marks out of 10 and I would tend to agree with him on this one. It was a fantastic lunch!

Overall, it really was a fantastic lunch. Now, the cook book said it would take 15 minutes preparation and then 25-30 minutes cooking but, to be honest, it probably took me around 1 hour 15 minutes to make it all. In comparison to other recipes, this one required quite a bit of effort although it was very simple. When it came to preparing the three toppings, the cook book listed the ingredients but didn’t exactly state which way to use them so I used my instinct; I know from past experience that my instinct when it comes to cooking, my instincts aren’t always right - remember the meringues’ fiasco?!  Either way, I did use all the ingredients so I’d say I wasn’t far off. I loved preparing all the ingredients and then setting them out onto the table which made it nice for the photo too – just ignore all the scribblings from permanent marker that now feature on my table courtesy of Dear Son.

Yes, this lunch was definitely a bit of a star thus far in this Challenge. There was something to suit all four of us so if you made this recipe yourself, you could include/exclude ingredients to your liking. Despite my perception that this was a light lunch, it was actually very filling with food still left over. Yes, a star indeed, just like the 15 stars on the pitch at Croker today. Now, I’m off to make a cup of tea before The Sunday Game starts and I get to re-live today’s momentous game all over again. Up Donegal!