2021 Giro d’Italia - Stage 9: Castel di Sangro to Campo Felice
The riders are now headed back up north and are back within the boundaries of Abruzzo, home of today's stage-specific dish. Today’s ride is a mountainous slog. Making matters worse is that the end of the stage includes gravel. After trudging up two category 2, and one category 3 climb (the lower the number the more steep/difficult the endeavor), the riders will then scale up a category 1 climb at the very end, only to meet the perils of loose gravel! The gravel is being compacted by roller, but it will be an interesting finish for sure, as it is also raining. No one will know what to expect until they hit the surface.
Speaking of the unknown, the same thing happened to me when making today’s stage-specific dish: Terrina di patate, cippole e pomodoro - a vegetable casserole. The original recipe said it would only take 30 minutes to bake. I cooked it for an hour and think it could’ve even benefited from an additional 30 minutes. This would be a great end-of-summer or autumn side dish when the tomatoes are super juicy and will marinate the potatoes during the cook.
Potato, Onion and Tomato Casserole adapted from The Italian Regional Cookbook, Valentina Harris (Tags: Italian, Vegetables, Side)
4 medium-sized potatoes
1.5 tbsp dried oregano
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 large, ripe tomatoes, sliced into ¼-inch thick slices
2 red onions, thinly sliced rounds
~1 cup fresh breadcrumbs, as needed
Peel and boil the potatoes for about 5 minutes. Drain and slice into thin discs. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a casserole, and place a layer of potato on the bottom. Sprinkle on some oregano, olive oil, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Top with sliced tomatoes and onion, and a sprinkle of some oregano, olive oil, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper; repeating the process until all vegetables are used up.
Press down the vegetables, if necessary, and top with a generous layer of breadcrumbs.
Bake in the oven for 60-90 minutes. If the breadcrumbs get too dark too soon, cover the casserole with some foil. ____________________________ Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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