A childhood favourite revisited

A couple of weeks ago I spent three days with my cousin and his new bride. They passed through Milan during their honeymoon tour of Italy and while we took in the sights and shopping that Milan has to offer, we also did a lot of catching up and reminiscing.  One thing that my cousin mentioned, was how no-one made certain dishes from our childhood anymore. One in particular, was a breaded, skewered delight that was a huge favourite with everyone.  There wasn’t a single family bbq, party or gathering of any kind where these weren’t served.  Then suddenly, almost without anyone noticing they became less frequent until I can honestly say that I don’t remember the last time we had them.

I can still hear my cousin’s voice as he asked Why doesn’t anyone make those anymore?

Why indeed?

So a few days after they left I wrote an email to my aunts and asked them about this dish and if any of them knew or remembered how my grandmother made them.

Sure enough I got several responses the same day, everyone remembering how good they were, but no-one had any idea why they hadn’t appeared at a family gathering in years.

So, I dedicate today’s post to my cousin because if it hadn’t been for him I probably wouldn’t have thought to dig this recipe up!

The quantities listed below serve 4.

450 gr of veal, pork or chicken

1 red or green pepper

1 onion

15 ml extra virgin olive oil

75 gr misto per soffritto

250 ml white wine

parsley

1 egg

bread crumbs as required

salt and pepper

2 cloves of garlic

oil for frying

a package of wooden skewers

The first thing you need to do is cut the meat and vegetables into bite sized pieces.  To make this easier, I but the veal in the freezer for about an hour.

Marinate the meat for 30 minutes in white wine, minced garlic and parsley. Remove from the liquid and add salt and pepper to taste. Do not discard the liquid, you will need it later.

Prepare the skewers to your liking. I made two types, one with the onion and red pepper and the other without any veggies at all.

Once all the skewers are ready it’s time to bread them.

First a dip in the egg.

Then the bread crumbs

When all the skewers have been breaded they need to be fried for just a few minutes on each side so that the breading will set.

Breaded and read to go

These are the skewers without veg, breaded and ready to go

Be careful not to over cook the skewers when you fry them.

After you have fried the skewers, remove them from the pan and place them in a large roasting pan.

In a small frying pan, heat the olive oil and saute the misto per soffritto, then add the liquid used to marinate the meat.  Leave on a medium heat for about 5 minutes then pour over the skewers.

Cover with foil and put in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes. Remove foil and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.

These are great additions to a bbq because they can be kept warm in the roasting pan on the grill.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!