I promised some other recipes from the old ladies in the rest home and the first of these is from them. The second is a dish that is popular in the Italian/Swiss border Alpine regions. Both are potato based.

Both are very tasty and only contain something like 5,000 calories per 100g portion

"Tortino di purè"
(Mashed potato pie)

Ingredients:
Potatoes
Milk
Salt
Nutmeg
Thin sliced ham
Fontina cheese (cheddar will do too)
Béchamel sauce
Grated Parmesan

Preparation:
Using a pie dish make layers of mash, ham, cheese and bèchamel.
Repeat with one more layer.
Top this with some grated parmesan and a little grated nutmeg.

Place in a hot oven at 180°C for approx 15 minutes.


"Taroz"
Ingredients:
(for 4 people)
600g of potatoes
400g of green (string)beans
50g of sliced pancetta (bacon)
100g of fontina (or cheddar) cheese
50g of butter
1 medium onion

Preparation:
Peel the potatoes and put them on to boil. When the salted water is boiling add the cleaned beans and cook them together.

Take a large frying pan and fry the thinly sliced onion together with the pancetta in the butter, but take care that this does not become too crispy.

When the vegetables are cooked, drain them and add them to the frying pan, mix them well with a wooden spoon making sure they break up and they absorb the onions and pancetta.

Slice the cheese and lay slices on top of the vegetables and cover the pan. When the cheese begins to melt remove from the heat and serve.

This is usually a main dish. It is, on the Swiss side, often eaten with veal bratwurst (sausage).

Hope you ENJOY!

Puré is delicious, I used to eat it a lot when my grandma was younger and still cooked often! Never heard about Taroz though, it seems good from the recipe, I'll have to try it (and try not to poison myself)

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Thank you Calimero for remembering and taking the time to post more recipes from the old ladies. There is something special about older Italian recipes, as if they had the secret to how food is suppose to be prepared. Just reading your recipe collection I can smell the bacon and potatoes. As soon as I'm off my diet I will celebrate my weight loss with 'Old Ladies Potato and Bacon 'recipes ! Arrivederci !