PROCEDURE: Cut the vegetables into small pieces and put them into a big saucepan with the vegetable stock and cured meat. Leave to boil for a bit and then add the pearl barley. Continue simmering on a low heat for at least three hours, stirring now and again with a wooden spoon. As soon as the soup thickens, serve piping hot with the grated Grana Trentino cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

Strangolapreti

Serves: 6 people

Preparation time: about 3.30 hours

INGREDIENTS: 1 kg of dry bread, 500 g of spinach, 2 eggs, 100g of Grana Trentino cheese, 100g butter, half a litre milk, a little white flour, a few leaves of sage, olive oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

PROCEDURE: Cut the dry bread into small cubes and leave the cubes to soak in the warmed milk for about three hours.In the meantime, after boiling the spinach in lightly-salted water, toss the leaves in a pan with the butter, salt , pepper and nutmeg and add them to the bread and milk mixture. Finely chop the onions and brown them in the oil, before adding them to the mixture together with the grated Grana Trentino, the eggs, the salt and a little white flour. Mix the ingredients into a ‘dough’ and make the individual strangolapreti (usually shaped like gnocchi). Tip them into salted, boiling water and drain them as soon as they rise to the surface again. Finally, pour hot melted butter flavoured with the sage leaves over them, add a sprinkling of grated Grana cheese and serve.

Carne salada con fasoi (Salted beef and beans)

Serves: variable number

Preparation time: 30 mins

INGREDIENTS: Fresh salted beef, borlotti beans, onions, extra-virgin olive oil, Grana Trentino cheese, salt, pepper.

PROCEDURE: Slice the salted beef thinly, dip the slices in the olive oil and grill them quickly on the hot-plate. Serve on warmed plates together with the beans, dressed with extra-virgin olive oil, raw onion slices and salt and pepper. Alternatively, the salted beef can be served uncooked in the same way as ‘carpaccio’, sliced wafer-thin and dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and flakes of Grana Trentino cheese.

Capussi con luganeghe (Cabbage with sausage-meat)

Serves: 4

Cooking time: 2 hours

INGREDIENTS: 1 large cabbage, onion, smoked bacon, luganeghe sausage-meat, smoked loin, extra-virgin olive oil, meat-stock.

PROCEDURE: Slice the cabbage finely and put it into a pan with some oil and the chopped onion. Brown the ingredients, adding the smoked bacon and a little of the stock and leave to cook for about two hours. In the meantime boil the smoked loin and sausage-meat for a short time to remove the fat, and add the meat to the cabbage mixture towards the end of the two hours to amalgamate the flavours.

Torta di carote (Carrot cake)

Preparation: 20 minutes

Baking time: 40-60 minutes

INGREDIENTS: 300g grated carrot, 150g sugar, 150g flour, 150g chopped almonds, 4 eggs, 1 sachet of raising agent, peel of 1 lemon, salt.

PROCEDURE: Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, and mix in the carrots, flour, almonds and lemon peel. Whisk the egg-whites separately until risen and add to the carrot misture together with the raising agent and a pinch of salt. Bake in a hot oven for 40-60 minutes. Serve with a sprinkling of icing sugar on top.

Strudel di mele (Apple strudel)

Preparation time: 50 mins

Baking time: 50 mins

INGREDIENTS: 6 thinly-sliced apples, 300g white flour, 1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk, 100g butter, 3 spoonfuls sugar, half a glass milk, 50g sultanas, pine kernels, powdered cinnamon, salt.

PROCEDURE: Pour the flour onto a work surface and, with 50g butter, the whole egg, the slightly warmed milk and salt, work the ingredients into a smooth, soft dough. Leave to rest for 15 minutes. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible and put the apples, sultanas, pine-kernels, sugar, cinnamon and remainder of the butter on top, making sure to leave a 3cm border around the edge. Lift the edge of the dough and start rolling it up to form a large sausage shape. Place the roll on a greased and floured baking tray, brush with the egg-yolk and bake in a hot oven for about 50 minutes. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.