Capun

Cologna is a village in the municipality of Pieve di Bono-Prezzo.
Several families from Cologna settled in the Central Valley of California. The church in Cologna is named St. Rocco. August 16th is the feast day of St. Rocco, and in Cologna there is always a large celebration. Many of our members in the Central Valley do the same. Capun is a delicacy made on this occasion (note some refer to it as capuc). Below the recipe. Enjoy!

Recipe
2 loaves of dried grated French bread
2 loaves of fresh bread soaked in ½ gallon of milk
6 bunches of Swiss chard, cut and sauteed
2 large bags of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and sauteed 2 lbs. parmesan cheese, grated
1 lb. Swiss cheese, grated
2 lbs. dry jack cheese, grated
12 Italian sausages, casing removed and sauteed
2 lbs. bacon, chopped and sauteed
1 lb. butter, melted
1 ½ head of garlic, chopped and sauteed
4 yellow onions, chopped and sauteed
2 white onions, chopped and sauteed
6 eggs
1 head of celery, chopped
1 bunch of parsley, chopped
Salt & pepper

Mix all the ingredients together well. Make into paddies 2 ½” x 2 ½”. Wrap in concord grape leaves and tie with string in pairs of two – with the ingredients above, about 60 pairs. Place in salted boiling water for 20 minutes.

Canederli di Spinaci (Spinach Canederli)

Canederli di Spinaci (Spinach Canederli)

300 grams (10.5 ounces) of dried bread cut into cubes, 2 eggs, 50 grams (1/3 cup) of flour,  1/8 liter (1/2 cup) of milk, 1 onion, a little bit of butter, 400 grams (14 ounces) of
chopped, cooked spinach, salt, pepper, nutmeg, 50 grams (1/3 cup) of grated parmesan

Put the bread in a bowl, and pour the milk over the bread. While the bread is absorbing the milk, sauté the onion in butter. Then mix in the spinach and add a bit of nutmeg and pepper. Cover with a lid and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Beat the eggs and add them to the bowl with the bread, along with the spinach, flour, salt and cheese. Use your hands
to mix all the ingredients together as though you were kneading bread. Form small canederli balls. Place them in boiling, salted water and cook them lightly for 15 minutes. Top them with with a bit of melted butter and grated parmesan. Note these are
not served in broth as traditional canederli. Also, Maria found that some were following
apart in boiling water and opted to place them in the oven rather than boil them. Either
boiled or baked, you’ll be in Trentino heaven with this recipe Maria shared with us.

By Maria Mortati