GENOA STYLE FRIED MIXED VEGETABLES

Ingredients:

Artichokes, spinach, chards, beans, courgettes,     lettuce, cardoons, prickly lettuce and/or other vegetables approx. 1 kg
Grated cheese 60g	Garlic half a clove
Breadcrumbs approx. 50g	Pepper as required
Sweet Marjoram half a spoonful	Salt as required
Egg 3	Olive oil, plenty

Preparation 

This is a characteristic fried dish which can be made with artichokes, spinach, chards, beans, courgettes, lettuce, borage, cardoons, prickly lettuce etc. to taste. 

We should first mention that the vegetables should never be boiled in water, as is commonly done, but, after having been washed, drained and chopped up, should be allowed to cook very slowly with oil and salt in a covered container. In this way, the vegetables can, after a very slow cooking process, remain in the water just long enough to finish cooking. This is made easier also by the heat which is released and that cannot easily get out of the container. 

The main ingredient of the fried dish is the vegetables, which should, therefore, dominate and account for approximately two thirds of the total mixture. The remaining third is made up of a mixture of plenty of grated cheese, breadcrumbs, egg and flavourings. 

For fried chards, for example, and this can then be used as a reference for the other variations, first calculate a bundle of raw chard, weighing approximately one kilogram, for four people, and, after having cooked them, wring them out and place in a dish. 

Put 50g breadcrumbs that you will then dampen and wring out, plenty of grated parmesan cheese (approx. 60g), half a spoonful of sweet marjoram leaves, half a clove of finely chopped garlic, salt, pepper, spices and three eggs into another dish. 
Lightly fry everything and mix with the chards. Take a 20cm diameter frying pan, add plenty of oil and when this is warm, pour the mixture into the frying pan, level it and allow it to cook slowly. 

This characteristic fried vegetable dish should be at least three centimetres thick and golden outside while still very soft inside. 


THE DISH

This fried dish is a little different, both in its preparation method and its ingredients. 
There are a lot of vegetables that tend to dominate the flavour of the egg, which, from a usual primary role, assumes a secondary position. This is certainly a simple dish, but it opens the way to the use of any type of vegetable, with no exceptions, both individually and mixed. 


THE WINE

As the dominant flavour is that of the vegetables, the importance of the egg presence is minimal. We are dealing with an only very slightly structured dish of delicate flavours, perhaps with a slightly bitter underlying tone. 

It should be accompanied by a mature, soft, only slightly alcoholic white wine, with an average structure and a faintly bitter taste to harmonise with that of the vegetables. 


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