The difference between English and Italian always fascinates me, especially when it comes to cooking terms. Not only does Italian sound beautiful, it often seems more accurate and visual. Take, for example, one of the Italian terms used for stuffing. When stuffing vegetables, squid or mussels, the word used is ripieni/e, which literally translates to re-filled. When I scrape out the centre of a zucchini or eggplant, or the guts of a calamari, I am visualising a new filling, un ripieno.
The English term, stuffed, seems much less desirable: it sounds crude and ordinary. In the last twenty years or so, the word has become the more acceptable term for the volgare, to fuck. ‘I’m stuffed, I can’t be stuffed, stuff it, get stuffed!’- are now quotidian versions of that vulgar form, but we all know what is indicated. How language evolves! I know that when I’m really annoyed, or sometimes even playful, I head straight to the ancient, Germanic sounding version, and don’t waste my time with stuffing or any grammatical forms thereof.
The recipe below makes an easy and fast entrée and is a good stand by.
Funghi Ripieni con Stracchino e Gremalata/ Stuffed Mushrooms with Stracchino and Gremolata.
- 8 large Portobello mushrooms, stems removed
- ½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil or more
- ¼ of one round of Stracchino cheese
- 1 cup day old breadcrumbs, sourdough or other rustic bread
- 2 teaspoons very finely chopped fresh rosemary
- finely chopped fresh oregano
- 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic,or to taste.
Heat oven to 180c.
Lay mushrooms on lined baking tray. Use foil or baking paper as this enables the juice to be retained as the mushrooms cook. Fill the cavities with lumps of Stracchino cheese.
Mix the chopped herbs and garlic with half the breadcrumbs, wet a little with the oil. Add to the top of the cheese filled mushrooms. Add more crumbs to the top.
Using an oil pourer, liberally dress the top of the mushrooms with oil as well as around the base. You want some oil to reach under the mushrooms too.
Cook in the oven until the tops begin to brown and the mushrooms soften. The mushrooms will ooze some lovely juice. Serve two per person, drizzle with the juice from the pan and add a side salad of dressed bitter leaves such as radicchio.
Note- in the past I have tended to use fetta or even better, Persian fetta to stuff mushrooms, along with thyme and garlic in the topping. Stracchino cheese makes a nice change, given that it is a runny and very bland cheese, allowing the stronger tasting herbs to star.
ALMOST ITALIAN 
Molto buono Signora Quasi Italiana, the marito would like these. I have a fennel dish to post that I think you’ll like too
LikeLiked by 1 person
Grazie Signorina Napolitana. Il formaggio diverso, il Stracchino, e` buonissimo con questi funghi.
A dish with fennel- excellent. It will remind me of teaching the young year 7s Italian and their laughter every time the word ‘finocchio’ appeared in the text and good old Dario.
LikeLike
No matter what one is saying, in Italian it will always sound better. I still remember the Italian version of ‘F— You’ and the literal translation was ‘go make yourself’. Haha, I love that one, and always wished I had the courage to use it! Mi piace molto, funghi ripieni. Tante gracie la mi’amica! (e giusto?)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Si`, e` giusto ma – grazie con ‘z’. Ah Ardys, back to the land of the red biro- I spent years marking Italian papers, a fading memory, Grazie a Dio!
Italian swearing is so creative that the simple ‘fottere’ sounds so boring when you can combine all sorts of other body parts and actions with saints and the madonna. English swearing really lacks colour although sounds blunt and to the point.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, a ‘z’. Ho dimenticato! xx
LikeLike
You crack me up. I adore a stuffed veggie and will have to try the Stracchino cheese for a change.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Stracchino find was a random thing but it works nicely- not so salty.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ripieni or stuffed, the mushrooms look delicious, refilled, ripe and ready to eat. I’m having a love affair with goats cheese at the moment but could be seduced back to Italian cheeses with little effort… I’ll loom out for Stracchino.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Goats cheese – yum- I love it too. But can’t eat it too often, unles of course, I’m in France…..
LikeLike
It sounds so exotic (as you say) but it’s just stuffed mushrooms. They look pretty good though!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Italian language is just more accurate- not so much exotic. Yes, that’s all they are, ‘just stuffed mushrooms’.
LikeLike
I love the sound of the Italian accent let alone the specificity of terms.
LikeLike
Terms and sounds aside, these stuffed funghi make my mouth water!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, they are a little mor ‘italiano’ with Stracchino cheese I feel.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That they are…:)
LikeLike
Ah, the beauty of language… a lovely post, Francesca xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post! I think I use filling, but that’s not much better than stuffing!!! Great mushrooms!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Filling is , too me, much better.
LikeLike
It not only sounds beautiful .. But it tastes great. I love Italian ..
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m with you…I’m now more familiar with French but if I was to choose only one cuisine, it would have to be Italian…
LikeLiked by 1 person