The SAVORY MIGLIACCIO is, as one can easily guess, the savory version of the more famous sweet migliaccio, a typical Neapolitan recipe traditionally prepared during the colorful Carnival period.
This savory pie, creamy and rich in flavor, is made with semolina (or fine cornmeal) and ricotta, enriched with cold cuts and cheese. It’s perfect to be served both as an appetizer or as a main dish.
Its consistency will win you over at the first taste, and being a recipe that can be described as ‘leftover-based’, you can make your savory migliaccio different each time by varying the types of cold cuts and cheese you include in the batter.
For this recipe, I like to use a 20 cm diameter pan to get a nice tall migliaccio; but if you prefer, you can use a 22 or even 24 cm pan and you will get a shorter savory migliaccio that will take less time to cook.
Before reading the step-by-step RECIPE below, here are some of my other recipes that may interest you:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: serves for a 20-22 cm cake pan
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter and Spring, Carnival
Ingredients to prepare the SAVORY MIGLIACCIO
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 150 g semolina
- 600 g water
- 40 g butter (or lard as per the original recipe)
- 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 200 g ricotta (creamy)
- 7 g fine salt
- 5-6 tablespoons of milk (if needed)
- 150 g provola cheese (I use the sweet one)
- 120 g Neapolitan salami (or your preferred cold cuts)
Tools
- Electric whisks
- Cake pan springform pan 20-22 cm
- Hand whisk
Steps to prepare the SAVORY MIGLIACCIO
First, in a large enough pot pour the water and add the salt and butter.
Turn on the stove to a medium-high flame and bring the water to a boil, stirring in the meantime with a hand whisk to melt the butter and salt well.
As soon as the water comes to a boil, pour the semolina all at once and immediately start to stir continuously with the whisk to avoid lumps. When a sort of polenta forms, turn off the heat and pour it into a serving dish to let it cool; it will take about 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl pour the eggs and beat them for about half a minute with the electric whisks, then add the Parmesan, continuing to mix.
Then add the ricotta and mix very well until you get a smooth and creamy mixture.
Add now, a little at a time, the semolina polenta, making sure it is COOLED or at most slightly warm; if you add it hot you risk ‘cooking’ the eggs and, moreover, once cooked your savory migliaccio may give off an unpleasant egg smell.
While incorporating the semolina with the electric whisks (at the lowest power) gradually add the milk, to slightly soften the mixture, which should be very creamy and at the same time quite compact; to give you an idea, it should hold the shape you give it with the spatula.
At this point, it’s time to incorporate the provola and salami, cut into cubes of about one centimeter.
Pour the mixture you have obtained into a 20-22 cm springform pan lined with parchment paper and bake in a static oven at 180°C (356°F) for about 60 minutes, possibly on a middle-low shelf of the oven, to facilitate cooking even at the base of your savory migliaccio.
Check the inside cooking with a toothpick before removing from the oven, then let it cool for at least twenty minutes before serving your SAVORY MIGLIACCIO.
Here it is in all its splendor and all its goodness!
Tips, Variations and Storage
The savory migliaccio mixture is perfect and suitable for matching with all kinds of cold cuts and cheeses, so you can use whatever you like each time or whatever you have on hand at the moment.
Instead of salami, for example, you can use cooked ham, speck, bacon.. while instead of sweet provola you can use smoked one, or replace the provola with any pasta filata cheese.
As for the ricotta, I use cow’s milk ricotta, but you can replace it with buffalo or goat ricotta depending on your taste.
Savory migliaccio was essentially born as a leftover recipe, so substitutions based on what you already have at home are welcome!
The savory migliaccio keeps for a couple of days in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap; before serving, bring it back to room temperature or warm it up slightly.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Here are the most ‘frequently asked’ questions about savory migliaccio:
What can be used instead of salami?
You can replace salami with any cold cut, such as speck, bacon, cooked or raw ham.
You could also opt for a vegetarian version, adding for example some sautéed zucchini instead of cold cuts.What can be used instead of sweet provola?
For savory migliaccio you can use any pasta filata cheese, such as scamorza, emmental, Asiago, fontina.
Can any type of ricotta be used for savory migliaccio or only cow’s milk ricotta?
You can use any type of ricotta, from cow’s milk to buffalo or goat ricotta.
What can be used instead of semolina?
you can replace semolina with fine cornmeal, like ‘fioretto’.
