Recipe & Video How to make a traditional Pitina

Flawed

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 May 2021
Local time
1:41 PM
Messages
63
Location
UK
Website
www.thecraftcookhouse.com
Thought you might be interested in my guide on how to make a Pitina. If you have never tried to make your own salami or salume or cured meat and fish this is an easy peasy starter recipe that requires no specialist equipment and no casings/intestines. In short, it's a cured meatball you can dry age in your fridge and takes about 3 weeks then its ready. This can also be kosher depending upon what meat you choose - it is perfect for venison, boar, goat, lamb and other lean red meat. I blend pork and lamb.

It can be eaten as a salami but is also used in pasta dishes, broths and risotto. I've also made an instructional video:


How to make pitina salami at home - easy recipe

INGREDIENTS
This will make 4-5 x decent size Pitina. The night before you make this chop the garlic so you have 2-3 large pieces and put in the wine to infuse overnight.

900g of lean meat (I like a mix of 600g of pork loin and 300g of lamb)
100g of pork fat
30g of sea salt (3% of the weight of meat) (If using #2 curing salt then drop to 25g salt and 2.5g #2)
1 tsp of black peppercorns
1 tsp of ground pepper
1 tsp of fennel seeds (OPTIONAL)
1/2 glass of red wine
1 clove of garlic
Polenta

PROCESS
1. Remember to infuse your red wine with the garlic the night before!

2. Coarsely cut up your meat and fat into 6mm-8mm sizes, or pop through a mincer with a 6mm plate.

3. Pop in a bowl and start mixing through with your hands adding the salt as you go. It is important to get the salt combined throughout as it helps the meat stick together as well as being part of the magic that makes it inhospitable for bad bacteria.

4. Remove the garlic and add the wine, fennel, ground pepper, and peppercorns and mix through thoroughly. The acidity of the wine and salt start to make the meat inhospitable for bad bacteria to flourish.

5. Now make 4-5 large meatballs, nicely compacted, and roll them in the polenta so they are fully covered. The polenta will stick to the wet outside of the pitina so make sure it is covered all over.

The next bit is optional, but does make a difference.
6. Cold smoke for 60mins.


7. If you skipped the smoking or just done the smoking, now pop in warmest part of the fridge. It may be difficult to put a whole plate in the fridge taking up real estate for 3 weeks - so you can use a wooden blank or small chopping board no problem.

8. Now turn the pitinas upside down everyday for 3 weeks

After 3 weeks your pinitas will be ready for eating. These can then be stored in the fridge or container or packed.
 
Thought you might be interested in my guide on how to make a Pitina. If you have never tried to make your own salami or salume or cured meat and fish this is an easy peasy starter recipe that requires no specialist equipment and no casings/intestines. In short, it's a cured meatball you can dry age in your fridge and takes about 3 weeks then its ready. This can also be kosher depending upon what meat you choose - it is perfect for venison, boar, goat, lamb and other lean red meat. I blend pork and lamb.

It can be eaten as a salami but is also used in pasta dishes, broths and risotto. I've also made an instructional video:


How to make pitina salami at home - easy recipe

INGREDIENTS
This will make 4-5 x decent size Pitina. The night before you make this chop the garlic so you have 2-3 large pieces and put in the wine to infuse overnight.

900g of lean meat (I like a mix of 600g of pork loin and 300g of lamb)
100g of pork fat
30g of sea salt (3% of the weight of meat) (If using #2 curing salt then drop to 25g salt and 2.5g #2)
1 tsp of black peppercorns
1 tsp of ground pepper
1 tsp of fennel seeds (OPTIONAL)
1/2 glass of red wine
1 clove of garlic
Polenta

PROCESS
1. Remember to infuse your red wine with the garlic the night before!

2. Coarsely cut up your meat and fat into 6mm-8mm sizes, or pop through a mincer with a 6mm plate.

3. Pop in a bowl and start mixing through with your hands adding the salt as you go. It is important to get the salt combined throughout as it helps the meat stick together as well as being part of the magic that makes it inhospitable for bad bacteria.

4. Remove the garlic and add the wine, fennel, ground pepper, and peppercorns and mix through thoroughly. The acidity of the wine and salt start to make the meat inhospitable for bad bacteria to flourish.

5. Now make 4-5 large meatballs, nicely compacted, and roll them in the polenta so they are fully covered. The polenta will stick to the wet outside of the pitina so make sure it is covered all over.

The next bit is optional, but does make a difference.
6. Cold smoke for 60mins.


7. If you skipped the smoking or just done the smoking, now pop in warmest part of the fridge. It may be difficult to put a whole plate in the fridge taking up real estate for 3 weeks - so you can use a wooden blank or small chopping board no problem.

8. Now turn the pitinas upside down everyday for 3 weeks

After 3 weeks your pinitas will be ready for eating. These can then be stored in the fridge or container or packed.

You made Pitina Friulana! Great 👍🏻
 
True. It's just that I was amazed that someone made a product like Pitina Friulana that not many people know about here in Italy (well, apart from Friuli) :)
Yeah, that is why it fascinates me (as an Englishman :wink: ), it was born out of peasant necessity. It is generally unheard of, but its traditional history is everything cooking and preserving should be. I love it with a glass or two and have a batch of 5 almost ready in one of my fridges.
 
Yeah, that is why it fascinates me (as an Englishman :wink: ), it was born out of peasant necessity. It is generally unheard of, but its traditional history is everything cooking and preserving should be. I love it with a glass or two and have a batch of 5 almost ready in one of my fridges.

Recipes born of peasant necessity are what I am most attached to and fascinated by. Without taking anything away from other richer recipes, but basically Italy has a peasant tradition from which everyone has drawn something, usually adding but also leaving them as they are, and I love it when they are preserved in their purity. Hunger was the key, and trying to get around it as much as possible.
Thanks for bringing this recipe here!

Blimey, you've got quite a stockpile in the fridges.
Yes, a glass or two of wine (red for me) to go with it is just perfect :okay:
 
Back
Top Bottom