Caramelised Onion, Potato and Broccoli Rosti

During our childhood we barely dream because we have no reason for it, as almost everything is possible. Nevertheless, in adulthood, we need to fantasise quite a lot as nothing really exciting seems to happen, apart from making sure our socks match.  During our childhood and adolescence we run faster than our own feet. Fearless youngsters, wild, reckless. Insatiable of experience,  eager of knowing everything, conquers of the world. 

Innocent and naïve, the world taught us, maybe more than we wanted or needed or hoped or thought possible. And then, sometimes, we become so immune to everything that we put ourselves in extreme situations just to have something to dream about. One day we have children. We will love them, and look with excitement knowing they will discover the world, how everything is new for them, amazing, possible and so real and simple that is almost impossible not to start feeling scared. Because we have been there. Maybe a long long time ago. And things arise that were forgotten, that were safety kept under a pile of memories and worries.

It is easy to feel tempted to stop them. To tell them all the truth about life. About how hard it can get. To tell them they won’t be astronauts, or pirates, or princesses, or professional footballers. That their world will change and they will grow. And you won’t be there forever. And all you want is to protect them. To hold them tight in your arms, and to kiss them, and to love them, and to do the impossible so nothing bad happens to them. 

Childhood is such a short period of our lives. And we should all be allowed to make the most of it. With no worries, with no commitments, with no other words than now.

 

We should all be allowed to grow up in our own time, with our own processes and with endless love from our families. We, adults, sometimes live under a terrible pressure and stress. Stress is what adults feel due to our perception of time, the feeling that we are always rushing, that never is enough, that we must fill every single space with stuff. We live in our past and future so intensely that our present gets reduced to its minimum expression, leaving us with no time to actually live today.

However, children, praise the present at every instant, spend whatever time is needed to complete any action because that just looks like the right thing to do. They never waste time or energy on unnecessary thoughts, while we question: ‘how can they have so much energy?’. And the answer is right in front of our eyes. They are here, and we are in the multiple shapes that there can be: in our messy thoughts, in our memories, in our wishes, in anything but the present.

Let’s allow the children we were feel proud of the adults we are. Let’s allow our children to grow up happy, believing in themselves, loving the world around them, discovering how amazing life can be.

Because children are not things to be moulded but people to be unfolded.

WHAT YOU NEED

300gr Potatoes

150gr Broccoli

50gr Salted Butter

50gr Grated Parmesan

150gr Breadcrumbs

1 Free Range Egg

1 Onion

1tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2tbsp Modena Vinegar

1tbsp Honey

Salt and pepper to taste.

WHAT YOU DO

In a saucepan, bring the olive oil to a medium heat. Chop the onion and stir fry until soft and brown. Add the vinegar and the honey and cook for another five minutes. Set aside.

Boil the unpeeled potatoes in a large pan of lightly salted water. When they are soft enough to mash, drain them thoroughly. Steam the broccoli for around 3 minutes in the microwave, mix with the potatoes and mash with a masher or a fork. Melt the butter and add it to the mixture, stirring until combined. Now add the onions and the parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide into small balls and mould each piece with your hands into a roundish shape about 2cm thick. 

Beat the egg in one bowl and put the breadcrumbs in another one. Cover each rosti first in egg and then in breadcrumbs.

Grease a saucepan with olive oil and bring to high heat. Cook each rosti turn and turning half way to ensure the rosti is golden all over and serve.