Christmas Dinner, Starter: Potato Pie

12/01/2025

Today marks the beginning of December, the last month of the year, and the magic of Christmas is already in the air, a perfect time to share special moments with family, even around the table. To make the atmosphere even warmer and more inviting, we present four recipes, from appetizer to dessert, to create a delicious Christmas menu. A journey through Italy, adding extra flavor to your Christmas lunch with regional specialties suggested by our Cesarine.

Every proper lunch should start with a tasty appetizer that sets the stage for the courses to come. For this 2025 Christmas menu, we suggest the potato pie from our Cesarina Anna in Spormaggiore, a village in the province of Trento with breathtaking views of the Val di Non.

“The simple recipe was taught to me by my mother, who, ever since I was very young, let me watch the ritual of the ‘gratadora’, the special grater used to shred the potatoes into small flakes”.

Cesarina and Potato pie

Potato Pie

A typical dish of the Val di Non, the potato pie is an easy and quick preparation from the peasant tradition that, over time, has gained great popularity and has become a local specialty.
In 1998, in Sporminore, the “Confraternity of the Potato Pie” was founded to preserve and pass on the original recipe. The group now includes 290 members spread across three continents.

Potato pie

Very few ingredients for a tasty, comforting, and easy-to-make dish

DifficultyEasy

Preparation time15m

Cooking time30m

Servings4

€

CostLow

Ingredients

500 g white-fleshed potatoes (Kenebec)
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons milk
Vegetable oil as needed

Method

Preheat the oven to 250°C (480°F).
Peel the potatoes and soak them in cold water to prevent discoloration.
Using a medium-holed grater, grate the potatoes into a bowl. Perform this step quickly to avoid oxidation.
Add salt and flour to the potatoes, then mix everything quickly.
Pour a thin layer of vegetable oil into the bottom of a 22 cm (9-inch) round baking pan, then place it in the oven for about 3 minutes to bring the oil to a boil.
Add the raw potato mixture and level the surface with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden, then carefully remove the pan and flip the potato cake with a spatula. Finish baking for the remaining 10 minutes until golden on the other side.
Serve with cured meats and cheeses, and accompany with a glass of Marzemino or Teroldego Rotaliano DOC wine.