Sedani alla pratese (Stuffed Celery Prato Style)

I love dishes where an ingredient that usually plays a supporting role in cookery gets to shine. And so it is with sedani alla pratese, this lovely stuffed celery from the city of Prato in Tuscany.

In Italian cookery, celery’s usual role is as one of the ‘holy trinity’ of onion, carrot and celery that makes up the most common type of soffritto, the aromatic flavor base for countless sauces and stews. It plays a similar role in homemade broths. Here, it’s the star of the show.

A frugal dish

Sedani alla pratese was originally what Italians might call un piatto di recupero or leftover dish. And indeed it was traditionally made with scraps and leftovers. You use the larger outer celery stalks of the celery, not the prized inner ‘heart’ used in fancier preparations. And back in the day they used leftover roast or stew to make the filling.

That said, despite its frugal origins, I wouldn’t exactly call this cucina povera. These days the celery is stuffed with a savory mixture of veal, mortadella and cheese, then typically simmered in a rich sugo di carne (meat sauce). Definitely not for the poor or for the weak-stomached.

But not a simple one

Nor is sedani alla pratese particularly quick or simple to prepare. It involves several steps: parboiling the celery stalks and stuffing them, rolling them in flour and egg and then frying them—and then simmering them in the meat sauce. Nevertheless, if you’re reasonably proficient in the kitchen and have your sugo ready to go beforehand, the whole process should take no more than an hour, probably less.

And the result is so worth the effort. That savory filling and rich sauce are perfectly offset by the celery’s subtle astringency. It’s hard to imagine a more sumptous way to enjoy this undervalued vegetable.

And a festive dish as well…

In Prato sedani alla pratese are traditionally prepared for the Madonna della Fiera on September 8, the local feast celebrating the birth of the Virgin Mary. So there’s no more apt time to try this dish it than the present.

But they’re delicious for any time of year, in particular in the colder months when you’re looking for something hearty and comforting, which sedani alla pratese most definitely is.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 2-3 large bunches of celery
• salt

For the filling:

• 300g (10 oz) ground veal (or beef)
• 150g (5 oz) mortadella, minced
• 1 egg
• 50g (2 oz) grated parmigiano-reggiano
• 1 small garlic clove, peeled and finely minced
• A sprig or two of parsley, finely minced
• A pinch of nutmeg (optional)
• salt and pepper

For frying:

• All purpose flour, q.b.
• 2 eggs, beaten (more if needed)
• Vegetable oil for frying, q.b.

For the final simmer:

• One batch of sugo di carne

For serving (optional):

• More freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano, q.b.

Directions

Prep the celery

Trim the celery stalks of their top shoots and any leaves, as well as their root ends. Then cut them into 8-10cm (3-4 inch) lengths.

Parboil the pieces in well salted water until tender but not mushy, usually anywhere between 5-10 minutes. depending on the size and quality of your celery.

Set aside on a dish towel to dry and cool completely.

Prepare the filling

In a mixing bowl, place the ground veal, minced mortadella and the rest of the filling ingredients other than the egg. Knead well with washed hands, then knead in the egg as well until it is completely absorbed. Keep kneading until the mixture is compact and uniform.

Taste and adjust for seasoning. The filling should be very savory.

Stuffing the celery

Take a celery piece, then heap on a good dollop of the veal mixture, enough to fill the cavity and then some. Spread it out evenly along the length of the piece, pressing it into the cavity, then place another celery piece of the same width on top. Press together to form a little slightly overstuffed “log”, like so:

Repeat until you’ve used up all the celery and/or stuffing.

Batter and fry the stuffed celery

Fill a skillet or sauté pan with oil about cm (inch) high. Set over a lively flame.

Roll the stuffed celery logs in flour.

When the oil is quite hot, dip the celery logs in the beaten egg and then transfer them immediately to the skillet. Fry them over a lively flame, turning them gingerly from time to time, until nice and golden brown on all sides.

Simmer

Meanwhile, bring your sugo di carne to a simmer in another skillet or sauté pan with a small glassful of water.

As the celery logs are done frying, transfer them to the pan with the sugo. Let them simmer in the sugo, turning them from time to time and adding more water if the sauce gets too thick,, until they have taken on a lovely dark red hue from the sugo and have totally cooked through, about 5 minutes or so.

Serve

Serve still hot, napped with some of the sugo and, if you like, sprinkled with grated cheese.

Notes on making sedani alla pratese

This is not a simple dish, but it isn”t one that should challenge a moderately competent cook. When I first made this dish, I worried about the celery logs coming apart during the frying. But this didn’t turn out to be a problem. Just make sure your celery well dried so the stuffing sticks to it. Then be diligent in pressing the stuffing into the celery and the two pieces together into a log.

It’s hard to give precise measurements for the amount of celery. It depends on just how big the bunches are—their size can vary a lot—plus how many stalks you use from each bunch and how much filling you lay on to the stalks. So, as always, take these measurements as guides, not strict rules. Many Italian recipes call for 4 bunches for this amount of filling, but 2-3 seems more like it for a largest bunches I find where I live.

Choosing and prepping your celery

Look for the largest celery you can find. And use only the large outer stalks of the celery, the ones with cavities large enough to hold the stuffing. I usually also dispense with the top 1/4 or so of the stalks, which are just too thin to stuff. (See below for ideas on using the scraps.)

I got about 10 of these celery logs from a large bunch of celery, but obviously your mileage will vary. To my mind, a serving of 2 or 3 is plenty as a main course, especially if you’re serving courses before and after.

A note for US readers: I find that organic celery is often not a good choice here. They usually have better flavor, but they tend to have thinner stalks, too thin to stuff. Though I usually sing the praises of smaller vegetables, this is one case where larger is actually better.

The more old timey recipes for sedani alla pratese will tell you to peel the celery stalks to remove their strings. These days celery is much less stringy than it used to be, so I’ve omiteed this step from the main recipe. But if you see that your celery is indeed stringy, or just want to be on the safe side, go ahead and give the outside a quick peel.

Cooking times

Cooking times for parboiling the celery can vary. Most modern recipes call for only brief parboiling, but some more traditional recipes say to parboil for as long as 15-20 minutes. It depends largely on your celery. In my own recipe testing, I found that 7 minutes was perfect for the celery I was using for celery that was tender but not mushy. Bear in mind that the celery will continue to cook a bit more as it cools, and undergo frying then simmering later.

The meat filling

Most recipes in Italian for sedani alla pratese call for carne di vitello macinata, or ground veal, though a few will simply call for carne macinata (ground meat) and a couple will mention manzo, or beef. I think that the sweeter, more delicate taste of veal marries much better with celery than beef, but in a pinch, beef will do.

Variations

Although you will find sedani alla pratese most often simmered in a sugo di carne, sources I’ve seen say the original recipe called for a ragù di anatra, a rich sauce of duck simmered in tomato you typically use to dress pappardelle. And if you want a lighter dish, you could simmer your celery in a simple tomato sauce or even broth.

Really frugal cooks can use the celery leaves as well. Minced they can replace the parsley in the stuffing. Left whole, they can garnish the finished dish. Or add them to parboil with the stalks for some added flavor.

Making sedani alla pratese ahead and using leftovers

You really should make your sugo di carne the day before if you have the time. It tastes much better after a day’s rest. And it makes the dish much more managable.

You can also make the finished dish ahead and gently reheat it in its sugo di carne. Add a small glass of water to dilute the sauce if it’s thickened too much. You can also stop cooking at various points along the way if you need to: after prepping the celery or making the filling, after forming the logs, or after frying them.

Any leftover stuffing is delicious repurposed as meatballs or, if you have quite a bit, perhaps as a small meatloaf. Add a few spoonfuls of breadcrumbs. Or, in the typically Italian manner, take a slice of day old bread, trim it of its crust, soak it in milk or water, squeeze it dry then crumble it into the meat mixture.

You can use leftover celery for making broth or as part of a soffritto for countless sauces and stews. Or best of all, chop it up to make polpette di sedano or Celery Meatballs, another Tuscan delicacy that feataures this under-appreciated vegetable.

Print Recipe

No ratings yet

Sedani alla pratese

Stuffed Celery Prato Style

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Tuscan

Keyword: boiled, fried, simmered, vegetable

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 large bunches of celery
• salt

For the filling:

• 300 g ground veal (or beef)
• 150 g mortadella, minced
• 1 egg
• 50 g grated parmigiano-reggiano
• 1 small garlic clove peeled and finely minced
• A sprig or two of parsley finely minced
• A pinch of nutmeg optional
• salt and pepper

For frying:

• All purpose flour q.b.
• 2 eggs beaten (more if needed)
• Vegetable oil for frying q.b.

For the final simmer:

• 1 batch sugo di carne (meat sauce)

Metric – US

Instructions

Prep the celery

• Trim the celery stalks of their top shoots and any leaves, as well as their root ends. Then cut them into 8-10cm (3-4 inch) lengths.
• Parboil the pieces in well salted water until tender but not mushy, usually anywhere between 5-10 minutes depending on the size and quality of your celery.
• Set aside on a dish towel to dry and cool completely.

Prepare the filling

• In a mixing bowl, place the ground veal, minced mortadella and the rest of the filling ingredients other than the egg. Knead well with washed hands, then knead in the egg as well until it is completely absorbed. Keep kneading until the mixture is compact and uniform.
• Taste and adjust for seasoning. The filling should be very savory.

Stuffing the celery

• Take a celery piece, then heap on a good dollop of the veal mixture, enough to fill the cavity and then some. Spread it out evenly along the length of the piece, pressing it into the cavity, then place another celery piece of the same width on top. Press together to form a little slightly overstuffed “log”, like so:
• Repeat until you’ve used up all the celery and/or stuffing.

Batter and fry the stuffed celery

• Fill a skillet or sauté pan with oil about cm (inch) high. Set over a lively flame.
• Roll the stuffed celery logs in flour.
• When the oil is quite hot, dip the celery logs in the beaten egg and then transfer them immediately to the skillet. Fry them over a lively flame, turning them gingerly from time to time, until nice and golden brown on all sides.

Simmer

• Meanwhile, bring your sugo di carne to a simmer in another skillet or sauté pan with a small glassful of water.
• As the celery logs are done frying, transfer them to the pan with the sugo. Let them simmer in the sugo, turning them from time to time and adding more water if the sauce gets too thick,, until they have taken on a lovely dark red hue from the sugo and have totally cooked through, about 5 minutes or so.

Serve

• Serve still hot, napped with some of the sugo and, if you like, sprinkled with grated cheese.

Notes

For a lighter dish, substiute a simple tomato sauce or broth for the meat sauce

And you might also like...

Pasta alla gricia: The Mother of Roman Pastas Spaghetti alla puveriello (Poor Man’s Spaghetti) Pasta con le sarde Arrosto di maiale con cipolline (Roast Pork with Pearl Onions) Ribollita (Tuscan Minestrone) Supplì (Roman Rice Croquettes) Fusilli primavera Focaccia genovese Quick Note: Picchiapò Zuppa di lenticchie e porri (Lentil and Leek Soup)