Villa Costanza
Via P. Bonanno 42, Palermo
A good seven years of research, commitment and dedication went into the Villa Costanza project. Located on the outskirts of Palermo, the restaurant promotes sustainable eating based on the best ingredients Sicily has to offer. Marco Durastanti, who opened the restaurant together with his sister Costanza, has individually selected local micro-producers, all strictly organic, as suppliers. Together with the cooperative Coltiviamo Tradizioni, they have also created a kitchen garden whose produce is used in the restaurant.
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
800 g purple potatoes (native of Peru and Chile in South America, and cultivated for Villa Costanza by a farmer at the Alia “Garden of Wonders”)
60 g egg
200 g Maiorca Sicilian soft wheat
Salt and pepper
12 g Noto almonds
600 g mussels
100 g cream
50 g Maiorchino cheese
40 g butter
cornflour
salt
pepper
water
mixed herbs (marjoram, thyme, rosemary)
Boil purple potatoes, leave to cool and mash. Add egg, salt, pepper and Maiorca flour. Knead to a smooth, even dough and shape into gnocchetti.
Clean mussels, boil to open and remove valves. Filter water and reserve. Cook the mussels in a microwave at the highest setting for 4 minutes until dry. Reduce to a powder using a kitchen cutter.
To prepare the cheese sauce, heat the cream and as soon as it comes to the boil, add the grated Maiorchino and thicken with water and cornflour.
Boil the gnocchetti in the water from the mussels and toss in a skillet with butter and marjoram.
To plate, cover the base of a soup bowl with Maiorchino cream. Top with purple potato gnocchetti, sprinkle with powdered mussels and decorate with pieces of Noto almond and mixed herbs.