The holiday season is almost upon us! We’re doing something special for the Winter Break TeamEATS, but in the meantime we still have two matches to take care of before we get to all that cake and prosciutto. This Sunday Juventus welcome Atalanta to Juventus Stadium for a friendly little game of beat-em-up Gauntlet Legends style.

The last time we had Atalanta on TeamEATS I was busy making a fool of myself singing in the kitchen shouting Star Trek Wrath of Kahn quotes and not even making a dish from the region Lombardy, never mind Atalanta’s home city of Bergamo. But HOLY SHIT Juventus had just won the scudetto! And I was a happy camper. So I doubt you would begrudge me a bit of excessive celebration.

The last real Atalanta dish was a delicious polenta recipe that was one of my all-time favorite episodes of TeamEATS. This week, we’re continuing the authentic Bergamasci tradition making a VERY local old school dish Casonsei.

Sort of… I’m cheating by not making the full dish from scratch.

Casonsei (or Casoncelli or whatever) are a pasta stuffed with meat filling and are typically served with melted butter flavored with pancetta and sage leaves. Alla bergamasca calls for a variety of filling including a mixture of meat (ground beef, pork, veal, sausage, or salami) combined with cheese, or spinach, or raisins, or amaretti cookies, or pears… The shape is similar to a ravioli, but looks more like a little piece of wrapped candy.

They are also very difficult to make. I am taking the easy way out, buying frozen stuffed ravioli preparing them Bergamo Style. They say the easy path leads to the Dark Side… So I guess you can call me Darth Grease.

Hit my music.

Difficulty: Easy
Price: $6.00
Time: 30 minutes

Directions

1. Cook the ravioli according to the directions. I added 1 lb of ravioli to 4 quarts of boiling water for 3-5 minutes.

2. Chop the onions.

3. Sautee the onions in olive oil and sage until they golden and start to melt (about 5 minutes on medium heat).

4. Add the cubed bacon. Enjoy that heavenly aroma. Turn up my music.

5. Ravioli should be ready soon. Add the cooked ravioli and stir. Add the wine. Increase the heat to high, and cook stirring frequently for 5 minutes until the wine is reduced. Top with grated cheese when serving.

6. Consume. Imagine each delicious bite another lengthily siege of the Atalanta goal as the visitors struggle uselessly against the vicious onslaught that is the Juventus machine of pain.

DELICIOUS. I don’t know why last time I cooked for TeamEATS I was fiending so badly for onions but they came through this week and boy was this tasty!

Make sure you get your ingredients and prepare for Atalanta in your kitchen by joining in on the fun. Post pics of your creations in the comments below.

Mangiare è l’unica cosa che… Conte!

Back by popular demand, TeamEATS is a culinary guide to cooking and consuming the opposition. Each week, we pick a recipe from the home cuisine of Juve’s upcoming adversary, put on the kitchen apron and… cook it and eat it. Buon Appetito!