Smoked Trout and Carpione Polenta Pizza: I Heart Como

After living in Zurich for the past 18 months, we finally decided to see what the fuss is about with Lake Como. You see, everyone raves about Lake Como. It’s the perfect weekend break from Zurich (only 3 hours by train), amazingly picturesque train ride through the Alps, the impossibly regal named villages (Bellagio, Menaggio, Cernobbio), and the offensively humongous lakeside villas (including the one that belongs to George Clooney, of course).

But yes, all the rumours are true. Lake Como and its villages are ridiculously beautiful. The sea(lake)food is as fresh as it gets and it was a real treat for us to be able to have 3-course meals for like less than 25€ per person. Walking around seeing the well-groomed villas, the uncountable yachts doting the ports, and the ‘Grand Hotels’, the worries of Italy’s recession seems like a foreign concept here.

Friday

We took an afternoon Trenitalia/SBB train from Zurich to Como San Giovanni and arrived around 7pm. As we arrived pretty late, we had to take the bus to Menaggio, where we were staying (1 hour ride, €3.80 bargain!). However a much cooler way to travel would have been by the super-fast, almost-airborne hydrofoils (buy tickets at the ferry port which is 10-minute walk from the station).

Menaggio village gave us the first glimpse of the villages in the area. Vespas blazing through cobbled stone streets, bright coloured stone houses, vines wrapped around wrought iron fences, ridiculously groomed promenade by the lake… You know… the usual stuff :) Basically this was repeated. In every single village we went to!

Since the Menaggio hostel was all booked out, we ended up staying at the studio apartment of the hostel manager’s, a good 10-minute hike from the town in the residential area. Had an early night after a quick gelato at Panna e Cioccolato by the Piazza Garibaldi.

Saturday

After an ultra-long brunch at the Hôtel du Lac (outside seats facing the lake of course), we raided the supermarket for (wine and cheese) supplies since it was a Republic Day weekend and some shops were closed early. The first wine and bellini stop of the day was Chic n Freak (Via 4 Novembre 43 Menaggio), a decently priced wine-cocktail bar/gelataria/restaurant with a mini balcony directly facing the lake shore. If you can’t afford the balcony lake views from the next door Hotel Victoria, this is your best and cheapest alternative.

Feeling a bit gluttonous after my pasta lunch and pizza afternoon snack, we decided to go kayaking. You can rent them from nearby the Youth Hostel or AC Boat Rentals, where you can also rent and drive a motor boat to shoot your own music video clip if you want to.

I found out about a local dish called Missoltino (salted dried fish) and made it my business to find a restaurant that served it. It actually wasn’t hard at all in the end. La Trattoria (Via Camozzi 16) served a good portion of this traditional dish with baked polenta. It actually reminded me a lot of Indonesian ikan asin… The lakefish options (trout and lavarello) are definitely worth trying as well. The whole bill for the four of us (2-course with a half bottle of wine each)… comes to… €115! I am so moving here. Period.

Sunday

The next day we decided to take a day trip to the other villages around Lake Como. After dragging ourselves out of bed, we finally made it to the ferry dock. For a pretty cheap €15 per day you can get an unlimited hop-on, hop-off pass for all the ferries (except the Service Rapido).

First stop was Bellagio, the pearl of the lake. Even though it was a pretty rainy day, the town was still full of tourists walking around and admiring the little town. Lots of boutique shops scattered around time and (thankfully) plenty of places for cappuccino stops and wine tasting. Visit Villa Serbollini if you have time.

After a lakeside picnic lunch, we hopped on the ferry towards Lenno. There are plenty of stops along the way worthwhile visiting. Tremezzo seemed like another amazing village. As the ferry pulled into the Tremezzo port, which was right in front of Grand Hotel Tremezzo, we noticed a Cristiano Ronaldo-look alike who was standing naked in his balcony at the penthouse, probably just loving life. This is what I imagine George to do every day here in his villa.

Lenno is a much smaller town in a quiet gulf. It’s much less touristy than the other villages with only a couple of restaurants by the waterline. The main attraction here is Villa Balbianello, a 2km walk from the port through the woods. The villa was originally built in the 1787. The garden area perched over the lake is the most amazing part of the villa. We took a 1-hour tour exploring inside the villa, but it was a bit... meh... If you get peckish after the 4km walk to and from the Villa Balbianello, stop by for gelato at the La Fabbrica del Gelato.

We had our last dinner at Ristorante Vecchia Menaggio (Via al Lago 11). The pizzas were great but the entrecote was perfect. The next morning, it was time to go home and we took the train back to Zurich.

The best thing from the weekend for me is that I finally discovered polenta which I am now severely addicted to. In the Lake Como area, polenta is much more prominent than pastas. So, this is a dish inspired by my Como weekend. A polenta ‘pizza’ topped with smoked trout and carpione (a thyme-based olive oil sauce). Luckily, it’s pretty easy to source similar types of lake fish here in Switzerland. Of course this is a slightly flimsy base, the kind where you need knife and fork to eat :) 

Eat locally! If trout is not native to where you live, just find a suitable local fish alternative. 

Smoked trout and carpione polenta pizza

Ingredients

Polenta pizza

125g instant polenta

500mL water

1 bouillon cube

Carpione sauce

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 medium onion, sliced thinly

1 bunch of thyme

1 tablespoon chopped chives

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup white wine vinegar

½ cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

Topping

100g smoked trout

½ ball mozzarella cheese, sliced

A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

1-2 tablespoons of caramelized onion, optional

Method

Prepare the carpione sauce. Fry the garlic and onion in olive oil until aromatic. Add in the thyme and chives. Add in the vinegar and water, cook until slightly reduced. Take off heat. Toss the smoked trout in the carpione sauce, then break into small pieces. Leave to marinade for about an hour, or while you prepare the polenta pizza base. 


Prepare the polenta pizza base. Line a pizza tray with baking paper. In a pot bring the water to the boil and stir in the bouillon cube. Add in the instant polenta. Turn heat down to simmer and stir the mixture until the polenta incorporates all the water. Pour the cooked polenta onto the lined pizza pan. Working quickly (use a cake frosting spreader if possible), spread the polenta across the pizza pan until you get a thin base (about 1.5cm thin). Leave to cool and set.

Heat the oven to about 200 degrees Celcius. Scatter the smoked trout, cherry tomatoes, slices of mozarella cheese and caramelized onions over the polenta pizza base. Pour remaining carpione sauce over the toppings for extra flavour. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the base has lightly crisped up. 


PS: check out the vegetarian version (Caprese Polenta Pizza) here.