"When in Apulia, eat as the apulians": what to eat around Gargano. Try out some local recipes.
I'm Honest :) I have the mouth watering just thinking of these recipes .. :)
The main product of the land of Puglia is certainly extra virgin olive oil, a symbol of Apulian cuisine produced from the centuries-old olive groves following ancient traditions. Olive oil is the main ingredient for most of the savory recipes of the local apulian cuisine and food tradition. Noteworthy products are cheeses, first of all Caciocavallo, highly appreciated in its Podolica version (produced from the milk of Podolica cows, which often graze in the Umbra Forest, a few km from Vieste), and skilfully cooked and seasoned vegetables.
Melanzane Ripiene or Stuffed eggplants make excellent use of both oil and cheese. They are both used to stuff the eggplants, together with the eggs and bread, before they are cooked in tomato sauce. A similar stuffing is also used for cuttlefish. The sauce coming from stuffed cuttlefish is often use to season a local handmade pasta called troccoli.
High quality olive oil is the secret to preserve a variety of vegetables both fresh and dried. In oil eggplants are very popular, often hand made with love by local old ladies. The variety include: eggplants, sweet onions, dried tomatoes, artichokes and more.
Almonds instead are one of the main ingredients to some local desserts, such as cartellate, a nest of fried dough made with white wine and oil and then decorated with honey and minced almonds. Almond filled hosts, like wafers, are also very popular.
The most popular dish in all the apulian cuisine, even though with some varieties all over the apulian territory, are the well known orecchiette con le cime di rapa, a local handmade kind of pasta in the shape of little ears (orecchiette) with a very savory and tasty kind of broccoli.
If you are interested in trying out this last recipe, follow the instruction below and do not forget to comment to tell us how it was.
Orecchiete alle Cime di Rapa
You will need:
200 g of durum wheat semolina 400 g of flour. 1 kg of turnip greens 4-5 anchovy fillets 2 cloves of garlic 1 dl of oil chili pepper salt pepper
You may even buy the pasta already made, or try and make it on your own by placing the flour and semolina in a heap, add a pinch of salt and a little warm water. You have to adjust the amount of water to obtain a firm and elastic dough more or less like that of pizza or bread. Work the dough for a long time, then detaching small portions formed into long rolls one centimeter thick. Cut them into logs and one at a time, with the help of the tip of the knife, slide them on the work surface forming a kind of shell. Then press it with the tip of your thumb to get an accentuated hollow. Continue until the dough is used up.
Cook the past in abundant boiling water. While doing so, prepare the turnip greens.
Clean them by removing the outer leaves and removing only the inner leaves and the flower with a small knife (or with your hands). Once ready, rinse them then drain them, dry them well and set aside. Meanwhile, put a pot on the stove with plenty of water, salted to taste, which will be used to subsequently boil the turnip greens. In a large pan pour half the dose of oil and add the pagrattato, mix with a marisa and let it brown over medium heat, until it is golden brown, then set aside. As soon as the water has boiled, boil the previously cleaned turnip greens: they will have to cook for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, you can pour the remaining oil in a pan, with a clove of crushed garlic in a shirt and the anchovy fillets drained from the preservation oil. Stir with a wooden scoop to melt the anchovies in the pan; it will take a few minutes for the sauté to flavor and when it is ready, you can remove the garlic then turn off the heat. After 5 minutes of cooking the tops, add the orecchiette to the same pot and cook everything for about another 5 minutes. Mix gently, then drain the orecchiette and turnip greens directly into the pan with the sauté. Jump briefly and season with a pinch of salt; once ready, turn off the heat and serve your orecchiette with turnip greens, adding a drizzle of raw oil and toasted breadcrumbs at the top.