GASTRONOMICA TOUR OF ITALY: PUGLIA

The food and wine tradition of Puglia is a riot of colours, scents and genuine ingredients. The authenticity that characterizes this land is also reflected in its typical dishes, generous triumphs of simplicity and unforgettable flavours.

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In the Apulian recipes, you can grasp a proudly Mediterranean personality, created by the combination of the best fruits of the territory: the cereals and vegetables of the fertile countryside, the extra virgin olive oil produced with a passion for generations, the fresh fish of the seas that lap the coasts of Puglia.

Once you have landed in Puglia, you will realize that the Apulian cuisine is capable of giving your palate a lot of satisfaction. The list of typical Apulian dishes would be really long, however, we want to give you some “tips”. Among the typical Apulian dishes, certainly the first ones we can mention are eggplant parmigiana, pasta and chickpeas also called “ciceri and tria”, spaghetti with mussels in white sauce, spaghetti with sea urchins, rice “tiella”, potatoes and mussels, pasta “alla crudaiola”, mashed beans with chicory, cavatelli with rocket and much more.

Apulian recipes are not elaborate at all and are united by the extreme simplicity of the ingredients that compose them. Simple and genuine flavours that do not require great processing to create irresistible Apulian specialties. Between the many desserts you can find in this region, we the carteddhate (recipe below), sweet taralli, purceddhuzzi and pasticciotto from Lecce.

FOCACCIA BARESE

INGREDIENTS FOR 1 FOCACCIA

-300 g of flour 00

-200 g of durum wheat semolina flour

-1 boiled potato

-40 g of butter

-35 g of fresh yeast

-350 ml of warm water

-15 cherry tomatoes

-15 green olives

-a handful of salt

-a pinch of sugar

-a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

-oregano to taste

Focaccia barese

HOW TO PREPARE IT

To make the focaccia, start by crushing the boiled potato and combining it with the two sifted flours in a large bowl.

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 100 ml of water and pour them into the bowl, starting to knead vigorously. Add the fine salt and then melt half of the butter and add that to your dough, continuing to work it and adding warm water, until it becomes smooth and elastic

Once you have obtained a soft dough, cover the bowl with a damp cloth and then put it to rest in a dry place waiting for it to rise, waiting at least 30 minutes. Once the dough has doubled in volume, take it out of the bowl and roll it out into a large baking pan, which you will have first sprinkled with the remaining butter.

Now place the black olives and cherry tomatoes, cut in half, on the surface of your focaccia from Bari, with the skin side up.

Brush the surface of the focaccia with a little water mixed with oil, sprinkle a quantity of oregano on top and then bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes.

Check the cooking progress every now and then and, as soon as your Bari focaccia has dried and golden on the surface, you can remove it from the oven and let it cool before enjoying it.

ORECCHIETTE ALLE CIME DI RAPA

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE

-1 kg Turnip tips

-400 g orecchiette pasta

-1 clove garlic

-8 fillets anchovies in oil

Salt to taste

Extra virgin olive oil to taste

-Fresh chilli (optional)

Orecchiette cime di rapa



HOW TO PREPARE IT

Clean the turnip tips: remove the worn leaves, the hard and fibrous outer stems and keep the inner ones smaller and more tender.

Take the florets, remove them one by one from the core, remove the outer part of the core and cut the part into small pieces which are white and tender. Wash and drain well.

Place a large pot with plenty of salted water on the heat, when the water starts to boil add the leaves, which require longer cooking.

After about 5 minutes, pour in our fresh orecchiette. (If you use fresh pasta, pour the orecchiette together with the turnips).

Place a pan on the fire, pour the extra virgin olive oil, let it heat and add the whole garlic, let the oil flavour and then remove it, let it brown, turn off the heat and add the anchovies in oil so that they melt.

At this point, pour our anchovy sautéed directly into the pot of freshly drained orecchiette and turnips, mix well.


CARTELLATE PUGLIESI

INGREDIENTS

-300 g of flour

-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

-100 ml of white wine

-Powdered sugar

-Chocolate chips

Honey

-Raisins

Cartellate pugliesi


HOW TO PREPARE IT

To prepare the cartellate it is first necessary to make the pastry by hand. You can also use the ready-made one, but the good and typical Apulian cartellata involves the hand-pulled dough.

In a saucepan, heat the white wine and oil, which will then be mixed with the flour. The dough is ready when it becomes compact.

At this point it should be left to rest, wrapped in cling film, for about an hour.

After the rest time has elapsed, the dough should be rolled with a rolling pin, until strips of 1-2 mm thick are obtained.

With the puff pastry obtained, strips are obtained, which will be rolled-up on themselves, to create the typical rose shape of the cartellate.

They are left to rest overnight, then fried in abundant peanut oil until golden brown.

Finally, you can submerge them in hot vincotto.

At this point, the cartellate can be decorated with powdered sugar, chocolate chips, honey or raisins.

BUON APPETITO!

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