Recipes

  2. Recipes

DITA DEGLI APOSTOLI (APOSTLES’ FINGERS)

INGREDIENTS

For the stuffed crepes:

  • 4  albumens
  • a pinch of salt

For the filling:

  • 200 g of ricotta cheese
  • 50 g of sugar
  • 30 g of grated dark chocolate
  • cinnamon as required
  • grated zest

For the decoration:

  • Bitter cocoa or powdered sugar

 

PREPARATION

Whip the albumens with a pinch of salt until frothy.

Grease a pan with oil or butter, heat it on the stove and cook the crepes.

To make the filling, drain thoroughly the ricotta cheese and mix it with the powdered sugar, grated dark chocolate, cinnamon as required and the grated zest.

When the crepes are ready stuff them with the filling and roll them up to make a cannoli shape, then sprinkle with cocoa or powdered sugar.

 

DIFFICULTY (low, medium, high)

Low

 

DID YOU KNOW

Their origin is unknown, yet considering their elegance and the use of sugar they are not likely to be a poor people’s dish, and their name (apostles’ fingers) suggests a monastery origin.

To explain the “dita degli apostoli” made with albumen only, we can suppose that the nuns who made almond paste lambs with yolk filling had a big quantity of unused albumen.

 

WINE TO MATCH

Carmerum – Tarantino Igp Primitivo 2015 (Not local grape variety)

ELOGIO ALLA LENTEZZA – Minutolo Passito – Valle d’Itria IGP 2014

 

TARALLI

INGREDIENTS

  • 500 g of flour
  • 100 g of olive oil
  • Salt
  • Dry white wine as required

 

PREPARATION

Make a well in the centre of the flour and add salt and oil;  knead the dough with white wine; knead it well and let it rest for half an hour. Cut it into pieces, roll them up into short ropes, cut and join ends to form a taralli shape.

Bake at 170° for 20/30 min.

 

DIFFICULTY (low, medium, high)

Medium

 

DID YOU KNOW

Their history is very long and in Apulia it dates back to the XV century at least, but the meaning of their name is still a mystery: some people think it comes from the Latin word “torrere”, which means to sear, others think it comes from the Italico “tar”, which means to roll up, or the way rolled bread was called in old French.

TheMinistry of Agricultural, Food and Farming Policies includes them within the list of certified Traditional Food Products (PAT).

Taralli are widespread throughout Apulia. These small bread delicacies have several versions in the different areas of the region: taralli with capocollo, pizzaiola taralli, sugared taralli or chocolate taralli, black taralli with vincotto or with fennel seeds.

 

WINE TO MATCH

Castillo – Locorotondo Dop 2016

ANTICO – Locorotondo DOP 2016

 

PANZEROTTI

INGREDIENTS

  • 150 g of mozzarella cheese
  • 5/6 ripe Apulian tomatoes
  • frying oil
  • salt

For the dough:

  • 400 g of white flour
  • 20 g of brewer’s yeast
  • salt

 

PREPARATION

Incise the tomatoes and boil them for 1-2 minutes, drain and peel them, remove seeds and dice them. Put the pulp in a saucepan and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat without adding any seasoning, just to thicken the sauce. Cut the mozzarella cheese into small pieces and put in a colander.

Prepare the dough: sift the flour on a wooden board and make a well, add salt and the brewer’s yeast dissolved into 0,8 dl of warm water. Knead the dough while adding another little bit of warm water in order to get a smooth and elastic dough.

Make a ball and put into a floured bowl, cover with a tablecloth and let it rise for 1 hour. Cut a piece of dough as big as an apricot and spread it out to form a 12 cm-wide disc; repeat the process to make several pasta discs.

In the meantime, mix the tomato sauce with the diced mozzarella cheese and add salt. Then put 2 teaspoons of filling on half of each disc. Fold the pasta making a half moon shape and close the edges well.

In a saucepan heat plenty of oil and dip a small piece of pasta, if the pasta frizzles it means the oil is ready for frying: dip only few panzerotti at a time and fry them for 1-2 minutes for each side, until they are golden.

 

DIFFICULTY (low, medium, high)

Medium

 

WINE TO MATCH

Prosit – Valle D’Itria Igp White Sparkling 2016

SPUMANTE BRUT -Verdeca Valle d’Itria IGP 2016

 

LOCOROTONDO TRIPE ROULADES (GNUMMERREDD SUFFUCHET)

 

INGREDIENTS

– Tripe roulades

– Onion

– Tomatoes

– Water

– Salt

 

PREPARATION

“First of all select a top quality thick and fat tripe of heifer or castrated veal or young sheep. You need to remove the spongy membrane that covers it. In order to do it, dip the tripe in boiling water for a few seconds and immediately scrape it with a big knife so that the brown covering will go away. Rinse several times the so-called “centopelli” and large intestines called “capezzali”.

Unroll the latter and rinse them in cold water, after unrolling them again, rinse them in warm water, repeat the process several times in order to remove any smell and, at last, let them rest in cold water.

Repeat the same process with the thin bowels that you will use to tie the roulades (grumeredde). Cut the tripe into 7 cm-big squares or rectangles, divide centopelli from capezzali and cut them into 7 cm-long pieces. Put a piece of capezzale, one of centopelle and a bit of parsley inside each piece of tripe, roll it tightly and tie or, better, make a slipknot and sever. The selection of the elements making the filling is a secret of the recipe: the large intestines must be turned over, otherwise its fat will dissolve in the broth while boiling, giving it a bad flavour.

The second secret is how to place the roulades in the terracotta saucepan and how to cook them. A lot of minced white onion is required and half the quantity of tomato pulp.

Put a handful of minced onion and a bit of tomato pulp on the bottom of the saucepan, cover it with a layer of roulades and with a further layer of onions, tomatoes and a pinch of salt. Make several layers until the saucepan is full. Pour a bit if water –only 100 grams.

Cover the saucepan with a small pot full of water; in this way the saucepan steam condenses and its drops fall inside so that the food doesn’t get dry. Simmer for a couple of hours at least, or longer, to make them soft. They have an appetizing smell and flavour”.

 

DIFFICULTY (low, medium, high)

High

 

DID YOU KNOW

The deliciousness of these roulades lays in their preparation and way of cooking. The recipe was taken from the manuscript of priest Giuseppe Lorussi, who lived between the XIX and the XX century.

This dish is highly appreciated in the summer and less in winter. There is a reason for this. In winter, in fact, the fat becomes cold while you eat it, besides, the broth is less delicious as it gets cold.

 

WINE TO MATCH

Castillo – Valle D’Itria Igp Fiano 2016  

LE ROTAIE – Susumaniello rosato Valle d’Itria IGP 2016

 

ORECCHIETTE

The queen of homemade pasta is orecchietta, whose preparation requires experience, ability and practice.

Prepare the pasta: on the pastry board mix two thirds of durum wheat semolina with one third of white flour. Knead with warm water until you get a firm dough. Roll a piece of dough to make a rope as big as one finger. Using a knife with a rounded tip, cut a piece of dough the size of a thumb’s nail and scrape it on the board with the tip of the knife.

Finally, turn it inside out with your thumb, in this way a small cupola will come out: one orecchietta is ready. Repeat the same process with other pieces of dough. There are medium and big size orecchiette.

Let rest the orecchiette for some hours before cooking them.

There are many ways to season them.

 

ORECCHIETTE WITH WILD BROCCOLI AND BREAD CRUMBS

INGREDIENTS:

– 350 g of cime di rapa (wild broccoli)

– 0,8 dl of oil

– 80 g of anchovies in oil

– 40 g of bread crumbs

For the pasta:

– 300 g of whole-grain flour

– 100 g of durum wheat flour

– Salt

 

PREPARATION:

Prepare the pasta: mix the two flours and add a pinch of salt, knead while adding warm water little by little, as much water as required to get a smooth dough. Take some pieces of pasta to make two or three ropes about 1 cm thick. Cover the remaining dough with a wet tablecloth so it doesn’t get dry.

Cut the ropes of dough into 1 cm-big pieces (the size of a chickpea) and scrape each of them with the tip of your thumb on the pastry board (or cutting board), then turn each piece of pasta inside out on your thumb thus obtaining orecchiette. Spread them out on a tablecloth and let them rest.

Clean the wild broccoli removing the hard part of the stems, wash and chop into big pieces, then boil them in abundant salty water for 20-30 minutes. Drain the wild broccoli with a skimmer, keeping the water. Put half of the oil in a pan, heat it and add the previously crumbed anchovies and sizzle until they tend to dissolve. Add the wild broccoli and sauté all together for 5-6 minutes over a medium heat. In a pan brown the bread crumbs in 0.4 dl of oil.

Boil the orecchiette in the wild broccoli cooking water. Cook them al dente and drain. Sauté them in the pan with the other ingredients, stir and let it develop a richer flavour over a high heat for 1 minute. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, mix again, then serve.

 

WINE TO MATCH

Prosit rosè – Valle D’Itria Igp Rosè Sparkling 2016

FARAONE – Verdeca Valle d’Itria IGP 2016

 

 

ORECCHIETTE CON LE BRASCIOLE

(ORECCHIETTE WITH MEAT ROULADES)

 

INGREDIENTS

For the pasta:

  • 200 g of white flour
  • 100 g of durum wheat flour
  • salt

For the sauce:

  • 600 g of horse meat
  • 100 g of pancetta
  • 140 g of pecorino cheese
  • a few stalks of parsley
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 4 spoons of extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion
  • 2,5 dl of red wine
  • 1 spoon of meat sauce
  • 300 g of Perini tomatoes
  • salt and pepper

 

PREPARATION

Prepare the pasta: mix the two flours together and add a pinch of salt, knead adding warm water little by little. Add as much water as required to obtain a smooth dough. Take a piece of dough and make two or three long ropes about 1 cm thick. Cover the remaining part of the dough with a wet tablecloth so that it doesn’t get dry. Cut the ropes into 1 cm-big pieces (the size of a chickpea) and, at the same time, scrape them with the rounded tip of a knife on the pastry board, then turn the pasta inside out on your thumb thus making the orecchiette. Spread them on a tablecloth and let them rest.

Mince the pancetta and 100 g of pecorino cheese. Put some slices of meat on the cutting board, lightly pound them with a meat tenderizer and season with a pinch of salt and a bit of pepper, then put in the centre of each slice some pieces of cheese and pancetta and minced parsley and garlic.

Roll up the meat slices making roulades that you will fasten by using toothpicks to prevent the filling from getting out while cooking. Make other roulades in the same way. Put some oil in a pan with the thinly sliced onion. Fry the onion gently over a low heat, until it is soft, then add the roulades and brown them on all sides.

Drizzle with red wine that you will make evaporate. Now you can add the meat sauce and tomatoes – which you have previously peeled and minced after removing the seeds. Add salt and pepper, cover with a lid and cook for two hours, adding a bit of water every now and then.

Boil a large quantity of water to cook the orecchiette, add salt and toss the orecchiette in. Cook them al dente (tender but firm). Drain the orecchiette and spread over the sauce you just prepared. Grate 40 g of pecorino cheese and sprinkle it over the dish when you serve it.

 

DIFFICULTY (low, medium, high)

Medium

 

DID YOU KNOW

This tomato sauce recipe is the only overcooked sauce of the Apulian cuisine. It has nothing to do with the Neapolitan one. Its preparation is a ritual that has been passed on for over two centuries, celebrated by housewives since the early morning.

 

WINE TO MATCH

Primaio – puglia Igp Primitivo 2016 (Not local grape variety)  

VERSOSUD – Susumaniello Rosso Puglia IGP 2013

 

FOCACCIA WITH TOMATOES

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 320 g of white flavour
  • 15 g brewer’s yeast
  • 4 spoons of oil
  • 400 g of Perini tomatoes
  • Oregano
  • Salt

 

PREPARATION

Mix the flour with salt, put it on a pastry board and make a well, pour in the centre 0.4 dl of warm water, then start kneading, gradually adding little warm water until you get a soft dough.

Put the dough in a bowl, incise it making a cross cut, cover with a tablecloth and let it rise in a warm place for at least one hour.

When the rising time has ended, take the dough and put it on a pastry board which you have previously dust with flour. Knead it for a few minutes, then stretch out in a 30 cm-wide oiled baking tray.

Place the tomatoes on the focaccia and splash them on it, sprinkle with salt and oregano. Drizzle the focaccia with olive oil and let it rise for another hour, covered with a cloth, then bake in a pre-heated oven at 230° for 15-20 minutes.

Take the focaccia out of the oven and serve very hot.

 

DIFFICULTY (low, medium, high)

Medium

 

WINE TO MATCH

Rudy – Valle D’Itria Igp spumante brut 2016

CUPA – Bianco d’Alessano Valle d’Itria IGP 2016

 

SMASHED BROAD BEANS WITH CHICORY

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 500 g of decorticated dry broad beans
  • 2 potatoes
  • 1 kg of wild chicory (dandelion)
  • extra virgin olive oil as required
  • Salt

 

PREPARATION

Soak the decorticated broad beans in abundant cold water for some hours.

Rinse well and put them in a saucepan with the potatoes, which you have previously peeled and thinly sliced. Add enough cold water to cover them by at least 1 inch. Cook over a low heat, skimming the scum that rises to the surface as soon as they reach a boiling point. Add salt and simmer for about two hours, until the broad beans are completely undone. Nevers stir during this phase, if you realise there is little water, add some.

Clean the wild chicory, then boil it in abundant salty water for 20 minutes, drain, wring out and chop. Then sauté in a pan with a spoon of hot oil. Sizzle for some minutes, just the time to let it develop more flavour. Add salt if required.

When the beans and potatoes are completely cooked, stir forcefully with a wooden spoon to reduce them to a puree. Pour a bit of oil as required.

Place on a plate some smashed broad beans and potatoes and some chicory without mixing them.

 

DIFFICULTY (low, medium, high)

Low

 

WINE TO MATCH

Nausica – Salento Igp Negroamaro rosato 2016 (Not local grape variety)  

RAMPONE – Minutolo Valle d’Itria IGP 2016

 

EGG BALLS

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 100 g of soft inside of stale bread (from the day before)
  • 100 g of grated pecorino cheese
  • Half spoon of minced parsley
  • 2 eggs
  • 150 g of olive oil
  • Salt
  • Garlic

 

PREPARATION

Divide up the stale bread and put it in a bowl to soften with water. After that, squeeze it well and put it in another bowl. Add eggs, salt, garlic and minced parsley. Add the grated cheese.

Using your hands make small balls. Heat abundant oil in a pan and, when it is hot, dip the egg balls. Turn them after 2-3 minutes and when they are golden brown, drain and place them on two pieces of paper towel.

Egg balls are ready!

 

DIFFICULTY (low, medium, high)

Low