Italy Puglia cooking classes and wine tours

Bordered by the Adriatic sea to the East and the Ionian sea to the West and with a landscape with millions olive trees and vineyards, Puglia is an ideal location for a gourmet holiday.

The local Mediterranean cuisine has an emphasis on durum wheat pasta, seafood, vegetables, cheese and extra virgin olive oil. Recipes are simple, but still very tasty because based on fresh ingredients.

Puglia wines are made from indigenous grapes and taste the equilibrium between the sun, the wind, the sea and the soil.

Please join our 2010 cooking and wine workshops in Puglia

• June (12-19) & October (2-9): cooking workshops in a 17th century castle in Puglia
• April-December: 1 day, 4 day and 7 day cooking classes in Puglia
• April-December: wine tours and olive oil tastings in Puglia

For more information visit our calendar or contact us at: info.stile@gmail.com. 

Subscribe to the Cooking School newsletter.

This is the Lentil soup! Because they resembled coins, in the past they were thought to bring financial prosperity in the year to come. Nowadays, we associate them to general good luck, in any field. I and Marika had lentils for three days in a raw….just to be sure!

 Usually lentils are prepared with cotechino (pork).

What are your New Year’s culinary traditions?

WE WISH A WONDERFUL 2010 AND NEW DECADE TO ALL OUR READERS!

Subscribe to the Stile Mediterraneo newsletter

INGREDIENTS:

4 servings

4 potatoes

10 ½ oz (300 grams) cardoncelli mushrooms

Chopped parsley

3 ½ oz (100 grams) grated Parmigiano cheese

4 cherry tomatoes, in small cubes

1 ¾ oz (50 grams) breadcrumbs

black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

pinch of sea salt

PREPARATION:

Peel and slice the potatoes. Cut the mushrooms in small pieces.
In a little bowl add half of the parsley, the tomatoes, half of the Parmigiano cheese, 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, black pepper, sea salt and some water. Stir everything together.
In a baking pan pour a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and place a first layer of potatoes. Add on top the mushrooms. Then add the parsley with the tomatoes and parmigiano cheese.
Cover everything with another layer of potatoes.
Sprinkle on top with the remaining parsley, parmigiano, breadcrumbs, a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and black pepper.
Place the potatoes and mushrooms in the preheated oven and bake at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 30 minutes.

BUON APPETITO!

For more information about Stile Mediterraneo cooking classes and wine tours in Puglia Italy please write at info.stile@gmail.com

In Italy, we say that we are a population of “Mammoni” (mummy’s people): la “Mamma” is a very important person for Italians in general.

Therefore, today’s Mother day is going to be a very important festivity (almost more important than Christmas!). Everybody gives to their Mammas the most beautiful flowers.

I and Marika thought of making a “savory flower”. We were inspired by the red color of the beautiful poppies we now have in the countryside in Puglia.
We prepared this summery strawberry dessert, that we called “strawberry flower”.

Recipe:
(for 6 servings)

500 grams strawberries
20 ladyfingers
1 tbsp sugar
1 freshly squeezed lemon
Mint leaves

For the pastry cream:
4 yolks
½ liter skimmed milk
7 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp 00 flour
1 lemon zest

To prepare the strawberry sauce:
Leave aside 10 big strawberries. Cut in small pieces the other strawberries and place them in a bowl with 1 tbsp of sugar and 1 freshly squeezed lemon. Stir with a spoon and let them marinate in the fridge. After about 2 hours, use a food processor to reduce the strawberries to a sauce (leaving some big chunks of fruit).

To prepare the pastry cream:
Put the yolks and sugar in a pan and mix with a spoon, while adding the flour little by little. Pour half milk and keep stirring with a spoon until the flour is completely dissolved.
Peel the whole lemon zest and add it to the mix. Move to the stove, reduce the flame to the minimum and keep stirring with the spoon, while adding the remaining milk. Keep stirring for about 8-10 minutes. Let the pastry cream cool down completely (for at least 1 hour) and then remove the lemon zest. (Instead of using the lemon pastry cream, you could also use the mascarpone cheese).

Dessert preparation:
Place a first layer of ladyfingers in a serving bowl and, using a spoon, moisten them with the strawberry sauce. Add a layer of pastry cream on top.
Continue adding another layer of ladyfingers, strawberry sauce and pastry cream.
Slice the 10 strawberries and use them to garnish. Finish with some mint leaves.

How do you celebrate today’s Mother day?

To contact us please email at: info@stilemediterraneo.it

(Savory Strawberries)
I and Marika are back from our cooking and wine tour.
It was a memorable week: we cooked, ate, drank and … laughed a lot! Some guests even complained that the food was TOO GOOD and the wines too delicious!
After sharing so many memorable experiences, it is very sad when our guests (now new friends) go back to their homes…even though they left with the promise to be back in Puglia again (but only after following a strict diet!!).
The best part of a culinary tour is to meet so many interesting people who enjoy traveling and getting to know a place through its food, culture and the local people they meet.
These are just a few highlights of our week.
A good start of the day with one of the best Italian ice creams at the local seller:

Visit of a village which was ready for the Saint Patron celebration:

Lots of poppies and olive trees in the countryside:

We meet our fishermen friends in Gallipoli:

One of the fishermen invited us to his house to show us his collections. This was an experience that all our guests enjoyed a lot, since it was totally unexpected…and since no tourist guide books even mention it!
Collection of big shells caught in the sea and old nets used to fish:

Collection of other ancient instruments used in the house:

Collection of 12 little characters (below the Saint frame). Each character represents an old profession in the village. Starting from the left, we have: the fisherman, the carpenter, the builder, the shoemaker, the taylor etc. Every year, on the Holy Friday, local people wander around the village wearing the colored gouns and hoods.

We think this sort of little unexpected surprises makes our tours unique! Click here for more pictures about sea and beach in Puglia.

What was your favorite unexpected adventure in Italy?

Contact us at: info@stilemediterraneo.it

Ingredients for 5 people:
-250 grams flour
-1 yeast
-½ tsp sugar
-1 tsp salt
-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-200 grams of fresh pecorino cheese
-5 tomatoes
-3 basil leaves
-Pinch of oregano
-1 tbsp capers
-3 anchovies

For the dough: melt in a cup the yeast with some warm water and the sugar. Pour the water with the yeast in a bowl with the flour and salt. Knead with your hands and let it rise for about 1 hour. Then, knead again the dough on a wooden board and cut it in small pieces, of 50 grams each.
For the inside: cut the tomatoes, cheese, basil leaves and anchovies in small pieces and dress in a bowl with oregano, olive oil and capers.
Roll out each piece of dough and place a spoon of tomatoes and cheese in the middle.

Fold the dough and close it very well.
Prepare a baking pan with some olive oil. Place each piece of dough one next to the other and let them rise for other 30 minutes.

Bake in the oven at 180° C for 35 minutes (350F).
Let us know if you make this recipe. It’s perfect to be used on the table instead of the regular bread.

For more information, please contact us at: info@stilemediterraneo.it