Italy Puglia cooking classes and wine tours

There is no better way to start the day than to wake up and find out that the weather outside is beautiful and sunny (65° F!) even if we are still in February!

So  I and Marika went to closest beach in Lecce, where the Sunday farmers market takes place. It was a real feast with all those colorful and fresh vegetables and fruit. Even if it’s still February, we already found fresh green fava beans, strawberries, early tomatoes, chicories!

I and Marika usually buy our vegetables from our favorite farmer, who only sells what he produces and what’s in season. Now it’s broccoli rabe (or turnips) season, so today he was selling his super fresh broccoli rabe. While in Lecce we eat orecchiette with tomato sauce, in the Bari area broccoli rabe are used to prepare the traditional orecchiette pasta, along with anchovies, garlic and chilly pepper (please don’t put any cheese!!).
So today we prepared the orecchiette the Bari way. This dish is called: orecchiette with cime di rapa!

The broccoli rabe belong to the broccoli family, but they are different in taste and a little but more bitter.

It is very important to know that medical research demonstrated that broccoli rabe are very powerful against stomach, lung, and colon cancers, and promising research hints at protective effects against breast and prostate cancers as well.

As usual, I and Marika got excited and bought way too many broccoli rabe for our Sunday lunch!

RECIPE:
4 servings

10oz orecchiette pasta
1lb 10oz broccoli rabe (or turnips)
1 garlic clove
chilly pepper
2 anchovy fillets
1 tbsp breadcrumbs
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION

Clean the fresh broccoli rabe (turnips) and cook them in boiling water for about 8 minutes. Then add fresh orecchiette pasta to the water with broccoli and cook all together for other 5 minutes until the pasta is al dente (or 10 minutes if the orecchiette are dry).

In a saucepan put the olive oil and sautè the garlic clove, the chilly pepper and the anchovies (cut in small pieces) just for 2 minutes.

Drain the pasta and broccoli rabe and add them to the saucepan. Add the breadcrumbs on top and sautè the pasta for about 2 minutes. Because of the anchovies in Puglia we don’t add any cheese. Serve when still warm!

For more information about our cooking classes in Italy contact us at info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to the Cooking School in Puglia Newsletter.

We can certainly say Puglia is an artichoke lovers’ paradise!

If you come to Puglia at this time of the year you’ll see artichokes everywhere: at the markets and at every street corner the farmers sell their fresh artichokes. All the locals buy to eat them fresh or to preserve in extra virgin olive oil, mint and cloves (delicious!!)…to be eaten in the summer on top of our fantastic bread.

The artichokes have many important nutritional benefits. In addition to being full of fiber and iron, they contribute to lower the blood cholesterol. In fact, by promoting bile secretion in the liver, they help reducing the LDL cholesterol.

In the 1970’s, European scientists discovered that the bitter taste of the artichoke is due to a plant chemical called cynarin, which has the ability to reduce cholesterol.

In Puglia we prepare the artichokes in so many different ways and I and Marika have them at least 6 times per week at this time of the year. One of Marika’s favorite ways to prepare them is with carrots, rice and parmigiano….a sort of risotto but more Mediterranean because we make it with extra virgin olive oil instead of butter.

INGREDIENTS
3 artichokes 
1/2 lb rice
2 carrots
1/2 onion
vegetable broth (as necessary)
1/4 glass white wine
3 1/2 oz very good Parmigiano
2 tbsp very good extra virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste
black pepper

RECIPE
Clean the artichokes and the carrots and chop them in small pieces. Put them in a non-sticking pan at low flame adding a few tbsp of vegetable broth. Stir and add the onion, cut very fine.
Add the rice and stir very gently and not very frequently. Add the wine and after a few minute other broth, little by little when necessary.
Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
When the rice is cooked “al dente“, add the parmigiano. Serve and add the extra virgin olive oil.

The only issue we have with artichokes is pairing them with the right wine. What wine do you like having with artichokes?

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!

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BUON APPETITO!

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

INGREDIENTS

6 servings

For the chick peas:

1 pound dried chick peas

pinch baking soda
2 lt water
1 garlic clove
1 small red onion
1 carrot
2 bay leaves
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 cherry tomatoes
1 tsp sea salt

For the tagliatelle pasta:

1 pound durum wheat flour
2/3 cup warm water
1 tsp sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil (for deep frying)
Red hot chili pepper
Parsley, chopped

Soak the chick peas overnight (8-12 hours), with a pinch of salt and a pinch of baking soda.

When the chick peas are ready, deep fry some of the tagliatelle in extra virgin olive oil until they get crunchy and brown. Dry them with paper towels.

Remove the bay leaves from the chick peas, add more water if necessary and raise the flame. Cook the other tagliatelle al dente and then add to the chick peas, with a pinch of chili pepper. Reduce the flame to the minimum, add the chopped parsley and the fried pasta and keep stirring for a minute.

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

Agnolotti stuffed with ricotta and Parma ham.

INGREDIENTS
Agnolotti pasta:
(3 servings)
200 grams durum wheat flour (you can use all purpose flour)
2 eggs
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Stuffing and dressing:
150 grams Ricotta cheese
100 grams Parma ham
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
Sage leaves
100 grams grated Parmesan cheese (good quality)
a pinch of grated nutmeg

PREPARATION

Put the flour in a bowl with the two eggs and the extra virgin olive oil. Knead the dough until it gets very smooth.
Cut the dough in little balls and using the pasta machine, stretch out the dough in very thin sheets of pasta.

Cut the Parma ham in very small strips and mix it with the ricotta using a spoon.
Using a teaspoon, place some ricotta and Parma ham on the pasta sheet (in the middle), and fold it.

Cut the stuffed pasta using a pasta cutter and close it with your fingers.

It is important you cook these stuffed agnolotti right away. Boil the water in a pan adding a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (so that they don’t stick). Add a tsp of sea salt and cook the pasta for 5 minutes.
Remove the pasta al dente and sauté in a saucepan with a few drops of olive oil and the sage leaves, for 2 minutes.
Serve adding the grated parmesan cheese and nutmeg.

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

4– 8 servings
- 1000 grams mussels
- 1 carrot
- 1 garlic clove
- pinch red chili
- 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
- leaves of parsley, chopped
- 2 tbs white wine
- 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 500 grams of hand made tagliatelle

Do you have any other recipe with mussels? Please share it.

To contact us write at info.stile@gmail.com