Cooking classes and vacations in Puglia Italy

However, the Mediterranean diet is one of the main reasons why women and people in general, live so long. One of the most important features of the Mediterranean diet and cuisine is that people eat a combination of carbs, proteins, and fats at every meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner). What is extremely important is that, everything is eaten in moderation and that focus is on GOOD carbs, proteins and fats.

In Puglia extra virgin olive oil is used almost for everything, even for sweets. Lots of vegetables are eaten at every meal. Proteins come from seafood and most of all from legumes which are eaten at least twice per week. Very little meat is used, sometimes once a week and always in small servings.

Lots of students attending our cookery courses and tours in Puglia are always impressed with the fact that we eat pasta almost every day and keep asking Marika, as a cardiologist, whether this is a healthy thing to do! Don’t we eat too many carbs?

It is true that in Puglia and Southern Italy we eat lots of carbohydrates. However we mainly eat those with a low glycemic index. Pasta in Puglia is made with no eggs, but just with semolina durum wheat and water. Also, we eat lots of grains such as barley, farro and rye and lots of fruit.

A recent study led by the National Institute of Cancer in Milan, shows that there is an increased risk of heart attack caused not by a diet high in carbohydrates, but by a diet rich in rapidly absorbed carbohydrates. 

This is a very simple and delicious recipe made with farro, a very good carbohydrate (which in English should translate into emmer). 

FARRO WITH MUSSELS, TOMATOES AND EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

INGREDIENTS

1 lb farro
2 lb black mussels
1 garlic clove
15 cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup parsley
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
pinch black pepper

PREPARATION

Cook the farro in water for about 25 minutes. Remove it al dente.

On the side pour in a sauce pan a few drops of extra virgin olive oil with the garlic clove and chilly pepper. After one minute add the black mussels and cherry tomatoes and everything cook.

Once the mussels are open, add the farro and finish cooking everything together.

Switch off the flame and add freshly chopped parsley, extra virgin olive oil and black pepper.

Eat right away!

If you like this recipe, you may also want to read our other recipes: orzo and lentils and durum wheat orecchiette with tomato sauce and durum wheat orecchiette with broccoli rabe.

Contact us for more information at info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to the Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School newsletter.

The deal is that if we win the first match (Italy vs Paraguay) on June 14th, I and Marika will be making and eating rice, zucchini and tomatoes on all the following matches …..until the final on July 11th!

RECIPE

4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

- 5 small potatoes (small size)
- 3 zucchini
- 7 oz rice
- 15 cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 white onion
- pinch of sea salt
- a few mint leaves
- pinch of black pepper
- 1 3/4 oz cacioricotta goat cheese
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (intense fruity)
- 1 carrot
- 1 small onion
- 1 celery stalk
- water for the vegetable broth (as necessary)

PREPARATION:
First, prepare the vegetable broth, by pouring water in a pan and adding the carrot, onion and celery. Bring to a boil.
In a baking pan place a layer of potatoes, very thing sliced.
Add a layer of sliced zucchini, the mint leaves and the half onion, very thin chopped.
Add a layer of rice, the black pepper and the sea salt.
Top the rice with the halved cherry tomatoes.
Cover everything with the vegetable broth.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350°F.
Once it is ready and still warm, add the grated cacioricotta goat cheese on top.
Serve adding the intense extra virgin olive oil on top.

If you like this recipe, you may also want to read our other posts on how to make risotto with artichokes and how to make orzo with lentils

And you, what recipes are you making for the World Cup?

For more information on our cooking classes in Puglia Italy please write at info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to our newsletter.

Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School in Puglia is rated # Best Thing to do in Puglia on Tripadvisor!

Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School Puglia celebrates its fifth anniversary in 2010!

Because of such an important event, we are hosting special PASTA cooking classes at our cooking school in Puglia.

On these days, cooking courses will focus on the preparation of traditional Italian pasta from Puglia: from egg tagliatelle; to durum wheat semolina orecchiette; durum wheat semolina cavatelli; stuffed ravioli and gnocchi.

Classes will be at a very special price!  Contact us at info.stile@gmail.com to book a place.

Dates:

June 13 and June 26, 2010

July 2, 2010

September 12, 2010.

Hope you will join us!

If you are interested in our pizza, focaccia and bread days click here!

For more information about our cooking classes please visit the Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School Calendar or subscribe to our newsletter.

Stile Mediterraneo is ranked #1 Best Thing to do in Puglia on Tripadvisor!

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!

If you like this post you may also want to read our recipe on how to make orecchiette pasta with tomato sauce.

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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RECIPE:
4 servings

10oz orecchiette pasta
1/2 onion
1lb fresh ripe tomatoes
chilly pepper
fresh basil leaves
sea salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
grated cacioricotta pugliese cheese

PREPARATION

Follow our instructions on how to make our family style fresh tomato sauce, using the olive oil, onion, fresh and ripe tomatoes, sea salt, basil and chilly pepper.
In a large pan, bring to boil lots of water with sea salt. Please DO NOT add any olive oil to the water, because orecchiette pasta is made without eggs.
Then add fresh orecchiette pasta to the water and cook for 4- 5 minutes until the pasta is al dente (or 10 minutes if the orecchiette are very dry).
Drain the pasta and in a bowl mix the orecchiette with the tomato sauce.
Add the grated cacioricotta pugliese cheese on top.

Serve right away!
Accompany with Negroamaro wine from Puglia.

BUON APPETITO!

If you like this post you may also want to read:

-our post on how to make orecchiette with cime di rape (turnips or broccoli rabe)

-our post on how to make our family’s fresh tomato sauce to accompany our orecchiette pasta in Lecce.

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