Italy Puglia cooking vacations and wine tours

I and Marika have been cooking for the whole day today, trying different recipes for our Sunday’s Easter lunch menu.

We are very happy about our decision!

It is always hard to pick what to make, because in Puglia we have lots of traditional dishes that we only prepare during the Easter week. What we like about all our Easter recipes is that they are simple and made with very local and seasonal ingredients.

So,for our Sunday’s Easter lunch I and Marika we’ll make this Easter focaccia bread. It has the shape of an interweawed garland, topped with eggs and with lots of suprises inside!

In fact we’ll stuff the bread with everything we like: olives, cheese, ham, tomato, onion and….Marika’s delicious capers!!! (people attending our cooking classes in Puglia may remember them!)

It is similar to the Easter bread we made last year, because this focaccia bread also has eggs. They are symbol of Easter and they can’t miss on our table. However, the preparation, stuffing and resulting taste are totally different.

This Italian Easter focaccia bread is made with the same dough we usually use to make our bread or focaccia.

With the dough, we make three different strips that we fill with olives, cheese, tomato, capers and onions. Then, with the three strips we make the shape of a garland, that we top with eggs and decorate with holy olive palms.

Just for you to know, soon after we took the picture, we tried this focaccia bread (still warm): fantastic!!

What traditional Easter recipes do you have?

It’s finally “primavera” Spring in Puglia, Southern Italy!
So we can finally have all the delicious vegetables that we only find in April: the marvellous fresh fava (broad) beans, the sweet little green peas and the tasty asparagus!! For our Easter menu, in addition to the tradional baked lamb with rosmarin and roasted potatoes, we are going to have a fresh Fava (broad) bean cream for appetizer. The recipe includes (for 4 servings): 400 grams fresh fava/broad beans; 100 grams fresh green peas; 50 grams small potatoes; 30 grams leek; half litre clear broth; 1 tea spoon salt; a pinch black pepper; 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 100 grams asparagus; 50 grams fresh fava/broad beans (for decoration).

For the fava cream: slice the leek and soften it in a pan with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil, for a few minutes. Add the fresh fava beans, the green peas and the potatoes. Stir and let them cook for a few minutes while adding some clear broth. Add the salt and pepper and keep stirring. Cook for about 30minutes and them mix everything with a blender until you get a very smooth cream. Add 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, (it is better to add it raw at the end of your cooking, so you keep all the olive oil flavors!!).

For the asparagus decoration: in another pan cook the asparagus reduced in cubes, the 50 grams of fava beans and a table spoon of extra virgin olive oil. Serve the fava bean cream warm, in a bowl. Decorate with the asparagus.

And you, what’s going to be your Easter menu? Share with us your recipes and menu.