Italy Puglia cooking vacations and wine tours

Puglia is certainly one of the best places in Italy where to go to if you like eating super fresh seafood, crustaceans and shellfish.

Because in Puglia, we also think that food should be local and eaten where it is produced, you will eat the best seafood in places, such as Gallipoli, Otranto, Polignano a Mare, Torre a mare, which are beautiful sea side towns.

When you look for best seafood in Puglia, there is something you should definetely not miss and that you can only find in Gallipoli: the famous big red shrimps from Gallipoli (which look more like prawns)!

The best way to prepare them is to bake in sea salt crust, as if it was a sea bass or sea bream.

BIG RED SHRIMPS BAKED IN SEA SALT CRUST

INGREDIENTS

2 servings
1 lb 3 oz big red shrimps from Gallipoli
coarse rock salt (as necessary)

PREPARATION

The beauty of the cuisine of Puglia is that you can prepare very delicious dishes without spending too much time in the kitchen. As always, the key is to use fresh and very high quality ingredients. So basically if you want to save time in the kitchen, you should spend a little extra time looking for the right ingredients.

Today I and Marika want to share this recipe which we guarantee will impress your guests on a dinner party! We love this recipe, first because it is very tasty and second because you can serve it cold, so you can prepare it in advance and enjoy your dinner with your guests!

As always we got inspired by what’s in season now in Puglia and Italy: the fresh green peas!

You also need very small calamari. Please note that it is very important the calamari are fresh and not frozen.

RECIPE

4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

- 500 grams fresh green peas (small size)
- very small onion
- 8 small calamari (fresh and small)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (medium fruity)
- 2 slices of artisan durum wheat bread
- 1 tsp sea salt
- pinch black pepper

PREPARATION:

In a pan, soften the onion with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil. Clean the green peas and cook them at very low flame and with the lid. Add the sea salt. After 20-30 minutes, remove them from the flame and let them cool down before reducing into a purea with the food processor.

On the side, wash the calamari and cut them in small strips, lengthwise.  Sautée the calamari just for a few minutes at very low flame.

Cut the artisan bread in small strips and bake in the oven for a few minutes, until it gets crunchy. Once it is ready, drizzle with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil on top.

Pour the green peas purea on a plate. Place the calamari strips on top and drizzle with a little more extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle a pinch of black pepper on top. Serve with toasted bread.

Enjoy!

What’s your favorite recipe with fresh geen peas?

One of the things I and Marika love about the summer in Puglia is the chance to enjoy our favorite aperitif, may be on the beach while watching a beautiful sunset!
There are many things that Pugliese people have during the aperitif.
What I and Marika love the most are the sea urchins. Both accompanied by a good glass of Italian Prosecco wine, the Valdobbiadene Doc is one of our favorites.
Aperitif is a very special moment of the day in Puglia. It can take place at around 12…after breakfast, before going to the beach; or at 8pm after a day spent on the beach before getting ready to have dinner. In Puglia we have a sort of Latin culture therefore dinner is never before 10.30pm, even in winter.
Many people say they will never try sea urchins ….never, never in their life! We have seen lots of people who started with just one….and who are now coming back to Puglia just to eat the sea urchins! Of course there are many ways to eat sea urchins: you can have them on top of the linguine, very simply cooked with just some parsley.
However, the most unforgettable way is to have them raw, by the sea while the fisherman opens them for you a few minutes after he catches them!

Bread is allowed to get all the juice. Fishermen have their special or hidden places where they stop to open sea urchins. Usually you will find them in any village by the sea.

If there is something you should not miss when you are in Puglia on a gourmet tour is: eating fish! You can say: ohh “but I live by the ocean and I eat fish every day. I want some meat!”
Still, I think you should first try the fish in Gallipoli (by the Ionian sea), or in Otranto (by the Adriatic sea). Then you tell me if you still want some meat!

The Mediterranean sea has much saltier water when you compare it to the ocean, which I strongly believe makes fish more tasty.
However, it’s the whole experience which is unique and really mouth watering! In Puglia, locals won’t buy the fish in a supermarket. They will go direct to the harbor and buy the fish from the fishermen, just returned from their catch.

Can fish be any fresher than this? The typical Mediterranean fish includes: sea bass, sea bream, sword fish, calamari, squid, octopus.

However, my and Marika’s favorites are the red big shrimps from Gallipoli. The best place where to have them is in Gallipoli, in the historical center, just by the shore. They are a bit expensive, but really worth it. The famous recipe is to bake the shrimps in a big salt crust (exactly as if you were preparing the sea bream) and serve them with very fruity extra virgin olive oil. It’s something you will never forget!

Please let us if you ever try these shrimps!