Orecchiette with cime di rape

Orecchiette con cime di rape. This probably the most well known dish from Bari. Cime di rape are known as turnip tops in British English. It’s funny, but I’ve never seen turnips in Italy. It must be a real problem for the ex-pat Scots on Burns’ night. They are known as rapini or broccoli rabe in American English. In fact if you can’t find cime di rape you can use broccoli. The results won’t be the same, but it will be in the same ball park. I have seen recipes that also use cherry tomatoes which are added to the oil after the anchovies have dissolved. You can cook the cime di rape along with the pasta or, as I prefer, cook the cime di rape and then cook the pasta in the same water. Some recipes also don’t use chillies and/or anchovies so the dish can easily be made vegetarian. Serves 4

Orecchiette con cime di rape finished dish

• 400 g orecchiette
• 800 g cime di rape
• 4 anchovy fillets
• 1 tablespoon or more olive oil
• 1 large clove of garlic
• 1 dried chilli (optional)

Orecchiette con cime di rape ingredients

Wash the cime di rape well. I prefer to discard the larger stalks, but some people leave them in.

Washed cime di rape

Boil the rape in plenty of salted water until it is cooked to your liking. I find 3 or 4 minutes is enough. Drain them saving the water.

Cooked cime di rape

Cook the orecchiette  until they are al dente in the water you used to cook the cima di rape. Meanwhile fry the anchovies, whole garlic clove and chilli in the olive oil. Stir until the anchovies dissolve. Cook for a few minutes over a medium heat.

Frying the anchovies and chilli

Remove the garlic clove and add the cime di rape. Mix well. Finally add the oriecchette and serve.

Panzerotti

Panzerotti. From Bari. These are one of the most famous and popular dishes from Bari. They are deep fried pockets of dough stuffed with a variety of fillings. Two of the most common are mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and oregano and ricotta forte (also called skuanda), cherry tomatoes, onion and anchovies. Ricotta forte is a bit of a “Marmite” ingredient. By that I mean it is very strongly flavoured and you either love it or hate it.  I am in the first camp, lovely stuff. Rather than cherry tomatoes, “appesi” are more traditional. These are small tomatoes which are picked when still not completely ripe and hung up for later consumption. As these are hard to find, you can use any type. I went to a party here and a lady was employed just to make panzerotti all evening. The last round was filled with Nutella! The size of the panzerotti varies, but I made 12 with this recipe.

Panzerotti ingredients

For the pastry

• 500 g 00 flour
• 100 ml tepid milk
• 1 cube of fresh yeast
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 10 g salt

Dissolve the yeast in the milk. Add the milk to the flour, oil and salt along with enough tepid water to make a smooth dough.

Oil the dough, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for up to 2 hours.

Separate the dough into 12 portions and roll into small balls. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for a further half an hour.

Panzerotti balls of dough

Take one ball of dough and roll it into a large disc. Place a large tablespoon of filling in the middle of each one. Fold the dough over to form a half moon shape. Press down well and try to exclude as much air as possible. Either fold over and crimp the edges or cut off the excess pastry with a pasty wheel and seal the edges with a fork.

Panzerotti ready to cook

Deep fry the panzerotti until they are lightly golden. Some people use extra virgin olive oil and some people use regular vegetable oil. You can also bake them in an oven at 200 °C for 15 minutes, but the result is quite different.

Panzerotti finished dish

Fillings

• 200 g mozzarella
• 300 g cherry tomatoes
• Oregano
• Chop and drain the tomatoes. Cube the mozzarella.  Mix together with a generous amount of mozzarella.

• 50 g ricotta forte
• 100 g cherry tomatoes
• 50 g onions
• An anchovy
• Salt and pepper.
• Fry the onion in some oil, bone and chop anchovy. Spread each disc of dough with ricotta forte. Add a piece of tomato, some onion and a piece of anchovy. Salt and pepper to taste.

• 100 g ricotta forte
• 20 g grated pecorino romano
• 2 cherry tomatoes for each panzerotto
• 1 egg yolk (optional)
• Mix together the ricotta forte and the pecorino. Some people like to add an egg yolk to the mixture. Place a tablespoon of the filling and 2 chopped tomatoes in each panzerotto.

• Radicchio and gorgonzola.

• Fried minced pork mixed with parmsan and mozzarella. This is traditional on shrove Tuesday.

And of course the very untraditional but popular with children young and old:-

• Nutella 🙂

Peppina at the party

Spaghetti with Gurnard

Spaghetti con la gallinella. Gurnard is used mainly as a soup fish here. This recipe however serves it poached and flaked with spaghetti. This avoids the problem of navigating the numerous bones.  When you’ve finished you’ll be left with a couple of litres of pretty good fish stock which is worth saving and would freeze well. Serves 4.

Spaghetti with gurnard ingedients

• 320g spaghetti
• 300g whole gurnard – cleaned
• Zest from 1 lemon
• Parsley – finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic
• 100g small or cherry tomatoes – sliced
• Stock vegetables (Onion, carrot, celery)
• Olive oil

1. Peel and chop the stock vegetables. Add to a pan with 3 litres of water and a large pinch of salt. Simmer for 30 minutes. You can omit this step if you are pressed for time.
2. Add the fish and poach for 5-6 minutes. The fish should be starting to flake, but not dissolving. Remove the fish and allow to cool slightly. Strain and reserve the stock.
3. Flake the fish taking care to remove all the bones.
4. Mince together the lemon zest, the garlic and the parsley.
5. Fry the fish gently in a little olive oil and add a little of the stock. Be careful not to add to much, you don’t want it too sloppy.
6. Cook the spaghetti in the stock until al dente
7. Just before the spaghetti is done, add the minced ingredients and the tomatoes to the fish and warm through.
8. Drain the spaghetti and add to the pan with the fish. Mix well and cook for a further minute or so.
9. Serve immediately.

spaghetti with gurnard finished dish

Orecchiette with tomatoes and ricotta

  This is the first dish I had cooked for me in Pulgia. Orecchiette is the most traditional pasta of the region. The most popular way to serve them is with turnip tops (cime di rape) , but this way is also common. Feel free to leave out the chilli. This dish uses ricotta dura which is a type of aged ricotta from Puglia. It has a fairly mild, but distinct flavour.  Don’t try this using regular soft ricotta, it won’t be the same. It would probably be ok with a mild pecorino if you can’t find ricotta dura. Serves 4

Orrecciete with tomatoes and ricotta dura ingredients

•   400  grams  orecchiette — fresh if possible
•   300  grams  cherry tomato — halved
•   1       handful  basil leaves — torn
•   3       tablespoons  ricotta dura — grated
•   1       clove  garlic — peeled
•   3       tablespoons  olive oil
•            pinch  chilli flakes

1. Fry the garlic clove in the olive oil until golden and then discard.
2. Add the tomatoes and chilli and continue cooking for about 15 minutes
3. Just before the end of cooking, add the basil
4. Mix with the cooked orecchiette, top with the cheese and serve