Easy Italian Recipes

Mediterranean Magic

Among the regional cuisines of Italy, the food of Puglia, the "heel" and "spur" of the boot-shaped peninsula, comes closest to what the world thinks of as Mediterranean fare, Italian style. Vegetables, including tomatoes, sweet peppers, artichokes, fennel, zucchini (courgettes), and eggplants (aubergines), flourish in the temperate climate and are the mainstays of the diet, along with seafood from the region's long stretches of Adriatic and lonian coastline. Local durum-wheat pasta is used to make outstanding, toothsome breads and countless types of pasta, including Puglia's emblematic orecchiette (little ears). Artisanal cheeses made from the milk of sheep, cows, and buffalo include mozzarella, scamorza, provolone, and the famed burrata, a delicacy made by stretching mozzarella curds into a pouch and stuffing it with more shreds of curd and cream. Olive trees cover much of the terrain, and Puglia is one of Italy's—and the world's—leading olive oilproducing areas. Along with Sicily, it also leads the nation in wine production. Locorotondo, a delicate, straw-colored white, and Salice Salentino, an intense red made primarily from Negro Amaro grapes, both pair well with the sun-drenched flavors of Pugliese cuisine.

Culinary Signature: Pugliese Bread

The bread of Puglia, especially the large, rustic loaves of the town of Altamura, is world renowned. It gets its delicate golden color and chewy texture from locally grown durum wheat (the kind used to make dried pasta), which is combined with water, salt, and a natural sourdough starter. Although much of Puglia's bread is now commercially produced, the centuries-old tradition of making dough
at home (with starters passed from generation to generation) and having the loaves baked by a fornaio (baker) in a communal wood-fired oven continues to endure.

Regional Specialties

Lampascioni small, onionlike wild muscari (grape hyacinth bulbs), served blanched with olive oil, fried, grilled, or made into sweet onion marmalade

Orecchiette ear-shaped pasta shells dressed with broccoli rabe, tornato sauce, or meat ragù

Handmade durum-wheat pastas strascinati (large, flat orecchiette), cavatieddi (rolled shells), lagane (similar to fettuccine), and minuicchi (small gnocchi)

Tielle layered casseroles made with rice or potatoes and seafood or meat

Polipetti small octopus, often eaten raw with olive oil and lemon juice

Tarantello cured, spiced tuna belly

Friselle small, twice-baked ring-shaped breads, often dipped in water to soften and served with tomatoes and oil

Ricotta forte fermented, aged ricotta with a pungent flavor and spreadable consistency

Cotognata thick, sweet quinte paste, often served with cheeses

Photo: Orecchiette, which means "little ears", is a distinctive Pugliese pasta. It is often served tossed with broccoli rabe and spicy crumbled sausage