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 ARTICHOKES
IN OIL
Ingredients: 25 artichokes, 2 lemons, 0,5 lt. of vinegar, leaves of
laurel, black peppercorns, extra virgin olive oil, salt.
Preparation and cooking time:
1 hour.
Preparation
Cut away the external leaves of the artichoke and cut the tip off the other
leaves. Divide them in segments and plunge them in water and lemon juice.
Pour the vinegar in a saucepan, bring it to the boil, add the salt and the
artichokes slowly. Bring everything to the boil. Put the artichokes on a
napkin and put another one on otherwise they get black. When dry, press them
in a glass pot with some leaves of laurel corns of black pepper. Fill with
olive oil and add some more in case it lowers, seal hermetically.
TOMATO
PRESERVE
Ingredients: 5 kg of juicy and ripe tomatoes,
extra virgin olive oil, basil, salt.
Preparation time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
Preparation
Wash the tomatoes, take off their seeds and blanch them with salt and basil.
Pass them in the vegetable mill and take only the thickest sauce, throwing
away some of the water. Divide the sauce in several earthenware plates and
leave them to dry in the sun.
Put the preserve in glass pots, cover with olive oil and seal hermetically.
LUPINES
Ingredients: 2kg of dry lupines, salt.
Cooking time: 10 minutes.
Preparation
Put the lupines in a bowl and cover them with water. For two weeks change
the water every day until they get soft. Blanch them and plunge in fresh
water. Add the salt, leave them for another day and then they are ready for
eating.
EGGPLANTS
IN OLIVE OIL
Ingredients: 2 kg of eggplants, 2 cloves of garlic, parsley, 1lt of
white vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt.
Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour.
Preparation
Wash the eggplants and cut them in slices. Sprinkle some salt on them and
leave them to stand for a night. The following day bring the vinegar to boil
and plunge few slices at the time. Cook for a couple of minutes then strain
them and leave them to dry on a clean napkin. Press them in a glass pot with
some small leaves of parsley and slices of garlic. Fill the jar with olive
oil and add some more in case it lowers the following days. Preserve the
jars in a dry place.
“PEPERONCINI”
IN OIL
Ingredients: 1 bunch of peperoncini (hot peppers), extra virgin
olive oil.
Preparation time: 15 minutes.
Preparation
Take the hot peppers from the bunch and leave them to dry in the sun for one
day. Cut them in half leaving the seeds then put them in a glass pot and
fill with olive oil. Use after 20-25 days.
PEPPERS
IN OIL
Ingredients: 10-15 peppers, extra virgin olive oil, 10 fillets of
anchovies, parsley, 4 spoons of capers, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 lt vinegar,
salt.
Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes.
Preparation
Wash the peppers, cut away the seeds and cut them in slices. Put the vinegar
in a saucepan and bring it to the boil. Add a handful of salt and plunge the
peppers. Boil for 10 minutes then put the peppers on a clean napkin and
leave them to dry. Put the peppers in a glass jar with capers, pieces of
anchovies, garlic and parsley. Fill the jar with oil and add some more in
case it lowers. Seal hermetically and put in a dry place.
TOMATOES
IN OIL
Ingredients: kg. 1 of fleshy tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic, extra
virgin olive oil, a pinch of oregano, some vinegar, salt.
Preparation time: 15 minutes.
Preparation
Wash the tomatoes and cut them in half. Put them on a level surface and
leave them to dry in the sun for 5-6 days. Plunge them in the vinegar for 1
hour then alternating layers of tomatoes, garlic and oregano. Fill with oil
and seal hermetically. You can eat them after 2-3 weeks.
DRIED
TOMATOES
Ingredients: 2 kg of “St. Marzano” tomatoes, salt.
Preparation time: 15 minutes.
Preparation
Wash the tomatoes and cut them in half. Sprinkle with fine salt, put them on
a level surface and leave them to dry in the sun but do not leave them
outside in the night. After a couple of days turn them upside-down. Repeat
until they are completely dry. Preserve in a glass pot with hermetic seal or
in oil.
CRUSHED
OLIVES
Cooking time: 1 hour per kg.
Preparation
Pick the olives from the tree when they are still green but already fleshy.
Hit them with a hammer stroke. Put them in a saucepan full of water and
bring them to the boil. Strain and add fresh water. Repeat for the following
3-4 days then preserve them in salty water.
RIPE
OLIVES
Preparation time: 10 minutes.
Preparation
Olives are ripe when you can see their dark brown colour. Pick some of them
wash them and you can eat them with fresh bread.
“TARALLI”
Ingredients for 8-10 people: 1 kg flour, 30 g. brewer’s yeast, 2dl
extra virgin olive oil, a glass wine, black pepper, salt.
Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
Preparation
Knead together flour, the yeast melt in tepid water, oil, wine, a sprinkling
of black pepper, a pinch of salt. Knead the dough until it get smooth and
does not stick to the surface. Make a chain as big as a finger, cut it in
pieces of 15 cm then join the two ends. Leave them to leaven for two hours.
Boil some salty water and plunge a few taralli at the time. When they come
to the surface, strain them and bake them at 180° for about 45 minutes.
"PUCCE"
Preparation
Take some leavened bread dough, give it the shape of small loaves and bake
them in a hot oven until they are well done. Sprinkle with flour. You can
also add small olives or bacon cut into cubes.
HOW
WE PREPARE OUR BREAD
The
preparation of the bread is very important, almost a holy ritual. It was not
possible to cook the bread on one’s own. Housewives used to decide when to
bake their bread together with their neighbours and other relatives. In the
evening they had to prepare the leaven (lavato) and the morning after, very
early at about 3am, the housewives started to knead the dough made with
flour, leaven, water and salt. The big loaves were put on the table to
leaven and had to covered with big blankets to keep them warm. At this point
the housewives took their loaves to the wood-burning oven to be cooked. The
“friselle” are prepared in the same way but they are smaller and mainly
round. Leave them in the oven for half an hour then cut them in a half
through an iron wire. Once you have cut them, put them again in the oven for
a couple of hours until they become golden brown. The friselle were
traditionally preserved in the “padali”, big jars of earthenware.
FRISA
WITH TOMATO
Ingredients: frisa, tomatoes, oil extra virgin olive oil, salt,
oregano.
Preparation time: 10 minutes.
Frisa and tomatoes is typical of the Salento, it is easy to prepare but very
tasty.
Preparation
Dip the frisa in water until it get soft. Add tomatoes, olive oil, salt and
oregano. If you like add also a hot pepper.
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