Our school has been working on a project aimed at writing a book where all the culinary traditions of inland and coastal villages and towns are represented.
Here are some recipes that are typical of our region
Pecorino ricotta cheese, pecorino cheese and nettle cake
The Mediterranean ingredients bring out the natural taste and aroma of the Calabrian hinterland.
Ingredients
300 gr., young nettle heads, 4 small pecorino ricotta cheeses, 2 fresh eggs, 100 gr. Semi cured pecorino cheese, salt and black pepper to taste, 300 gr. Concentrated tomato sauce, oil to line a small tray, grated stale bread
Method
Cut the nettle heads after they have been boiled in lightly salted water. Add the eggs, ricotta and pecorino cheese and season with salt and mix well. Line a baking tray with oil, agg grated stale bread and add the prepared mixture. Cook in oven for 10 mins at about 180°.
Add the concentrated tomato sauce to 4 individual plates, put the rest of the mixture on top of the tomato sauce. Serve hot with a drizzle of oil
Bucatini pasta with anchovy and bread sauce
Anchovies are very common in our sea, they have tasty white meat, are low in fat and perfect for frying. They make a good starter if cooked in the oven with aromatic bread or marinated and stored in salt or oil. A typical dish from the coast of Reggio Calabria , placed on the straits of Messina, that recalls the old traditions of drinking low alcohol red wine with the dish.
Ingredients for 4 people
350 gr. Bucatini pasta, 2 finely chopped garlic cloves, 8 salt cured anchovies, 1 fresh chilli pepper, 1 dl extra virgin olive oil, oven toasted bread crumbs, 50 gr. Grated pecorino cheese , salt to taste
Method
In a pan with oil brown garlic, add finely chopped chilli pepper. Add the anchovies ( pre soaked in oil and deeboned), add the bread. Cook the pasta in a large pan of lightly salted water. Drain when the pasta is still a little tough. Add to the pan, season with pecorino cheese and quickly serve
Arrotolata pork dipped in Sibari citrus fruit
This dish combines two typical products of the region: pork and citrus fruit.
Ingredients for 6 people
Arrotolata: 1 kg pork (back area of neck), salt and pepper to taste, fennel seeds, rosemary, lard, pistachio, parsley and garlic;
Salsa: 1 lemon, 1 cedro , 1 grapefruit, salt and pepper to taste, extra virgin olive oil, onion herb;
Method
Remove the bones from the pork by cutting open the meat, season the inside with salt and pepper. Finely chop the lard and parsley. Spread on the inside of the , adding fennel seeds and pistachio. Roll up the meat and close with cooking string. Season the outside with salt and pepper. Put in an oven at 200° for about an hour and a half. When ready, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a couple of hours. Meanwhile squeeze the lemon, grapefruit and finely chop cedro peel. Season with salt and mix with oil to make the sauce. Add finely chopped onion herb. Slice the pork when cool and serve on a plate dressing with the sauce.
Anchovies al Cetrarese
Cetraro , heads an important port in the Tirreno sea, faithful to the traditions of a fishing population, they are also devoted to the patron saint of Paola(S. Francesco), and during the period of Lent eat blue fish prepared according to their proper uses.
Ingredients for 6 peoples
720 gr. Anchovies, 240 gr. Stale bread, 3 eggs, 60 gr. Grated pecorino cheese, 1 dl white wine, chopped fresh wild fennel, salt and pepper to taste
Method
Bone anchovies and stuff with a mixture made with: stale bread soaked and hand squeezed, wild fennel, eggs, salt, black pepper and grated pecorino cheese. Put anchovies in an oiled baking dish. Cook at 180° for 10 mins. Add wine and finish to cook for another 5 mins. Serve drizzled with the cooking juices and garnish with a handful of fennel.
Cuculi
Cuculi are typical Easter sweets. They are normally served with tea or a good Passito wine and presented on an earthenware plate, garnished with small chocolate eggs and olive branches.
Ingredients
1 kg. flour, 300 gr. Sugar, 5 eggs,10 eggs to be platted into the sweet, 40 gr. beer yeast, 100 cc milk, 150 gr lard
Method
Melt the yeast in warm milk, add eggs, sugar, lard, and beat together with a whisk until all the ingredients are amalgamated. Add flour and form a smooth dough and live to rise, covering with a tea towel, in a warm area for an hour. Make the pasta into long thick strips and wrap them around the egg forming the characteristic shape. Put them on a baking tray and brush with oil. Leave to rise for around 2 hours, brush with milk and put in a hot oven ( 180°) for about 30 mins.
Mazzacorde
Mazzacorde roulades are made by wrapping the intestines of lamb or goat around a stem of parsley and the interiors of the same animal. It is eaten with a good red wine.
Ingredients for 6 people
100g tripe, liver and lungs from lamb, 300g lamb intestines, 0,5 dl extra virgin olive oil, 1 onion, 100g hot chilli pepper, laurel leaves, oregano, parsley, tomatoes, salt, 6 toasted bread slices, 300g potatoes
Method
Cut the lamb interiors (lungs, liver, etc) into regular pieces, then put some together with springs of parsley. Twist the intestines around the interiors and parsley so that a type of skin is formed and close with cooking string (called mazzacorde). Separately brown the chopped onions in a little oil, add the mazzacorde, chopped chilli peppers, laurel leaves, parsley, oregano and chopped tomatoes.
Leave to cook for around 20 mins on a moderate heat. Add salt to taste and serve hot with the toasted bread slices and sliced potatoes fried in a pan with chilli pepper.
Sea bream stuffed with ricotta cream, racket, almonds, sesame seeds and honey
The exaltation of ancient Calabrian flavours are expressed in this dish for refined palates. In fact, dry fruit with honey, ricotta cheese and the famous chilli peppers from Soverato are excellent together producing an explotion of colour, flavour and perfume.
Ingredients for 4 people
4 sea beam, 16og ricotta cheese, 16g acacia honey, 20g almonds, 20g pine kernels, 10g sesame seeds, 10g mint, 20g parsley, 200g potato, 50g milk, salt, extra virgin olive oil, ground red chilli peppers, 80g rocket
Method
Lean the sea beam. Make an incision down the back and remove the bones. Wash and dry well.
Prepare a mixture with ricotta cheese, pine kernels, almonds, chopped mint and parsley, garlic, rocket, honey and a pinch of salt. Add lemon juice, oil and a pinch of salt to the fish, cover the incision with silver foil, put in a baking tray in a hot oven and cook at 180° for 10 mins. When the fish is cooked fill the incision with the pre-prepared mixture. Serve on a bed of mashed potato (potato, milk and a pinch of salt). Garnish with some almonds, parsley and ground chilli pepper.
Courgette leaf soup
This historic dish with Greek origins from Vibo Valentia has the dialectic name “taji” from the Greek language meaning shoots of the plant that is shoots and leaves from the courgette during the non fruit bearing season.
Ingredients for 6 people
1 kg taji (young courgette leaves), 500g pasta tubes, 50g pecorino cheese, 5 dl extra vergin olive oil, salt and crushed chilli pepper.
Method
Clean the courgette leaves and remove the veins. Cut into large pieces and boil in a large amount of water. When half cooked add the pasta and cook until it is just a little tough: Drain the water out of the pan making sure that a little remains. Add some oil and cook on a moderate heat, season with pecorino cheese, salt and chilli pepper. Leave to rest for a few minutes and serve.
Aubergine and chocolate mousse with Calabrian flavour
This is a particular sweet because of the combination of bitter chocolate and aubergine bringing new reverse tendencies that take the aubergine from being a typical vegetable for dishes with strong tastes to a delicate ingredient for a chocolate sweet.
Ingredients for 6 people
300g aubergine, 300g chocolate, 50g cedro (typical Calabrian fruit), 20g mint, 10 ml brandy, 10g sultanas, 10g pine kernels, 10g candied fruit, 30g sugar, 2 egg whites.
Method
Peel and boil aubergine in water with brandy and candied fruit. Meanwhile melt chocolate in a double saucepan . Mix aubergine and chocolate together adding mint, pine kernels, candied fruit, sugar and beaten egg whites. Fill small pots with the mixture and leave to cool. Serve drizzled with chocolate and decorated with fantasy.
Bruzia fagottino
A lot of fantasy and antique traditions have been added to the presentation of this dish, in fact it is wrapped in a prepared aubergine.
Ingredients for 4 people
Sauce: 250g lamb, 100g pork, 500 ml tomato sauce, a handful of parsley, 1 chilli pepper, 1 glass of white wine, 1 onion, extra vergin olive oil, salt, grated cheese;
Fagottino: 8 grilled slices of aubergine, 150g bucatini pasta;
Method
In a casserole dish brown chopped lamb, pork and a little chilli pepper in oil. Add wine and leave to evaporate. Add tomato sauce and leave to cook for about one and a half hour. Cook the bucatini pasta in a large pan of salted water. When ready add the sauce. Put the aubergine slices on a work surface and add pasta and sauce to each one then roll the aubergine around the pasta. Put a small amount of sauce on the bottom of a heat resistant dish, add the rolled aubergine (fagottini) and add grated cheese. Cook in the oven for about 10 mins at 170°.
Sausage and broccoli rapa
Sausage is the oldest way of conserving pork. Used throughout the region and made with meat or interiors and seasoned with fennel seeds, powdered chilli pepper or pepper and red wine (depending on the area). Sausage with broccoli rapa is a characteristic Calabrian winter dish with a strong and intense taste. This recipe is one of the many ways in which this dish can be prepared.
Ingredients for 6 people
600g fresh sausage, 500g broccoli rapa (stems from the plant), 1 garlic clove, salt to taste, 3 dl extra vergin olive oil
Method
Remove the thicker stems and wash the broccoli, then put in a pan with a clove of garlic, oil and some pieces of dried red chilli pepper. After a few minutes take out the clove of garlic and leave to cook on a moderate heat. When half cooked add the chopped pieces of sausage and leave to cook for another 20 mins. Serve hot.
Calabrian culinary tradition and typical recipes