In this region, handmade pasta and baked goods, i.e. bread, taralli, focacce, bruschette are the typical products par excellence. Let's not forget the oil, since in this region 85% of the arable land is cultivated with olive trees.
It is a cuisine of poor products, but which, when flavoured and cooked properly, become a tasty and substantial cuisine. Meat also has many recipes as most of the land in this region is in the hills, so there is a preference for pigs, calves and sheep, and cheeses.
Let's start with the typical appetisers.
Anchovies alla Lucana
Needed for the anchovies alla lucana
800 grams of already cleaned anchovies
2 cloves of garlic
6 mint leaves
grams 100 of wine vinegar
chilli pepper, flour, olive oil, as needed
Preparation of anchovies Lucana style
Take the already cleaned anchovies, flour them and fry them in plenty of olive oil. Dry them with paper towels and in the meantime prepare the marinade. In a bowl, cook the vinegar with the sliced garlic, mint and chilli pepper.
Add a little water and allow to take on flavour for a few minutes. Place the anchovies in a large bowl, not very overlapping, and pour in the marinade. They should soak for at least 24 hours. The next day they are ready to be eaten.
Lampascioni salad
This is a typical Christmas lunch starter.
Ingredients for lampascioni salad
500 grams of lampascioni
olive oil, wine vinegar, ground chilli pepper, chopped parsley and salt to taste
Preparing the lampascioni salad
Lampascioni are bulbs similar to onions, but smaller and with pinkish stripes. They grow wild in nature, but can also be found cultivated. They have a slightly bitter aftertaste.
So prepare the lampascioni the night before eating them because they should be left for at least 24 hours in cold water after cleaning them and removing the outer leaves. Change the water at least a couple of times to remove some of that bitter taste.
The next day put them in a pot to boil in plenty of salted water. Remove from the water and season with vinegar, salt, chilli pepper, chopped parsley and olive oil. Stir well and serve at the table.
Now let's start with the main courses, the most famous being acquasale, but also known are bucatini di Maratea or fusilli with pork sauce.
ACQUASALE
Needed for ACQUASALE
6 eggs
2 bay leaves
2 cloves of garlic
slices of toasted bread
water, olive oil and chilli pepper to taste
Preparation of the ACQUASALE
In a pot, preferably earthenware, bring half a litre of water to the boil, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, the bay leaves, garlic cloves and hot chilli pepper. Prepare the boiled eggs and as soon as they are cooked, remove the shells and put them in the broth. Serve on slices of toasted bread.
Bucatini from Maratea
Ingredients for the bucatini di Maratea
600 grams of bucatini
2 cloves of garlic
grams 700 ripe tomatoes
olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
Preparation of the Maratea bucatini
The tomatoes must be washed, skinned and seeded. Mince them in a bowl with the garlic, which is also minced very finely. The bucatini should be cooked in plenty of salted water and removed just before they are cooked al dente. The bucatini are seasoned with tomato, salt, pepper and olive oil. Now take an earthenware tureen and place the seasoned bucatini over a pot of boiling water for at least 5 minutes. Serve piping hot.
Fusilli with pork sauce
Ingredients for fusilli with pork sauce
grams 600 of fusilli
grams 500 of ripe tomatoes
grams 500 pork meat cut into a single slice
grams 120 of bacon
2 tablespoons of parsley
2 cloves of garlic
30 grams of lard
half a glass of dry white wine
olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
Preparation of fusilli with pork sauce
We prepare the pork meat, which must be cut into a single, rather wide slice. On top of the meat we put chopped parsley and garlic and thinly sliced bacon. Adjust the salt and pepper and wrap the meat like salami, closing it with string. .
In a saucepan with a few tablespoons of oil and the lard, brown the meat, turning it often to cook it evenly. After about 30 minutes, add the white wine and let it evaporate. Add the flesh of the ripe tomatoes, cut into small pieces and with the lid on continue cooking for about 45 minutes,
Cook the fusilli pasta al dente in plenty of salted water and once drained, season with the meat sauce. The thinly sliced meat is then placed on top of the pasta and served hot.
Now to the main courses, let's start with the recipe for pork ribs and peppers. Tradition has it that this dish was cooked when the pig was slaughtered and relatives and friends would gather to help prepare the various parts of the pig. Then came the chicken alla lucana and finally the CUTTURIDDI, a traditional lamb dish.
Pork ribs and peppers
Ingredients for pork ribs and peppers
1 kilogram of pork ribs cut into small pieces
grams 20 of lard
grams 200 pickled peppers cut into small pieces
Preparation of pork ribs and peppers
This is a very simple recipe to prepare. Brown the pork ribs in a pan with the lard. Turn often to cook them well on all sides, after 10 minutes adjust salt and pepper and add the peppers. Stir well to allow the meat to take on flavour. Serve hot.
Chicken Lucana style
1 chicken already cleaned and cut into pieces
half a glass of white wine
2 onions
350 g peeled chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
5 basil leaves
a tablespoon of lard
olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
Preparation of chicken Lucana style
In a pan, preferably earthenware, put a few tablespoons of oil and the lard and brown the finely chopped onion together with the chicken pieces. Add the red wine and once evaporated the chopped peeled tomatoes, adjust the salt and pepper and add the chopped parsley and chopped basil leaves. Pour a glass of water into the pan and with the lid on, simmer slowly for about 1 hour. Add a little water if the sauce tends to dry out too much. Serve hot.
CUTTURIDDI
Ingredients for the CUTTURIDDI
800 g lamb, cut into pieces
4 spring onions
1 celery rib
3 ripe tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of rosemary
meat stock, chilli pepper and salt to taste
Preparation of the CUTTURIDDI
Clean and cut the lamb into pieces, then mince it in a fairly large pan with the celery rib and chopped spring onions. Add the peeled tomatoes, bay leaves and rosemary sprig, cover everything with the meat stock, a drizzle of oil, salt and pepper and simmer for at least a couple of hours. Before serving, season the meat again with a drizzle of raw oil.
Now to the desserts, in Basilicata a different one is made for each feast.
Ricotta cake
Ingredients for the ricotta cake
2 sheets of pre-prepared round shortcrust pastry (found in all supermarkets)
for the filling
grams 800 ricotta cheese
grams 150 of sugar
2 sachets of vanillin
3 eggs
a small glass of limoncello-type liqueur
Preparation of the ricotta cake
Stir in the sugar, vanillin, beaten eggs and the small glass of limoncello liqueur to the ricotta. Line a round cake tin with a sheet of prepared shortcrust pastry and place the ricotta mixture on top. Finish by cutting strips from the other sheet of shortcrust pastry and placing them on top of the cake like a tart.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Zeppole di San Giuseppe
Needed for the Zeppole di San Giuseppe
grams 800 white flour
grams 600 of potatoes
grams 40 of butter
grams 40 of brewer's yeast
1 small glass of liqueur to taste
5 eggs
1 small cup of milk
the grated peel of 1 lemon
icing sugar for garnish
seed oil for frying (they can also be baked in the oven and are lighter)
Preparation of the zeppole di San Giuseppe
Dissolve the yeast and butter in the milk. The potatoes are first boiled and then mashed. Mix the flour with the eggs, the boiled potatoes, the small glass of liqueur, the milk with the butter and yeast and the grated peel of a lemon. Knead the dough with your hands until it becomes firm and elastic.
With this dough make many small taralli-like biscuits and leave them to rise on a tablecloth, covered, until they double in volume. Then you can fry them in plenty of seed oil or put them in the oven on a baking tray with baking paper for about fifteen minutes at 180 degrees.
