Food Lover's Odyssey

Making Pasticciotto in Puglia

 

 

 

In Salento, dessert is all about the pasticciotto! The pastry from Lecce & the Salento region is as much a symbol to this part of Italy as the croissant is to France. Whether it be pastry shop, bar, or restaurant menu, you can be sure to find pasticciotto. It was the first gift I received upon arriving in Lecce. I was also able to see them being made at several of the Salento pastry shops I visited. The pastry consists of a short crust pastry filled with pastry cream. The classic pasticciotto uses your basic egg-yolky pastry cream, but once in a while the chefs get creative. Chef Luca Capilungo has two variations, the basic and one with chocolate pastry cream as the filling. And when I visited Bar Castello, they made pasticciotto with purple Olivotto flavored pastry cream. I've also had an all-chocolate, inside and out, pasticciotto.

 

 

Inside the classic Pasticciotto Leccese

 

 

The pastry was first created in Galatina in 1745 at Pasticceria Ascalone. Galatina is a small town south of Lecce, and Ascalone is still open and still making pasticciotto. In fact many say the current chef makes the best pasticciotto in Salento. Massimo, who grew up in Galatina, gave us a tour of the town and told me the legend of pasticciotto's creation. In 1745 Galatina was most widely known for the trance-like dance called the pizzica. At the time, the dance was looked down upon by those outside Galatina and its citizens weren't well regarded outside the city walls. Galatina wanted to find something to improve its reputation and make its citizens well-liked. What better to make people like you than pastry, right? Signor Ascalone created the pasticciotto to solve the problem.

At the pastry shop, Il Golosone Prato, a few minutes from Lecce in Novoli, I saw production of pasticciotto on a grand scale. The chefs even let me participate; I piped pastry cream into the molds.

 

 
A whole lot of pasticciotti just filled with pastry cream

 

Alessandro of Il Golosone forming the tops of the pasticciotti

 

I pasticciotti ready for their egg wash and then into the oven

 

Salvatore of Il Golosone with pasticciotti right out of the oven

 

The crust is traditionally made with lard, or strutto in Italian. I kind of anticipated the freak out that would happen if I posted a recipe that calls for lard, so I asked a few of the pastry chefs about substituting butter. Using butter changes the texture of the crust to one that is harder and crunchier, making the pastry harder to eat because the center is a cream. Using lard creates a moister and softer crust, so you don't have pastry cream splattering out everywhere when you bite into the pasticciotto.  However, in the recipe that follows, I've given you the option to use either lard or butter.

 

Pasticciotto
(Makes about 20)


For the Pasta Frolla (the pasta frolla recipe is adapted from Chef Luca Capilungo's recipe):

3 3/4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (3 grams) baking powder
1 cup plus 2 tablespoon (250 g) lard (you can substitute the same amout of butter, at room temperature)
1 1/4 cups (250 g) granulated sugar
5 egg yolks

For the Pastry Cream:

3 ¼ cup (750 ml) whole milk
Rind of 1 lemon
8 egg yolks
2/3 cup (160 g) sugar
Scant ½ cup (50 g) cornstarch
3 ½ tablespoons (25 g) all-purpose flour

1 egg, beaten (for the egg wash)

20 oval molds for pasticciotto, each buttered and floured

To make the pasta frolla (short crust pastry dough):  In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix together on low speed the flour, baking powder, lard (or butter) and sugar until the mixture is the consistency of peas.  Add the egg yolks and stir together just until the mixture is combined.  Divide in half and create two round disks of pasta frolla. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours before rolling out.

To make the pastry cream:  Place the milk and the lemon rind in a nonreactive heavy bottom sauce pot and leave for 20 minutes. Then bring the milk to a scald.  Let the lemon rind steep in the milk for 10 minutes.  In the meantime, in another bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until the mixture becomes pale.  (The whisk must be nonreactive also.) Add the cornstarch and flour and whisk to combine.

Strain the lemon rind out of the milk, and slowly pour the warmed milk into the egg yolk mixture.  Whisking together as you pour.  Once all the milk and egg yolk mixtures are combined, place back into the saucepot and over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil, whisking vigorously the entire time.  Once the mixture has become dense and just started to boil, remove from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh seive into bowl over an ice bath and let cool for 10 minutes.  Spread the pastry cream into a 9x13-inch glass dish and cover with plastic wrap.  The plastic wrap should be touching the pastry cream to keep the cream from developing a film.  Refrigerate until cold.

 

Vladimiro of Bar Castello forming the dough into the molds

To assemble the pasticciotto: On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the disks of pasta frolla into a square until the dough is about 3/8-inch thick.  Line your pasticciotto baking molds so that when you place the sheet of pastry dough over them, it will cover all molds. Run the rolling pin over the dough to "cut" the dough into the necessary oval form. With your fingertips, press the dough into the mold, so that the dough sits against the bottom of the mold and completely up the sides.

Using a pastry bag fit with a large star tip, at least 3/4-inch in diameter, pipe the pastry cream into the molds. The pastry cream should reach the top of the mold. Roll out the second disk of pasta frolla in the same way you rolled out the first, but to 1/4-inch in thickness. Lay the pastry dough over the tops of the filled molds. This time using your fingers instead of the rolling pin, press around the top edge of each mold to make a cut in the dough. Along the edges of the mold, press down with your fingers to seal the pastry and to create a little "mound" in the center of each pasticciotto.  Brush the tops of each with egg wash and bake at 375 F for 15 minutes. The tops should be golden brown. Cool and serve. Enjoy!

 

Inside a pasticciotto with Olivotto-filled pastry cream

If you'd like to fill your pasticciotto with chocolate pastry cream, you can find a recipe for it here. And if you'd like to fill them with Olivotto-flavored pastry cream, you should join me in Puglia and pick up some Olivotto while you're there.

 

Join me in Puglia - Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Tour - September 1 through 9

Book before May 30, 2012 and receive $200 off per person!

 

Related Posts:

The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo

Olivotto: The Sweet Side of Olives

Zeppole di San Giuseppe

Seafood and More with Chef Lino at Ristorante Donna Lisa

Orecchiette and Salentine Breads - Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento

Under the Salento Sun - The Masserie of Salento

Wedding in Puglia

Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento

Artisanal Cheese at Masseria CinqueSanti in Puglia

Lecce: The Baroque Beauty of Puglia

The Art of Making Pasta by Hand: A Pugliese Pasta Lesson with Nonna Vata

Tour of Masseria L'Astore and its Frantoio Ipogeo in Salento

Lunch Salento Style at Cantine Menhir

 

Zeppole di San Giuseppe

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A year ago, almost to the day, I arrived in Lecce for the first time.  I think you never forget your first impressions of a city, especially those cities that are close to your heart.  I remember stepping off the train late in the afternoon.  The streets of the historic center were so quiet, almost deserted.  The only sound I heard were the wheels of my suitcase click-clacking against the cobblestone street. As I made my first stroll through the baroque historic center, I felt a bit lonely.  The only eyes I met were those of the strange characters carved out of stone and hanging from buildings, churches and doorways.  They stared down at me with smirks that felt like recriminations for coming to Salento solo.

 

 

Then I met up with Ylenia and Claudia who introduced me to Antonella, Pina, Antonella, and Debora.  We gathered in Piazza St. Oronzo for the Italian unification celebration.  Most of Lecce's population came out for the celebration, too, and it seemed that these ladies knew everyone in town.  More and more people joined our group, as we popped in and out of cafes, wine bars, bread shops, and pastry shops, meeting proprietors and even more people of the city. Those strange stone characters on the buildings no longer laughed at me, and I have never again felt alone in Lecce or Salento.

Another thing that stands out about this trip, and all trips to Salento since, was that everyone I met either gave me some kind of food gift or offered me something to eat.  As it was almost March 19th, St. Joseph's day in Italy, zeppole di San Giuseppe were the most offered gift.  In the same way one might offer to get you a coffee, I was offered a zeppola everywhere I went.  I remember the first zeppola I had in Puglia with my new friends, and how they waited with baited breath as I chose between the fried and baked version.  I can still hear their collective exhale of relief when I chose the fried one.  Whenever I see or eat a zeppola di San Giuseppe, I think of my first day in Lecce and all those that I met, who I now call friends.

Fried dough, with an crunchy crust and airy in the center.  There's a generous topping of pastry cream flavored ever-so-slightly with lemon and that little bit of chocolate to add even more decadence to the whole thing.  If you're in Italy, you're obliged to have at least one of these over the holiday.

 

Zeppole di San Giuseppe in the pastry case (these are the baked version)

 

On March 19, Italy celebrates St. Joseph's Day, a day dedicated to Joseph the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus.  The saint is honored with feasts and parades, especially in the south of Italy. It is the onomastico (a second birthday of sorts) for all those named Giuseppe or Giuseppina.  Since 1968, the day is also father's day in Italy. Basically, there's a reason for everyone in Italy to celebrate. 

Besides the feast, zeppole di San Giuseppe are a huge part of the holiday celebrations. I saw the zeppole in pastry windows at least a week before the actual holiday.  The pastry is choux paste fried in the shape of a ring (ciambella) and topped with pastry cream. In Naples, where the first historic account of zeppole di San Giuseppe was recorded in 1837, they add amarena cherries to the top of the pastry cream.  The zeppole I've made to celebrate San Giuseppe are the Pugliese version I had on my first day in Salento, topped with a swirl of chocolate ganache.

 

 

Zeppole di San Giuseppe
(makes about 12)


For the dough (choux paste):

1 ½ cups (350 ml) water
6 tablespoons (80 grams) butter, cubed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/3 (180 grams) cup all-purpose flour
5 eggs

6 to 8 cups of peanut oil for frying


For the pastry cream:

3 ¼ cups (750 ml) whole milk
Rind of one lemon (only the rind, not the pith)
8 egg yolks
2/3 cup (160 grams) granulated sugar
Scan 1/2 cup (50 grams) cornstarch
3 1/2 tablespoons (25 grams) all purpose flour
4 tablespoons (55 grams) butter, cubed


For the chocolate ganache:

4 1/2 ounces (150 grams) dark couveture chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup (150 ml) heavy cream

 

To make the choux paste:  In a saucepan, bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to a rolling boil. (It's important that the butter is in small cubes, so it melts and combines with the water before the mixture comes to a boil.)  Add the flour all at once, and remove from the heat.  Stir until all the flour is combined.  Place back the mixture back on the stove and stir over medium heat for about 5 minutes to dry out the mixture.  Remove from the heat and, after allowing the mixture to cool for 10 minutes, add the eggs one at a time.  Stir in each egg completely before adding the next.

In a deep pot, heat the oil to 360° F (180° C).  Place the choux paste into a piping bag attached with a 14mm star tip (the tip opening should be about 1/2 inch in diameter).  Cut 4X4-inch squares of parchment paper.  Pipe the choux paste onto the parchment paper, making rings that are little smaller than the paper, 3 1/2 inches in diameter.  (I actually piped little "snails" filling the center, but it wasn't necessary as the dough rises quite a bit as it fries, leaving only a small hole in the center.)  Place the choux paste and parchment paper into the oil.  Once the dough starts frying, the paper will fall away easily; then remove it from the pan.  Fry the zeppole about 4 minutes on each side. Depending on the pan size, fry only 2 or 3 zeppole at a time, so you don't lower the temperature of the oil.  Once the zeppole are cooked through, place on paper towels to drain.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar once they've cooled slightly.

 

 

To make the pastry cream:  Place the milk and the lemon rind in a nonreactive heavy bottom sauce pot and leave for 20 minutes.  Then bring the milk to a scald.  Let the lemon rind steep in the milk for 10 minutes.  In the meantime, in another bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until the mixture becomes pale.  (The whisk must be nonreactive also.) Add the cornstarch and flour and whisk to combine.

Strain the lemon rind out of the milk, and slowly pour the warmed milk into the egg yolk mixture.  Whisking together as you pour.  Once all the milk and egg yolk mixtures are combined, place back into the saucepot and over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil, whisking vigorously the entire time.  Once the mixture has boiled, cook for another 2 minutes, again stirring the entiring time.  Remove from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh seive.  Add the butter to the top of the pastry cream, stirring in once the butter has melted. Place the bowl into an ice bath and let cool for 10 minutes.  Spread the pastry cream into a 9x13-inch glass dish and cover with plastic wrap.  The plastic wrap should be touching the pastry cream to keep the cream from developing a film.  Refrigerate until cold.

 

To make the chocolate ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl.  In a sauce pot, heat the cream just until it's scalding (little bubbles appear around the rim).  Pour the cream over the chocolate.  Let the mixture rest for a minute, then slowly whisk together.  To create a smooth ganache, place the whisk in the center of the mixture and whisk in a small, slow, circular motion until the chocolate and cream combine.  Let the ganache cool and thicken just to the point that it will hold its form when it's piped.

 

To assemble the zeppole:  Place the pastry cream into a piping bag fitted with a 12mm star tip.  Into the center of each zeppole, pipe the pastry cream.  I piped a generous two "snail-shaped" circles of pastry cream, one on top of the other.  Place the ganache into a piping bag fitted with a 10mm star tip.  Pipe a small ring of ganache on the top center of each zeppole.  They are best minutes after they've been garnished, and should be eaten the day they've been made.  Enjoy!

NOTE:  To make the Neapolitan version, with a cherry topping instead of the chocolate one, you need a jar of amarena cherries, or another type of sour cherries, in syrup.  Drain some of the syrup from the cherries, and top each zeppole with one cherry.

 

Zeppole di San Giuseppe from Scaturchio in Napoli

 

This week (and last) is dedicated to a "Taste of Puglia." Like this post, the others included little tastes of Puglia and some of the things we'll see, do and taste on this Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Tour in Puglia.  Ylenia will be with us the entire trip, and her love and knowledge of Salento and the people she introduces us to will be some of the most memorable parts of your trip.

Read more about the food and beauty of Puglia - Puglia section here on the blog.

 

 

 

Related Posts:

The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo

Making Orecchiette and Salentine Breads - Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento

Artisanal Cheese at Masseria CinqueSanti in Puglia

The Art of Making Pasta by Hand: A Pugliese Pasta Lesson with Nonna Vata

Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento

Under the Salento Sun - The Masserie of Puglia

Wedding in Puglia

Traditional Salentine Dishes at Locanda Rivoli in Lecce

Lecce: The Baroque Beauty of Puglia

Pugliese Pasta Dish: Sagne Ncannulate con Sugo Schiattariciati

Classic Salentino Cuisine Reinvented at Sette di Sette in Lecce

Tour of Masseria L'Astore and its Frantoio Ipogeo in Salento

Lunch Salento Style at Cantine Menhir

Shopping and Eating Local in Italy - Farmers' Market in Lecce

Sagne Ncannulate Schiattariciati - Pugliese Pasta with Schiattariciati Tomato Sauce

The Dish from Lecce: Rustico Leccese

The Dish from Puglia: Ricci di Mare (sea urchins) from Porto Badisco

This Dish from Puglia: Friselle

Christmas Around Italy - Christmas Desserts in Salento

Eclairs with Chocolate Pastry Cream

Torta Setteveli - Seven Veils Cake from Palermo

Tiramisu

Journey Through the Pastries of Napoli

 

 

The Dish from Lecce: Il Rustico Leccese

 

 

Much of the cuisine of Puglia and Salento has roots in cucina povera. Because of that, it's a bit ironic that in Salento's capital, Lecce, one of its most popular street foods is said to have nobile origins.  It's name is Il Rustico Leccese, a little "sandwich" of bechamel sauce, chopped tomatoes and mozzarella cheese enclosed by two circles of puff pastry. And, there's also pepper q.b., shorthand for quanto basto (translated: an amount that is enough).

The story behind il rustico is vague, but legend has it that chefs from the nobile houses of Lecce created it as an interpretation of the French vol au vent.  The puff in this pastry, however, comes from strutto (lard) not butter.  With butter each layer is flaky and crisp; with lard, the pastry layers have a richer and softer, almost pillow-like, texture.  You'll notice the difference in the first bite.

The layers of pastry, rich bechamel sauce, melted mozzarella and sweet tomatoes combine to make one of these little rounds a very filling snack. As Ylenia suggests, it's perfect with an aperitivo.  Once from behind the baroque courtyards of Lecce, only chefs of nobility made these savory pastries, now you can find them at any forno in the city. 

Like French breakfast pastries (Viennoiserie) or the Neapolitan sfogliatella riccia, the rustico is best hot and right out of the oven.  Also like those pastries, it is labor intensive, especially when you want only a few at home. A "dish" that's particular to Lecce and Salento (the southern region in Puglia), you won't find them in northern Puglia.  Rustico is one of those regional Salentine foods not to miss.

 

Taste Rustico and many more treats from Puglia on this Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Tour in Puglia - 2012!

 

Related Posts:

The Dish from Puglia: Ricci di Mare (sea urchins) from Porto Badisco

The Dish from Puglia: Friselle with Tomatoes

The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo

Art of Making Pasta by Hand: Pugliese Pasta Lesson with Nonna Vata

Classic Salentino Cuisine Reinvented at Bar Sette di Sette in Lecce

Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Puglia

Shopping and Eating Local in Italy - Farmers' Market in Lecce

Tour of Lecce: The Baroque Beauty of Puglia

Masseria L'Astore and its Frantoio Ipogeo (ancient olive mill)

Lunch salento Style at Cantine Menhir

The Dish from Dordogne: Duck

The Dish from France: Viennoiserie

The Dish from Naples: Pizza Margherita Napoletana

Five Favorite Food Words in Italian and Five More Favorites

The Dish from Puglia: Friselle with Tomatoes

 

 

 

 

 

Summer food in Salento that couldn't be easier to prepare or tastier. Whenever the mention of summer along the Salento coastline came up, friselle were always part of the conversation. My food-loving Salento friend's (Claudia's) mouth watered whenever she described how to prepare and eat them. They resemble bagels without holes, formed in rings with the centers filled in with one of the dough ends. Made with barley and whole wheat flour and with less water than normally used to make bread, friselle are brown in color, dry and crunchy.

To prepare, you dip them in water to soften them a little; an action called bagnare le friselle in Italian. Typically, you garnish them with local tomatoes, salt, oregano and drizzle Pugliese olive oil over them. The sweet and soft tomatoes contrast nicely to the still crunchy friselle, and the olive oil adds an unctuous flavor from the Salento land. Claudia told me they are even better dipped in sea water. The sea "bath" is the normal procedure when lunching on friselle during a day at sea on a boat.

 

 
Friselle for sale along with ceramics to "bagnare" your friselle

 

 

 

Another testament to the ingenuity of cucina povera, friselle's popularity came about over the last hundred years and because peasants of the countryside (i contadini) needed to find foods that they could store in their homes over the winter. At the time during the winter, transportation was nonexistent to unreliable, and cities and markets were few and far between, making winter shopping extremely difficult. The peasants would stock up on food that could last for many months in their homes. Friselle were the perfect solution.

Most likely due to their ease of preparation and that they are light fare, ideal for hot summer months, friselle are now an even more popular dish in the summer. While spending the day at the beach, or on a boat, in Salento, you will certainly see locals with friselle in their beach bag. As they keep so well and are very inexpensive, you can buy a sack or two to bring home as a food souvenir. Each time I top one with sweet summer tomatoes and a drizzle of Italian olive oil, I think of Salento. The only things I'm missing are the Mediterranean Sea and a boat from which to bagnare le friselle.

 

 

 

Join me and taste all the treats of Puglia on this Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Tour through Puglia in 2012!

 

You can read more about the highlights of my trip to Salento on The Travel Belles. My article is up today on the site - Puglia: Surprises at the Tip of Italy's Heel

 

Photo at the top of the post provided courtesy of Ylenia and used with her permission. All other photos in this post are mine, All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

Related Posts:

Salento Style Lunch at Cantine Menhir

The Art of Making Pasta by Hand: Pugliese Pasta Lesson with Nonna Vata

The Pastries of Lecce with Chef Luca Capilungo

Lecce: The Baroque Beauty of Puglia

Classic Salentino Cuisine Reinvented at Sette di Sette in Lecce

Tour of L'Astore Masseria and a Frantoio Ipogeo in Salento

Cheese of Puglia: Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento

The Dish from Puglia: Ricci di Mare (sea urchins) from Porto Badisco

The Dish from Lecce: Rustico Leccese

Pugliese Pasta Recipe: Sagne Ncannulate Schiattariciati

The Dish from Puglia: Ricci di Mare in Porto Badisco

 

 

Porto Badisco, on the eastern coast of Salento and just south of Otranto, is certainly a place of beauty. Its cove is a haven for beach lovers.  In the summer, the sandy shores along the inlet fill up with sun bathers, and swimmers and snorkelers dot its glimmering turquoise waters.  This place is also one of myth and history. According to Virgil, Porto Badisco is the place where Italy's founder, Aeneas, first landed after fleeing Troy.  Also nearby, a little past the cove, is the Grotta dei Cervi (Caves of the Deer) dating back to 4,000 B.C.  In the caves are sketchings and drawings from the Neolithic Age and the first inhabitants of the area.  Many of the sketches are of deer; hence the name.  On a clear day looking out across the Adriatic Sea, one can see the shores of Greece and Albania.

 

 

 

 
Rug weaved to replicate the sketches from the Grotta dei Cervi

 

As it was March and not yet beach weather, we made a short visit to Porto Badisco, specifically for one of its delicacies.  What do you eat when you're at Porto Badisco?  Sea Urchins! Freshly caught in and around the inlet, these ricci di mare (their name in Italian) are the pride of the area.  Locals brag that the ricci here are the tastiest among all the others in Italy. Their flavor is due to the particular combination of elements surrounding the coastline and those within the waters and along the cove.  In the summer, people eat the urchins by the hundreds, buying them at the local market just south of the cove or diving for them.  The edible parts are the colorful strips that line one side of the shell.  Often called the roe, this orange flesh is actually the organ that produces the eggs, its sex glands, or its gonads.

 

 

 

 
Market in Porto Badisco where we bought sea urchins (photo courtesy of Ylenia)

 

 

There are several traditional ways to eat them, with pasta, slathered on bread alone or with provolone cheese, or with a small spoon to lift out the flesh.  Everyone assured me that the best way to eat them, however, is without any help, but instead to lap up the flesh with my tongue.  At first, I was a little apprehensive and a little worried my aim might not be that good.  I timidly placed my tongue inside the urchin, fearing I would miss and hit the outer spines.

All went well, and they were right.  By extracting the flesh out with my tongue, the flavors instantly hit me - a creaminess combined with the fresh and salty sea water.  The flesh has the texture of panna cotta.  It is creamy and a little gelatinous, and acted as a conduit, transporting and coating my mouth and tongue with the flavors of the urchin, the sea and a little of Porto Badisco. Fresh, salty, tangy and intense, the tastes tingled inside me, and I immediately craved another.  No wonder people order hundreds of these at a time.

 

 

 

 

*Join me and taste all the treats of Puglia on this Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Tour through Puglia 2012!

 

This post is part of Wanderfood Wednesdays, a group of food-loving travelers who blog.

 

The photo at the top and the one of the market are courtesy of Ylenia and used with her permission.  All other photos are mine, All Rights Reserved.

 

Related Posts:

Classic Salentino Cuisine Reinvented at Sette di Sette in Lecce

Lunch Salento Style at Cantine Menhir

Tour of Lecce - The Baroque Beauty of Puglia

The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo

The Art of Making Pasta by Hand: A Pugliese Pasta Lesson with Nonna Vata

The Cheese of Puglia: Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento

Tour of Masseria L'Astore and a Frantoio Ipogeo in Salento

Pugliese Pasta: Handmade Sagne Ncannulate Schiattariciati (with a "bursted" Tomato Sauce)

The Dish from Puglia: Friselle with Tomatoes

The Dish from Lecce: Rustico Leccese

Cozze alla Marinara - Neapolitan Style Mussels in a Spicy Tomato and Wine sauce

The Dish from Liguria: Fish Ravioli in a Seafood Sauce

Taste of the Sea in Ortigia and Spaghetti Siracusana

My Last Meal: Preparing for the End of the World

 

Pizza al Taglio at Pizzarium in Rome

 

 

When I'm in Rome, my pizza of choice is pizza al taglio.  Called pizza by the slice when translated, but that doesn't mean it's a triangular slice cut from the pizza pie.  No, this pizza al taglio is a rectangle, or square, cut from a larger rectangular slab of pizza.  Although its shape is similar to Ligurian focaccia, its texture is different - thinner and with a crisper crust.  It's a staple in the Roman diet.  Pizza bianca, the pizza with only a sprinkling of salt and olive oil, has been my go-to breakfast during various stays in Rome.  This pizza also comes topped with tomato sauce (pizza rossa) and various other vegetables, and cheese.  Rome has its version of the traditional round pizza, with a crust that is thin and crispy, but I prefer Roman pizza al taglio.

Mainly, I've eaten pizza al taglio as a light meal or snack.  During my six-week stay in Rome a while ago, one of my favorite places for pizza al taglio was Il Forno in the Campo de' Fiori.  After getting a slice, usually with eggplant or zucchini, I would sit along the benches at the nearby Palazzo Farnese, eat and people watch in the piazza.

 

 
Palazzo Farnese - my usual spot for snacking on pizza al taglio 

 

 
Piazza Farnese and its Fountain

 

For my recent visit to Rome, I had planned on making a snack of Gabriele Bonci's pizza al taglio at Pizzarium, especially after seeing all the blog posts from his pizza and bread making classes. (All the links to these are on this Italy on a Plate post.)  Because my trip to Rome was a too short two days, I enlisted the help of Roman bloggers and food lovers, Katie Parla, Elizabeth Minchilli, Tavole Romane, and Hande of VinoRoma, to help.  I asked them if they had only four meals to eat in Rome, where would they choose.  Unanimously, every one of them recommended Pizzarium, not for a snack, but for lunch. 

I was convinced.  My first day in Rome, I worked up an appetite by making a beeline from my hotel in Trastevere to Pizzarium, which is located across from the Cipro-Musei Vaticani Metro stop, and near the Vatican Museums. Although the price was at least double what I'm used to paying for pizza al taglio, Chef Bonci didn't disappoint.  The pizza is a little thicker, and the outer crust is extra crunchy. Inside is full of holes of varying sizes, making it softer, airy, and a delicious contrast in texture against the crunchy crust.  And then, there were the toppings - fresh, tasty and abundant.

 

 
 Two Roman delicacies in one - Pizza al taglio and Roman artichokes

 

 
Pizza topped with prosciutto, eggplant and cheese

 

 
Pizza topped with taleggio, zucchini and sesame seeds

 

Chef Bonci is extremely generous with the toppings and the olive oil.  Make sure you have plenty of napkins while eating; otherwise, your chin and hands will have a nice glow from the extra olive oil.  The pizza topped with marinated Roman artichokes was TO DIE FOR. I loved it so much it's on the menu for my world-ending meal.  Also a delicious combination was the salty prosciutto with eggplant and cheese.  For me the taleggio was too strong a flavor, and made the mild flavor of the zuccnini disappear.

 

Just west of the Cipro-Musei Vaticani Metro exit, Pizzarium is a hole in the block of buildings on the small street.  They have a few tables outside and a bar inside for you to stand and eat.  There were at least 15 various toppings in the case when I was there.  You choose what you'd like and the size.  They charge by weight. The six squares for two people, shown above, were 27 euros.  More production was going on in the back, and as new variations came out, they added them to the case.

Pizza al taglio is a treat not to be missed in Rome, and the pizza at Pizzarium is definitely worth a full lunch.  I was so stuffed, I had to alter my lavish dinner plans for the evening.  Plans for my next trip include trying other toppings and taking one of his classes.

 

Pizzarium - via della Meloria, 43 - Rome

For classes:

Tricolore in Rome offers various classes in Italian, including Gabriele Bonci's classes on pizza and bread - Here is the Tricolore Class Schedule

 

 

Related Posts:

Best Picnic Spots and Picnic Fare in Rome

Da Danilo - Delicious Dining in Rome

Pizza Lover's Odyssey in Naples

Roman Pasta Dishes and Ten Places to Eat Them in Rome

Food in Rome: Taste of Testaccio is Offal

Taste of Testaccio - Food Tour with Eating Italy in Rome

Pasta all' Amatriciana - A Roman Treat

Cacio e Pepe in a Parmesan Bowl - Inspired by Roma Sparita

Potato Gnocchi for Gnocchi Giovedi

The Dish from Rome: Coda alla Vaccinara (Braised Oxtail)

Fettuccine ai Funghi - Fettuccine with Mushrooms and Autumn in Rome

Caramel Gelato and Five Favorite Gelaterie in Rome

Rome at Night in Photos

A Taste of Sicily in Rome

Campo de' Fiori

Rome with a View - Five Favorite Spots for Photo Ops in Rome

Villa d'Este in Photos - A Day Trip from Rome

 

Pugliese Pasta: Sagne Ncannulate con Sugo Schiattariciati ("Squished" Tomato Sauce)

 

Behind almost every dish I make is a story. The dishes I like best have the most memorable stories behind them. Sometimes it's a long story, a chunk of someone's life. When I make meat ragu, I always think of my mom. I recount part of her life in each four-hour meat sauce. Those of our times cooking together, our weekly spaghetti and meat sauce dinners while growing up (and afterwards), and even the holiday dinners, when she would use her meat sauce with my nonna's ravioli.

Sometimes the dish tells a story of brief events all linked together through one dish. La Coda alla Vaccinara makes me think of the chef in Rome who told me how he makes it, and the GranTourismo competition I entered and won with that recipe and story. I think of Testaccio, my apartment there, and of Rome.

Either in my mind or aloud, I retell the story of the dish each time I make it. I relive those special events, and recall the friends and family who shared the meal with me. If I make a dish for you, know you will hear its story as we eat it.

In this dish I've made today, is a story of a day in Salento. I've shared much of the day with you in previous posts, the morning making pasta with Debora's Nonna Vata and the afternoon in the kitchen with Pina, Claudia and Ylenia.

Pina and the pasta schiattariciati we had at lunch

Nonna Vata making pasta

While making the sagne ncannulate for this post, I remembered that day again. Meeting Nonna Vata, her lesson and advice, her saying "vai, vai, vai" (go, go, go) when I was doing things correctly. I thought of Pina, and the stories she had about the Salentino food. Each vegetable and spice had a story behind it that she told me as she added the ingredient to the pot. I remember the table at Cantine Menhir and all of us gathered around, the jokes, the conversation. Each time I make this dish, I'll repeat the story in my head, think of the people with which I shared the meal, and share the story with whomever is with me.

Through my previous posts, you know the stories behind the dish. Now, I share the recipe with you.

The pasta is a truly regional one, Pugliese. Food is still very regional in Italy, so much so that even many pasta shapes have their own regions. In the stores in Salento, I saw only sagne ncannulate, orecchiette and maccheroni (known as minchiareddhri in Pugliese dialect). There might have been spaghetti or penne somewhere, but it was hidden behind the many packages of these regional pasta shapes. The sauce, schiattariciati, which means squished, is easy to make and oh so good. Fresh tomatoes explode in a generous amount of olive oil. There's a little garlic and a lot of fresh basil. To finish, the regional cheese, cacioricotta, is tossed through the dish to add a creaminess to each strand of pasta.

Step by step instructions for making and rolling out this pasta are on my post: A Pasta Making Lesson with Nonna Vata. If you don't want to roll out the pasta by hand, you can use a pasta machine. Roll it out to the #5 level of thickness.

With Nonna Vata, we made sagne similar to the middle photo below, just thinner. I also saw sagne curved like a horseshoe. Either way, you should cut the strips to about 15 inches in length. The thinner sagne ncannulate are made with strips 1/4-inch in width (on the left in the photo below) and with the thicker ones, cut the strips 1/2-inch in width (on the right in the photo below).

Here are a few more notes on shaping the pasta:

It takes a lot of practice to get the motion down and a perfectly twirled sagne ncannulate like Nonna Vata's. (At first you'll get one side tightly twirled and the other loosely twirled.)

Let the pasta dry, at least 4 hours, before cooking.

For me, the thinner strips (1/4-inch wide) are harder to make more uniform than the thicker ones.

 

I still need to master Nonna Vata's way of shaping the sagne ncannulate. In the meantime, I found that it was easier to make a more uniform twirl if I rolled the pasta around my index finger, and then pulled the roll out on the board. From there, I created a tighter twirl by lightly rolling it on the board, with one hand over the top of the pasta and another holding an edge of the pasta.

 

*Join me in 2012 - Cook with an Italian nonna and make this and other delicious Pugliese dishes on a Food & Wine Lover's Journey in Puglia!

 

 

 

Sagne Ncannulate con Pomodorini Schiattariciati

Serves 4 people

1 pound (450 grams) dried sagne ncannulate pasta (you can substitute spaghetti or linguine)

For making Sagne Ncannulate Pasta:

(adapted from my lesson with Nonna Vata)

1 pound (450 grams) durham wheat flour (semolina flour in the U.S.)

About 1/2 cup warm water

Note: The amount of water you will need varies by day and by area depending on the climate, and especially the humidity. I used 1/2 cup of water on a typically arid California day. In the summer in, say Texas, you will certainly need less water.

For the Schiattariciati Sauce:

(adapted from Pina's schiattariciati sauce)

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, whole with the skins on

2 pounds (900 grams) cherry tomatoes, with stems removed

1 tablespoon kosher salt

20 to 25 basil leaves, plus more for garnish

About 3/4 cup grated cacioricotta cheese*

In a large sauce pot, bring about 8 cups of water to a rolling boil. Once the water has boiled add a generous amount of salt and let it come back to a boil.

In another deep sauce pot, add the olive oil and whole garlic. Over medium heat, heat the oil until it starts to bubble. Gently place the whole cherry tomatoes in the oil. Cover the saucepan with its lid and leave for 5 to 7 minutes, letting the tomatoes "explode" under the lid. Add the salt and basil leaves, and cover until you're ready to add the pasta.

Once the tomatoes have burst, put the pasta in the boiling water. If you're using home made sagne ncannulate, boil for 3 to 4 minutes (depending on the size of the pasta). Then place into the squished tomato sauce and combine. If you are using boxed pasta, cook only half the cooking time that are on the cooking instructions. (Because the pasta cooks in the sauce, it should be extremely al dente when you remove it from the water.) Off the heat add the grated cheese and toss until the cheese has coated all the pasta. Garnish with fresh basil. Serve.

*Cacioricotta is a Salento cheese that is a combination of cheese and ricotta. I'm still searching for an adequate substitute in case you can't find it in your area. (I tried ricotta salata, but it's not the right substitute.)

 

Related Posts:

The Art of Making Pugliese Pasta by Hand - A Lesson with Nonna Vata

Cheese of Puglia: Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento

Tour of Masseria L'Astore and a Frantoio Ipogeo in Salento

A Tour of Lecce - The Baroque Beauty in Puglia

Lunch Salento Style at Cantine Menhir

Classic Salentino Cuisine Reinvented at Sette di Sette in Lecce

The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo

The Dish from Puglia: Friselle with Tomatoes

The Dish from Puglia: Ricci di Mare (sea urchins) from Porto Badisco

The Dish from Lecce: Rustico Leccese

Artichoke and Spinach Ravioli in a Brown Butter Sauce

Slow-Cooked Meat Ragu to Honor Mom

Pasta all'Amatriciana - A Roman Treat

Cacio e Pepe in a Parmesan Cup inspired by Roma Sparita

Pasta con le Sarde and Cooking in Palermo

 

Pugliese Pasta and the Art of Making Pasta by Hand: A Lesson with Nonna Vata

 

When I was a little girl, I remember sitting on a stool in the corner of my nonna's kitchen watching her teach my mom how to roll out pasta by hand.  In minutes, my grandmother could roll dough around a rolling pin and spin out a thin sheet of pasta; one that almost covered her 8-person table.  She never taught me.  Her goal was to teach my mom first, and my mom could teach me.  My mom never really learned before my nonna passed away.  One of my dreams has always been to have an Italian nonna teach me to roll out pasta dough by hand.

This trip to Puglia, I got the chance.  Debora, a friend of Ylenia's, brought me to her Nonna Vata's house to make pasta.  Nonna Vata is a petite lady, who barely reached my shoulders.  Don't be fooled by her small stature.  Her feistiness and energy surpassed all four of ours. 

When it came to making pasta, though, she was all business.  I had my camera out ready to take photos.  She asked, "Are you going to make pasta or take photos?"  Head bowed in shame, I handed my camera to Ylenia, who took photos for me.  "Before you do anything, wash your hands."  "Si, nonna," I replied recalling all the "oui, chefs" I've uttered in the same submissive manner.

There was no written recipe, and she measured nothing.  She said she used "around 800 grams" of durham wheat flour, the traditional flour used for pasta in Puglia.  She added as much water as the flour needed (the most popular measurement amount in Italian, called quanto basta or q.b.).  She knew when to stop adding water and when to stop kneading solely by the feel of the dough.  She's been making pasta for over 70 years.  Her hands and eyes are far better than scales and temperature gauges.

 

 

 
 

How to make pasta dough according to Nonna Vata:

Sift the durham wheat flour through a tamis.  Make a well in the center of the flour.  Before you add the warm water, make the sign of the cross over the flour.  As Nonna explained, while shooting her hand skyward,"Without the hand of God, you can't do anything!"

Add warm water, "not cold and not hot," little by little to the flour.  She worked it in with her hands until the dough was the right consistency.  She let me help so I could also feel the dough as we added the water.  Once the mixture was combined together, she started kneading. 

She kneaded the dough for less than five minutes until it was the right consistency. The dough was soft, not damp, and you could easily make an impression in it with your fingers.  Notice how she pressed her thumbs into the dough as she kneaded it, rolling it away from her on the board.  She formed a ball, made another sign of the cross on the dough, and wrapped it in a towel to rest for 30 minutes.  She covered the dough in a big blanket, calling this its penance.

 

 
Pasta dough resting under blankets

 

When the dough was ready, she took it out, made another sign of the cross on top of the pasta dough, and she began rolling it out into a perfect circle.  Now, I know that you must turn the dough 1/4 turn after each roll to keep a perfect circle, but her hands moved so quickly, I never saw her do it.  Once the dough was thin enough, she rolled it around the rolling pin and continued rolling to get the thin sheet of pasta. (This is the part I could never figure out on my own.  The dough would always stick together.) 

 

 

 

What I learned from Nonna Vata was first to sprinkle a little flour on the dough each time you roll the dough around the pin.  Place your hands on the rolling pin along the edges of the dough, not on the dough itself.  And, only make 2 or 3 pushes of the rolling pin at a time, then unroll the dough, turn it a 1/4 turn, sprinkle flour over it again, and roll it back up around the pin. Repeat until the dough is paper thin. With Nonna Vata's help, and also her doing most of the rolling, the dough became a thin sheet in less than 10 minutes!

 

 

 

With this sheet we made two pasta shapes:

Sagne ncannulate is a Pugliese pasta.  This shape along with orecchiette and minchiareddhri are the main pasta shapes you'll find in stores in the region.  The name is in Pugliese dialect, and as Claudia told me, there is no Italian translation.  They are long strands of twirled pasta.  They resemble curled ribbons on a wrapped Christmas or birthday present.

 

 
 Nonna Vata making sagne ncannulate

 

We made them by cutting pasta into thin strips, about 1/4-inch in width.  Then, holding one end of the strand in the air, and rolling the other end of the strand with your hand, you curled the pasta up.  You placed the bottom part of your palm on a pinched end of the dough, and bringing your hand towards you on the board, rolled the pasta between the board and your hand. 

 

 

 Learning to shape the sagne ncannulate

 

Nonna Vata whipped out a few of these tightly twirled pasta strands and then let me try.  After screwing up several, I finally made one!  Woohoo!  I made a few more, and did get better with each try, but believe me, they're not easy to make.  None of mine were as tightly twisted as Nonna Vata's were.  She emphasized it takes practice.  She also said that you can make bigger sagne ncannulate, cutting pasta strips about 1/2-inch in width. The bigger size is what I saw at all the pasta shops and food markets in Lecce and Salento.

 

 

 

We also made massa (also called lasagne in the region), which I had seen the previous day during our visit to The Tables of San Giussepe (my day visiting these tables will be another post).  This pasta shape was much easier to make.  Nonna cut half the sheet of pasta, rolled the sheet up into a log, and cut thin (about 1/8-inch) slices.  Then she opened up the small strands of massa by fluttering her hands through it.

 

 
 Making the massa pasta shape

No recipe, cookbook, nor even a video, can ever teach you what an 85 year-old woman, who's been making pasta her whole life, can teach you in one day.  She helped me get a feel for the dough, noticed and corrected me when I did something wrong, and placed her hands over mine to help me understand how to move my hands to roll out and shape the pasta. 

 

 

 
Claudia modeling the apron sent to Nonna Vata by other grateful American students

 

I know nowadays we all have pasta machines, but I believe this is an important art in the tradition of pasta making and in Italian food.  If for no other reason than to appreciate the amount of work nonne, like Nonna Vata, did before machines, you should see how it's done. 

If you haven't yet had a lesson from an Italian nonna, I hope you seek one out and take the opportunity to learn.  In the meantime, besides the "tricks" I noted above, here are a few more I learned for rolling pasta out by hand: 

 

1. Know when to stop adding water to the pasta (this varies due to humidity and room temperature) so the pasta is the right consistency. 

 

2. You need a rolling pin that's thin in diameter (about 1 to 1 1/2 inches). Nonna Vata gave me one as a gift, but she said you could also cut the end of a wooden broom stick.

 

3. You need an extra large wood board, larger than what the rolled out sheet of pasta will be.

4. Most importantly of all - you need to practice. 

 

Grazie tantissimo Nonna Vata!  Thank you also Ylenia for taking these photos while I learned to make pasta!

 

 

Since my lesson with Nonna Vata, I've been doing a little practicing with the rolling pin she gave me.  Come back tomorrow when I'll have a recipe for the schiattariciati sauce that Pina made to go along with sagne ncannulate pasta.

 

*Join me in 2012 - Cook with Italian nonnas and make Pugliese pasta and so much more on this Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Tour in Puglia.

 

Related Posts:

Orecchiette and Salentine Breads - Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento

A Tour of Lecce - The Baroque Beauty of Puglia

The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo

Cheese of Puglia: Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento 

Tour of Masseria L'Astore and a Frantoio Ipogeo in Salento

Lunch Salento Style at Cantine Menhir

Classic Salentino Cuisine Reinvented at Sette di Sette in Lecce

Sagne Ncannulate con Sugo Schiattariciati ("Squished" tomato sauce)

The Dish from Puglia: Ricci di Mare (sea urchins) from Porto Badisco

The Dish from Puglia: Friselle with Tomatoes

The Dish from Lecce: Rustico Leccese

The Dish from Rome: Coda alla Vaccinara

Cassatelle alla Siciliana - (fried sweet ricotta cream filled ravioli)

Slow-Cooked Meat Ragu to Honor Mom

 

 

 

 

 

Journey through the Pastries of Napoli

  

 

My trip to Naples wasn't only about the pizza.  With delicious food that ranges from fried treats to decadent desserts, the food of Naples can satisfy any food lover.  This trip I wanted to be sure and sample as much of it as possible.  Before delving into a few Neapolitan sauces I learned to make or my adventures in Neapolitan dining with Napoli Unplugged, let's start with my favorite course: the desserts.

On my first day in the city, I got a rather impromptu pastry lesson on the streets of Naples.  I was patiently waiting for the walk sign before crossing the street.  While waiting and holding my first Neapolitan pastry (of this trip) carefully in front of me, I saw two guys cross the street, AGAINST the light!  I laughed at myself while watching them, realizing I'd be much safer crossing when there were no cars then waiting for a light to give me a false sense of security. 

One of the guys mistook my laughing and smile as flirtation, and stopped to talk.  First question, "Di dove sei?" (Where are you from?).  I'm not sure which made me more foreign, my red hair and pale skin or the fact that I was actually waiting for a traffic light before walking.  After I answered, California.  He called out to his friend, "Ay, Oh, lei e Amerigahna!" 

His Neapolitan accent, pronouncing "Americana" with the hard g and the "Ay" and "Oh" to get his friend's attention, made me laugh even more.  This, of course, only encouraged them.  I continued to chat for a while, mainly because I love to hear the Neapolitan accent, in Italian. (Neapolitan dialect is different and a language where I am completely lost and unable to understand even one word.)

While talking we got on the subject of pastries. They peeked into my bag and proceeded to school me on the make up of Zeppole di San Giuseppe, which is what I had in my hand.  While they might have been the most unlikely source of information, what they said was similar to the information those in the pastry shops gave me. Besides, they were a fun intro to my pastry-eating adventures in Napoli.

 

  

 

 

 

Below are photos and descriptions of my journey through the pastries of Napoli:

 

 

 
 

Sfogliatelle (Riccia) - To thoroughly appreciate this pastry, you need to eat it right out of the oven while it's still warm.  (Like Parisian croissants and other viennoiserie, sfogliatella loses its deliciousness after a few hours.) The crust is crunchy and flaky and the filling creamy and not overly sweet.  The crust is a sort of puff pastry, where thin layers of pastry are rolled into a cylinder.  Between each layer of pastry is a thin layer of lard.  The pastry is formed into its famous clam-like shell and filled with a custard-like mixture of semolina, ricotta, eggs, sugar, candied citrus and a pinch of cinnamon.   

 

 

 

Sfogliatelle Frolla - The sister to the riccia (curly), the frolla uses pasta frolla (shortbread crust) instead of the flaky sfoglia crust.  The filling is the same; a mixture of semolina, ricotta, eggs, sugar, candied citrus and cinnamon.

 

 

 

 

 

Baba au Rhum - A yeast-levened cake soaked in a rum simple syrup, these and the sfogliatelle are the sweet symbols of Napoli.  You can find baba (bah-BAH) plain, like the one above, or filled with fruit and sweetened whipped cream, Nutella, pastry cream, and even ricotta cream. I prefer the ones filled to offset the rum in the syrup.

 

 

 
 Zeppole di San Giuseppe fried (at left) and baked (at right) 

Zeppole di San Giuseppe - These pastries are in abundance in pastry shops all over the city during the days surrounding il giorno di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph's Day), March 19th.  It's a choux paste piped in a ring shape.  The paste/dough is either fried or baked, and then filled with a lemon pastry cream and topped with macerated Amarena cherries.   

As I stated, they come in two forms, fried and baked. At the first pastry shop I asked the clerk which was better.  I got a look from him that said, "It's obvious, Amerigana" as he told me, "I fritti."  At the second pastry shop, when I specifically asked for the one "al forno," I again got a look from the clerk, letting me know that I obviously chose the wrong one. I had to try both, and both were quite good.  Yes, the fried one is better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Torta Caprese - This is a flourless chocolate cake from the Isle of Capri. There are many versions depending on how fine you chop the almonds. I prefer that the almonds are finely chopped, creating a denser and moister cake.  At Pasticceria Scaturchio they used more coarsely chopped almonds, but the cake was still quite moist due to a bit of liqueur included in the recipe.   

 

 

 

Torta Caprese al Limone - This is the lemon version to the chocolate cake from Capri.  White chocolate and lemon, lemon rind, and limoncello replace the dark chocolate and cocoa powder to give you a dense cake full of lemon flavor.  Also flourless, this cake uses ground almonds.  Like the chocolate version, much of the texture depends on how finely you chop the almonds.

 

 

 

Delizia al Limone - As its name says, it's a lemon delight.  Lemon sponge cake imbibed with a limoncello spiked simple syrup, filled with lemon pastry cream and iced with lemon flavored whipped cream.  If you love the lemons, especially the lemons from the Amalfi coast, this is your dessert.

 

 

 
Ricotta e Pera with Pan di Spagna (sponge cake)

 

 
Ricotta e Pera with Biscotti (hazelnut cookies)

 

Ricotta e Pera - Ricotta cream and whipped cream together with poached pears are sandwiched between a hazelnut biscotti, and sometimes two layers of sponge cake.  I found that restaurants usually serve this dessert with the sponge cake, probably to make it easier to eat.  Pastry shops usually serve it with the biscotti.  While the crunchy biscotti pushes out the soft center when you're eating it, causing a bit of mess when eating, I still prefer it for the contrast in textures.

 

 

 

Pastiera - "Non puo mancare sulla tavola di Pasqua" (It can't be missing on the Easter table) - This is the saying I saw and heard whenever the subject of Pastiera came up.  Because I was in Naples during the "Easter season" (which seems to start immediately after Carnevale), I sampled several.  It was in every pastry shop and on every restaurant menu while I was there in March. 

The crust is a pasta frolla, traditionally made with lard (strutto) instead of butter.  The filling is a ricotta cream and egg mixture that is lightly flavored with rose flower water an studded with cooked hulled wheatberries (grano precotto) and sometimes candied citrus fruit.  (I thought the candied citrus fruit was a must, but a Neapolitan restauranteur told me they are optional - and even made a special Pastiera without the candied citrus for me).  

  

 

Scaturchio's - Napoli's oldest pasticceria 

 

The chocolate disk in the top photo isn't a pastry you'll find throughout Naples, but it is the specialty of Scaturchio's.  It's their Ministeriale, a chocolate medallion filled with a chocolate and liqueur cream.  It was very good and very rich, with a potent punch of liqueur.  I may have been a little drunk after eating it.

 

 
Scaturchio's Ministeriale - Chocolate Medallion

 

 

 
 Pastries from the Gran Caffe Cimmino

 

Most of the pastries in these photos came from Scaturchio's (the oldest pastry shop in Naples) or the Gran Caffe Cimmino.   

Scaturchio - Piazza San Domenico Maggiore, 19 

Gran Caffe Cimmino - via Gaetano Filangeri, 12 

 

 

This post is part of Wanderfood Wednesdays - To see what other travelling foodies are eating, head on over to the Wanderfood Wednesdays site!  

 

Related Posts:

Taste of Napoli - 15 Favorite Dishes for the Food Lover in Naples

Pizza Lover's Odyssey in Naples Italy

Torta Caprese - Recipe for the flourless chocolate cake from Capri

Pasta alla Genovese and Other Neapolitan Sauces at Citta del Gusto

The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo

Photo Tour of Spaccanapoli and Napoli's Historic Center

Dining Around Naples with Napoli Unplugged

Italy in Chocolate at Turin's CioccolaTo Festival

French Pastries and 10 Top Patisseries in Paris

Journey through the Pastries of Paris (Part 1)

Journey through the Pastries of Paris (Part 2)

Chiacchiere for Carnevale (my post on Napoli Unplugged)

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina (my post on Napoli Unplugged)

 

 

Pizza Lover's Odyssey in Naples, Italy

 
 
 

Five days in Napoli and five pizze Napoletane. There are many reasons why I love Naples - the people, the chaos, the pastries, and yes, the food.  Especially the pizza.  This trip I dedicated part of each day to pizza.  Yes, each day I ate a pizza, a classic margherita or Margherita D.O.C. at five different pizzerie in Naples, my own little pizza lover's odyssey.  

All five of these pizzerie make a VPN pizza (Verace Pizza Napoletana) and must follow the VPN pizza-making guidelines laid out by the AVPN (Association of Verace Pizza Napoletana).  Although these pizzerie follow the same guidelines and basically use the same ingredients, the pizza varied at each place.  As the people at Starita a Martedei explained to me, it really depends on the pizzaiolo.  It's the skill and knowledge of this artisan pizzamaker, to first create a dough and then stretch it into the base of the pizza, that determines the characteristics of his pizza.

Those pizzaioli that follow the guidelines set forth by the AVPN and have passed the association's pizzaiolo test, can display the sign of a Verace Pizza Napoletana, one that has Pulcinella as pizzamaker on it.

 

 

 

VPN guidelines: The guidelines cover more than just the ingredients.  There are rules about oven temperature (surface temperature must be 905 F), how long the pizza should cook (60-90 seconds) and even what type of pizza peel can be used.  Many might find this tedious, but I see it as a love and dedication these artisans have for what they do.  Below are some details on making the dough and making one of the classics - the pizza Margherita. 

 

The dough - For the VPN dough, there are four ingredients: water, salt, yeast, flour (type "00" and up to 20% may be type "0").  I'm a little confused about a 5th ingredient because the guidelines state that "all types of fat must be excluded from the dough;" however, it is widely accepted and admitted that lard is a key ingredient in the dough.  The VPN also gives suggestions for quantities to be used for each ingredient, but each pizzaiolo can and does determine his unique recipe. 

The dough must go through two rising stages, the first lasting 2 hours.  The second happens after the dough has been formed into balls (called panetti) of 250 grams each, and the rising period must be between 4 to 6 hours in a temperature of 25 C.  Then the dough can be used to make the pizza "base," and must be used within the next 6 hours. 

 

Pizza Margherita - A classic Neapolitan pizza, this pizza with the tricolore of the Italian flag was made in 1889 to honor Queen Margherita, who was visiting Naples.  A classic Margherita has sauce from San Marzano tomatoes, fior di latte (cow's milk "mozzarella" cheese), olive oil, sea salt, and fresh basil.  There are also guidelines as to the amounts of each ingredient and how it is applied to the pizza "base" (the dough). 

Usually each pizzeria has another version of the classic, which they call a D.O.C., where they use mozzarella di bufala (Buffalo milk mozzarella) and fresh tomatoes instead of sauce.  I actually prefer this version because I think the sauce can tend to make the pizza too wet.

 

 

 

 

Here are the pizze from my pizza lover's odyssey in Naples.  I've listed them in order of my preference.

 

 

 

Pizzeria Starita a Martedei  (via Martedei 27/28)

This pizzeria, first famous for being the pizzeria in the 1954 movie "L'oro di Napoli" starring Sophie Loren as a pizzaiolo at Starita, now makes one of the best pizze in Napoli.  The D.O.C. (pronounced "dock") at Starita was pure magic for me.  The crust might be a little thicker than those at Da Michele and Sorbillo, but much of it is from its bubbling up while in the oven.  It was really quite light in texture and "elastic" accordig to VPN regulations, or as I would say, nice and chewy.  I also tried a few of their fried treats, the zucchini flowers and crocche (pototoes with cheese), which were also delicious. 

 

 

 
Pizza D.O.C. from Starita 

 

 

 

 

 

Gino Sorbillo  (via Tribunali, 32)

 

I arrived in Naples on a sunny Saturday afternoon, and headed straight for Sorbillo, located on via Tribunali (also known as Spaccanapoli) in the Centro Storico.  I hadn't realized that Saturday afternoon's, especially sunny ones in March, meant it was pizza time in Napoli.  Many small groups, chatting in Neapolitan dialect, packed themselves around the entrance waiting for their name to be called.  After almost an hour, it was my turn to be called to an available table. 

I ordered the traditional pizza margherita, and it arrived at my table hot from the oven, evidenced by the smoke rising from the pizza, with scents of tomatoes and basil filling the air.  A VPN crust that was chewy around the border and paper thin in the center, the pizza hung over the plate.  This pizza had the thinnest crust of all the pizzerie in Naples that I have tried.  The amount of cheese on the pizza was perfect. The sauce was rich in flavor, although I would have preferred a little less to balance the cheese/sauce ratio.  Here I wish I had had an eating partner or an extra day to try another version, possibly their D.O.C. version. 

(Note: There is another "Sorbillo" on via Tribunali, so if you're wanting to go to Gino Sorbillo's pizzeria, make sure you go to 32 via Tribunali.)

 

 

 

 
Pizza Margherita from Sorbillo

 

 

 

Here you can watch a video of pizzaiolo Gino Sorbillo at work. How quickly and easily he stretches the dough amazes me each time I watch it.

 

Pizzeria Trianon da Ciro  (via Colletta Pietro 46)

 

Like my first kiss, I will always remember eating my first Neapolitan pizza.  The Margherita D.O.C. from Trianon da Ciro and the pizzeria will always hold a special place in my heart. 

This time I tried the classic pizza Margherita, with tomato sauce and fior di latte.  I think it might have been an off day (or the humidity from that day's rain messed with the dough), but this time the dough wasn't as light and bubbly as I've had during my previous times eating there.  I definitely prefer their D.O.C. version over the classic Margherita.

 

  

 

Pizza Margherita from Trianon da Ciro

 

 

Pizza Margherita D.O.C.

 

 

Working the oven at Trianon da Ciro

  

 

 
Pizzaiolo and Fornaiolo (and me) at Trianon da Ciro

 

 

 

 

 

L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele (via Cesare Sersale, 1)

As one Napoletano pointed out, this pizzeria is one of the oldest and is the most noted of all pizzerie in Napoli (possibly even before the film "Eat Pray Love" came out).  They make only two kinds of pizza, Margherita and Marinara.

I had the Margherita.  The dough at da Michele left me wanting a little more crunch and flavor when I compare it to the others.  The photo below is of the classic Margherita, but you can order the Margherita with "doppio" double cheese.  As you may have realized, I like my cheese to sauce ratio to be about equal, so I would definitely suggest getting the doppio here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Umberto Ristorante & Pizzeria - via Albardieri 31

 

Umberto is a restaurant that also serves VPN pizza.  It's located in the Chiaia district, right off of via Chiaia.  For me, this pizza resembled an American version of pizza more than the Neapolitan one.  The crust was the thickest and had a much crunchier shell than the others.  There was also much more sauce than cheese.  This pizza also looks too perfect and round.  One sign of a true Neapolitan pizza is that it is more oblong than round, it has black char marks, and the more bubbles in the pizza means the dough/crust will be lighter and more chewy. 

 

 

Pizza Margherita from Umberto

 

 

 

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