Cucina DiBella

Lamb Stew - Cutturiddi

Similarly to many of the surrounding regions, many of the traditional main courses of Basilicata feature lamb as the feature ingredient rather than beef.  Lamb is served in many different ways here, including several different variations on stew.  One dish calls for a lamb stew that is covered with an egg and cheese mixture and then baked in the oven.  Another type of lamb stew, Cutturiddi, is a typical second course in Basilicata.  Rather than a heavy stew that we often make in America with potatoes, carrots, and a thick gravy, this stew takes on a decidedly Mediterranean twist.  Along with the lamb go pearl onions and tomatoes with a little heat coming through from some red pepper flakes.  The liquid that the stew is cooked in is a thin broth rather than a gravy.  It is a very light version of stew, which is a nice change from what most people in America are used to.  If you don't want to change the flavors of your usual stew too much, though the traditional recipe calls for lamb, this stew can be made with beef or veal as well.

Lamb Stew - Cutturiddi

Adapted from Welcome to Italy

-Serves 4-6-

Ingredients:

2 pounds lamb (or beef or veal)

1 stalk celery, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

16-20 pearl onions, skin removed

2 tomatoes, seeds removed and diced

1/2 tablespoon dried rosemary

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

salt

pepper

Process:

1. Cut the lamb into bite sized cubes. 
2. Place meat in a casserole dish with the celery, garlic, pearl onions, tomatoes, rosemary and bay leaf.  Add enough water just to cover the meat.
3. Season with red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. 
4. Cook over medium-low heat about 1 1/2 hours until the meat is tender and cooked through  Stir occasionally.

Ryan'sSue's rating of Cutturiddi - 4.5

Pasta with Anchovy and Breadcrumbs

I discovered something interesting about pasta in Basilicata.  Often, it is tossed with toasted breadcrumbs.  Personally, I love breadcrumbs and crunchy textures, so I had to try a recipe reflecting this tradition.  The recipe that I made was for pasta with anchovy and breadcrumbs.  The entire meal took about 10 minutes to make and used only a few ingredients, most of which I had on hand. This was definitely a great weekday meal.  Despite its lack of complexity, the pasta was packed with flavor.  Those who are anchovy-phobes, don't freak out.  I promise, the anchovies melt away when cooked, so they only act to improve the flavor of the dish.  If you weren't told that the dish had anchovies in it, it would be tough to discern it on your own. 

Pasta with Anchovy and Breadcrumbs

Adapted from ercps

Ingredients:

1 pound spaghetti or bucatini

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 garlic cloves, minced

3-4 anchovy fillets, chopped fine

salt

Process:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Cook the pasta until al dente.
2. In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat.  Add the breadcrumbs and toast lightly.  Set aside.
3. In a skillet, heat the remaining oil over medium heat.  Add the red pepper flakes and garlic and saute about 2 minutes.
4. Turn the heat down to medium-low and allow the oil to cool a little.  (If the heat is too hot, the anchovies will burn rather than melt away.)  Add the anchovies and cook until the anchovies have melted into the sauce.  You can use a fork to crush the anchovies if needed.
5. Pour the sauce over the pasta.  Toss with the breadcrumbs.

Ryan's Sue's rating of Pasta with Anchovy and Breadcrumb - 4.

Focaccia with Tomatoes and Olives

Moving into the regional cooking of Basilicata was kind of exciting for me. For some reason, in doing the research on the food from this region, it really hit me that I've moved into the land of southern Italian cooking (really? figured that one out, did ya?).  And yes, I've actually been making southern Italian cuisine for a few weeks now.  Anyway, self mocking aside, southern Italian cooking is some of my favorite.  It carries a lot of spice and because the area tends to be more poor than the north, the food relies heavily on things like pasta and rice.  Something about it just brings me to life. 

Basilicata in particular is the arch of the Italian boot (small dark purple region on my map).  Formerly known as Lucania, this region's foods are very similar to that of Puglia.  One typical food, particularly in the city of Matera, is Focaccia Bread.  Now, I know I kind of covered this back when I was cooking food from Liguria. However, it seems that a lot of the Focaccia from Matera is graced with toppings such as the tomato and olive version that I made.  In my mind, adding toppings makes it even more of an antipasto rather than just a side to a meal.

You may remember the actual recipe that I used for Focaccia Bread back in August from Liguria.  I figured that this time I would try a new recipe and see how it went.  The first recipe that I tried differs a little bit from the recipe that I used this time.  Mainly, this new recipe uses some sugar in the dough.  I personally preferred the sugar-less recipe from my previous post.  This recipe was also a little more dense than the previous recipe, though that could easily have been a user issue.  The tomatoes and olives were great though.  Next time I might try cooking this on a lower temperature because the dough (as you can see) started to get pretty dark before the tomatoes had finished roasting.  This likely has more to do with the fact that my oven is awful than the recipe itself. Overall, I really liked this recipe and the idea in general of adding toppings other than just rosemary to my focaccia!

 

Focaccia with Tomatoes and Olives 

Adapted from Saveur

Ingredients:

1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon salt

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 can pitted black olives, halved

Sea salt

Process:

1. In a bowl, mix together yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/4 cup warm water.  Let sit about 10 minutes until the mixture becomes foamy.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, remaining sugar, and salt.  Form a well in the center.  Add in the yeast mixture, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1 cup warm water and combine completely.  When a ball forms, knead on a slightly floured surface for about 10 minutes. 
3. Form the dough into a ball.  Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil into a bowl.  Put the ball of dough into the bowl and turn over to coat in the oil.  Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let sit about 1 1/2 hours until the dough has risen.  The dough will almost double in size. 
4. Grease a baking sheet or a pizza pan.  Put the dough on the pan and use your fingers to form it into a 12 inch circle.  Cover with a damp towel and let sit another hour.
5. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. 
6. Make sure dough is in the desired shape.  Top with tomatoes and olives, pressing them into the dough gently.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
7. Bake 20-30 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool before serving.

Ryan'sSue's rating of Focaccia with Tomatoes and Olives - 4.