Every region of Italy is known for its traditional food specialties. Yet the simple, everyday dishes that are the soul of the boot-shaped country’s lesser-known southern region, writes culinary guide and food writer Katie Parla in her new book “Food of the Italian South,” are the ones outsiders identify as distinctly Italian. Think buffalo mozzarella, durum wheat pasta, eggplants and red, ripe tomatoes.
The book features 90 gorgeously illustrated recipes, some new and others lost to the ages, that are particular to the unheralded (but still spectacular) regions of Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata and Calabria. In the best of Italian traditions, most call for just a few simple ingredients, and many also have simple preparations that make them perfect for weeknight meals.
We dish up two that you will want to make a part of your regular meal rotation — a rich stuffed eggplant that can be served warm or at room temperature, and a super-easy, super-fresh pasta dish that has its origins in Andria in the heel of Italy’s “boot.” The oven-roasted cherry tomatoes that give the dish its beautiful color take a little time to prepare. But they’re so good when tossed with a hand-mixed almond-basil pesto and ear-shaped orecchiette, that you just might cry. And that’s before you stir in any burrata.
In writing the book, Ms. Parla says she not only came to know more about the ancestral roots that led back to the tiny town of Spinoso in Basilicata but also its “soulful culinary traditions and pure ingredients.”
As you flip through its pages, you’ll wish you were from the Italian South, too.
Gretchen McKay: gmckay@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1419 or on Twitter @gtmckay.
Melanzane a Scarpone (Neapolitan Boot Eggplant)
PG tested
Eggplant stuffed with olives and capers is a typical Neapolitan dish. It was originally considered “poor” food because the scarpone, or “boot” that is the hollowed-out eggplant, is stuffed with vegetables instead of meat.
Fresh eggplant should be firm, with shiny and taut skin that bounces back when you squeeze it. Roasting eggplant rids the vegetable of its bitterness, so there’s no need to salt them in advance.
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
6 small eggplants, halved lengthwise
Sea salt, divided
Freshly ground black pepper
2 onions, diced
¼ cup Gaeta olives, rinsed, drained, pitted and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon capers
¼ cup tomato sauce
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into ½-inch squares
¼ cup water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet large enough to fit the eggplant halves securely.
Place eggplants in prepared baking dish, skin side down. Season with salt and pepper, and bake until soft and creamy, 25 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven, but leave it on. Allow eggplants to cool slightly, then scoop the flesh into a large bowl using a knife or melon baller, leaving about ¼ inch of flesh on the skin. Return eggplant shells to baking dish, skin side down.
Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium-low heat. When oil begins to shimmer, add onions. Season with salt and cook, stirring, until onions become soft and translucent, about 15 minutes. Add olives and capers, and bloom in the hot oil for about 1 minute.
Then add tomato sauce and season with salt. Cook until sauce thickens slightly, a few minutes more. Add eggplant flesh, stir and cook for about 5 minutes to allow the flavors to marry.
Using a spoon, divide the mixture between the eggplant shells. Scatter the mozzarella evenly over the filling. Add water to bottom of the baking dish and cover with foil. Bake until the eggplant shells begin to lose their shape, about 25 minutes. (Mine took about 35 minutes.) Serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 6.
— “Food of the Italian South: Recipes for Classic, Disappearing and Lost Dishes” by Katie Parla (Clarkson Potter; March 2019; $30)
Orecchiette With Burrata, Tomatoes and Almond Pesto
PG tested
Oven-roasted tomatoes and burrata, a semi-soft Italian cheese with stringy curd, are a match made in heaven. This recipe pairs the duo with hand-grinded almond pesto and orecchiette, an ear-shaped pasta that’s popular in Southern Italy. It’s simple, but fabulous.
For the tomatoes
1⅓ cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
Salt
For the pesto
¼ cup almonds, finely chopped
1 cup loosely packed basil leaves, plus more for garnish
Sea salt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
For the pasta
1 pound fresh or dried orecchiette
7 ounces burrata
Make tomatoes: Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In medium bowl, combine tomatoes, olive oil and dried oregano. Season with salt.
Transfer to medium baking dish and roast until tomatoes are shriveled and dry, about 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, make pesto. In mortar, crush almonds, basil and a heavy pinch of salt into a paste with the pestle. Add a bit of olive oil, but only as much as the herbs need in order to hydrate into a paste, no more than 3 tablespoons. If you add too much oil, the pesto will quickly turn from green to a blackish-olive color. When you have a smooth paste, stir in the Parmigiano-Reggiano and set the pesto aside
Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to rolling boil over high heat. Heavily salt the water. When salt has dissolved, add orecchiette and cook until they lose their raw flavor if fresh (about 3 minutes), or according to package instructions if dry. Drain and transfer to a large bowl Add pesto, stirring to coat. Stir in tomatoes and burrata.
Plate and serve immediately.
Serves 4 to 6.
— “Food of the Italian South: Recipes for Classic, Disappearing, and Lost Dishes” by Katie Parla (Clarkson Potter; March 2019; $30)
First Published: April 3, 2019, 11:45 a.m.
