In Abruzzo is celebrated the gastronomic tradition which has been handed down from generation to generation with many genuine and delicious recipes , the secret of some of which is still carefully guarded.
At the center of the Abruzzo table there is a kaleidoscope of flavors which originate in what was there poor kitchen of a time, made, that is, of simple and high quality ingredients and that today is revealed, instead, very rich in taste and more and more appreciated . Let’s find out what they are the 10 best recipes of the Abruzzo tradition.
Spaghetti alla chitarra
Prepare yourself using the tool from which they are named, in dialect called maccarunare , the guitar spaghetti (or macaroni alla chitarra) are a format of fresh pasta which stands out for it thickness and for his square section: they are therefore perfect for welcoming flavorful toppings .
They are part of the Traditional Agri-food Products (PAT) of the region. They prepare themselves in different ways, but there typical recipe is the one that sees them together with the meat sauce and the exquisite pallottine . Let’s see how they are prepared.
Ingredients for the pasta (4 people)
- 4 whole eggs
- 400 gr of durum wheat semolina flour
- salt
Ingredients for the sauce
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 celery
- 300 gr of lamb meat
- 300 grams of beef
- 300 gr of pork ribs
- 700 gr of peeled tomatoes
- White wine
- salt
- pepper
Ingredients for the balls
- 1 egg
- 300 gr of mixed minced meat (beef, pork, lamb)
- 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese
- nutmeg
- crumb soaked in milk
- chopped parsley
- salt
- pepper
Procedure for making spaghetti
- Arrange the flour fountain on the work table.
- Break the egg , put them in the center and start beating them with a fork, incorporating them into the flour to create the dough.
- To work the dough long with your hands, so that in the end it is well smooth and homogeneous .
Wrap it in cling film e let it rest from half an hour to 1 hour . - Cut a piece of dough and roll it out, using a rolling pin , so you get a browse who has one thickness of about 5mm .
- Arrange the dough on the guitar and, using the rolling pin to apply pressure, cut the dough and obtain the spaghetti . Proceed in the same way until the dough is finished.
- Arrange the spaghetti on a tray or on a plane e sprinkle a little semolina .
- Let them rest and dry before cooking them in boiling water taking care of drain them well al tooth. Switch to their dressing.
Procedure for the dressing
- Distribute the minced meat, egg and other ingredients indicated to make the eggs in a bowl pellets .
- Mix, make the dough homogeneous , then create pellets about 1 centimeter in diameter.
- Arrange them on a tray, sprinkle them with flour and cover them with a transparent film.
- In a pot with extra virgin olive oil put the carrot , the onion , the celery after having chopped them and fry them, then add the meat .
- When the meat will be browned , pour about 50 ml of White wine , blend, add i tomatoes peeled, salt and pepper.
- Cook the ragù for a period of time that goes from 1 hour and a half to 3 hours , after which remove the pieces of meat from the sauce and cook the pellets browning them in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil (alternatively, boil them in broth).
- Put the pellets cooked in the pot with the juice .
- Turn on the stove and let cook everything for about ten minutes.
- After cooking the spaghetti alla chitarra , season them with the juice and with the little balls and bring to the table.
The scrippelle ‘mbusse
The scrippelle ‘mbusse they are rolled scrippelle and serve with broth of hen. They were born in Teramo from an oversight of Enrico Castorani , assistant cook at the French officers’ mess, who knocked some down Crepes in a pot which, in fact, contained del broth .
They are a delicious dish suitable for autumn and winter table , perfect for the most important holidays, Christmas and Easter. Let’s see how they are prepared.
Ingredients for the scrippelle for 4 people
- 6 eggs
- 12 tablespoons of flour
- water
- salt
- grated pecorino
Ingredients for the broth
- hen
- carrot
- onion
- celery
- 1 cinnamon stick
- water
- salt
Method
- In a large pot put the chicken, cinnamon stick, carrot, onion, celery cut into pieces.
- Add the water to taste and cook everything to prepare the broth which, once ready, must be well filtered and poured into another pot to be easily heated.
- Prepare the scrippelle putting the egg and the flour in a bowl.
- Mix with a whisk until you get a homogeneous compound , add the salt and, little by little, add the quantity of water necessary to make the mixture quite liquid. Let it rest.
- Pour a drizzle of oil in a non-stick pan (or a special pan for crepes) and when it is hot, pour a drizzle of composed , in order to obtain scrippelle that they are as much as possible thin .
- When the scrippelle they will all have been cooked and they will be cold , sprinkle inside them a little grated pecorino And roll them up tightly .
- Put them in soup plates, whole or cut in two , pour over the broth boiling and a veil of pecorino cheese grated before serving them on the table.
Virtù
The Virtù are preparing on the occasion of the May 1st . They are a dish that celebrates spring: full of vegetables seasonal, but not only.
In fact, many are also part of his recipe ingrediants of the winter just ended and that’s it mix to offer that exceptionally greedy end result that makes the Virtù completely different from a simple minestrone.
The procedure for cooking the Virtù it is very simple, but rather long , so it is recommended to start cooking them at least one day before . Let’s see how they are prepared.
Ingredients (10 people)
- 250 gr of borlotti beans
- 100 gr of cannellini beans
- 100 grams of chickpeas
- 100 gr of lentils
- 250 gr of spinach
- 130 gr of agretti
- 250 gr of chicory
- 400 gr of fresh broad beans
- 400 gr of peas
- 500 grams of chard
- 100 gr of green beans
- 2 whole artichokes
- dandelion leaves
- borage leaves
- onion
- carrots
- celery
- 150 gr of raw ham
- 150 gr of bacon
- 300 gr of tricolor egg pasta
Ingredients for the broth
- onion
- celery
- carrot
- pork parts (bones, rinds, ears, etc.)
- ham with rind
- pig cheek
Ingredients for the meatballs
- 150 gr of minced beef
- 1 egg
- grated pecorino
- nutmeg
- salt
Method
- Prepare the pork broth placing carrot, chopped onion celery and the various pieces of pork inside a pot filled with water.
- Boil everything for approx 3 hours , then filter the broth and mince the meat and the piece of Ham .
- Cook i legumes , after having previously left them to soak overnight, using a different pot for each one.
- Prepare the pellets mixing the minced meat, egg, pecorino cheese, nutmeg in a bowl and creating meatballs of about 1 centimeter in diameter . Cook them in a saucepan with oil and little water to bring to a boil.
- Clean all vegetables , cut them, boil them in water, drain and review them in a pan with extra virgin olive oil and garlic.
- Clean and cook all the others ingrediants .
- Cut the raw ham and the bacon
- Cut the artichokes into small pieces and make them to fry in a pan with garlic and oil.
- In a pot , very tall and very large, add extra virgin olive oil and celery, carrot, onion, after having chopped them, to make them fry .
- Add the pieces of ham and bacon cut into pieces, the meat and the ham from the broth previously cut, about 1 and a half liters of water and boil everything at least twenty minutes.
- After this period of time, add the ingredients to the pot starting with legumes , one by one, adding a few ladles of broth and mix.
- Always add stirring and always adding a few ladles of broth , the other ingredients: vegetables, fried artichokes, balls, aromatic herbs.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil to cook the Three-colored pasta .
- Drain the pasta as soon as rises to the surface and add it to the pot mixing it with all the other ingredients.
- Let them rest Virtù for about 1 hour before serving.
Pecora alla callara
The recipe for this delicious specialty is typical of Teramo and takes its name from the large copper vessel, the callara , which in the past was used to cook sheep meat directly on the fire. It is a dish that needs very long cooking times , necessary to make tender sheep meat.
Its origins date back to the period of transhumance , it was, in fact, prepared by the shepherds to use the sheep meat death on the way, because they are elderly or injured. It is the protagonist of some festivals famous, including that of Gran Sasso Island . Let’s see how it is prepared.
Ingredients for 4 people
- 2 kg of sheep meat
- Sage leaves
- Bay leaves
- Rosemary
- chopped parsley
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 3 onions
- 3 carrots
- 2 sticks of celery
- 2 potatoes
- 2 peeled tomatoes
- 2 potatoes
- pureed tomato sauce
- 2 liters of white wine
- extra virgin olive oil
- chili pepper
- black peppercorns
- salt
Method
- The night before cut the meat of sheep cut into pieces, put it in a bowl with cold water overnight and drain the next day.
- Cut into pieces onions, carrots and celery. For a a half put them in a pot with extra virgin olive oil to make them fry .
- Put the meat in the pot, over high heat, just long enough to make it brown and add the black peppercorns, a few bay leaves and sage, sprigs of rosemary, 3 cloves of garlic.
- Pour 1 liter of White wine , let it evaporate, then add 1 liter of water and start cooking. There meat , with the stove on a low flame, it must be done to boil for 1 hour and a half and then it should be drained. During this period, care must be taken to eliminate the fat that is forming.
- In another pot, distribute the other half of the chopped herbs and sauté them with extra virgin olive oil. Add the meat previously drained and do it again brown .
- Pour in again 1 liter of wine , let it evaporate and, again, add the black peppercorns, bay leaves and sage, sprigs of rosemary, 3 cloves of garlic, chilli and chopped parsley.
- After a few minutes of cooking , pour 1 liter of water . Bring to a boil and continue cooking the meat for at least 2 hours .
- After this time, add the peeled tomatoes, the tomato puree, salt to taste and continue on cook for another 3 hours .
- When there is about half an hour until the end of cooking, add the potatoes cut into pieces and continue cooking for more 30 minutes . Serve the pecora alla callara very hot.
Timballo
The timballo it is different from any other regional timbale: it is prepared, in fact, with layers of scrippelle that, thanks to them subtle delicacy , they welcome the very seasoning perfectly rich and everything to taste of this delicious delicacy dedicated, in particular, to the Christmas and Sunday menus. Let’s see how it is prepared.
Ingredients for the scrippelle (4 people)
- 3 eggs
- 12 tablespoons of flour
- water
Ingredients for the filling
- pellets
- peeled tomatoes
- celery
- carrot
- onion
- artichokes
- zucchini
- 3 hard-boiled eggs
- 4 eggs
- 300 gr of mozzarella
- milk
- extra virgin olive oil
- butter
- grated Parmesan cheese
- salt
Method
- Prepare the scrippelle distributing the flour and eggs in a bowl.
- Add about 3 glasses of water and mix until you get a composed which should turn out rather liquid .
- Grease a non-stick pan and when it is hot, distribute a little dough at a time in order to obtain very thin scrippelle .
- Once ready, put them on a plate and make them dry .
- Prepare the juice doing a sautéed of onion, carrot, celery to which to add about 700 gr of peeled tomatoes.
- Prepare the pellets with about 300 gr of minced meat, 1 egg, grated parmesan, nutmeg, salt and cook them in a pan with a drizzle of oil.
- Prepare the egg hard-boiled.
- To cut artichokes And zucchini into strips and make fry in a pan with oil and garlic.
- Cut the mozzarella cheese into cubes.
- In a dish, beat 4 egg together with a little milk to prepare the seasoning mixture .
- Butter one baking tray capacious and distribute a first course inside layer of scrippelle taking care to get them out of the edges.
- Season the scrippelle base with the sauce, the little balls, the mozzarella, the artichokes, the courgettes. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and distribute the mixture of eggs and milk on the dressing.
- Continue, repeating the same procedure, to form the other layers using all scrippelle and all the seasoning .
- Close the last layer of scrippelle and spread a few flakes of butter on top.
- Put to cook the timbale in the oven, a 180 degrees , for about 1 hour and proceeding to the toothpick test to check when it will be ready.
- Once cooked, remove it from the oven and let it rest for about 20 minutes before serving it on the table.
Capra alla neretese
As the name suggests, its recipe originates from Nereto and is a specialty recognized as Traditional Agri-food Product .
The capra alla neretese is a tasty, aromatic and colorful dish based on goat meat and with Red peppers . It is dedicated to the menu of Easter . Let’s see how it is prepared.
Ingredients for 4 people
- 1 and a half kg of goat meat from the leg
- 1 kg of red peppers
- 1 kg of ripe tomatoes
- 2 onions
- White wine
- Red wine
- cloves
- chili pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
- water
- salt
Method
- Cut the meat goat into pieces and wash them first with water and then with the Red wine .
- Cut the peppers and suffer from it a part inside a pot with extra virgin olive oil.
- Cut one onion, leave the other whole and insert some cloves .
- In a large pot pour plenty of it extra virgin olive oil , add the whole onion, chopped onion, raw red peppers. Far fry everything.
- Add the meat and brown it, pour some White wine , make it blend and add water qb continuing to cook it, over medium / low heat, for the time of 1 hour and a half .
- Add i tomatoes cut into pieces, the chili pepper and continue cooking, adding more water, again for 1 hour and a half .
- The 3 hours total cooking, when the juice it will be well thickened, add i peppers previously fried.
- Stir, continue to cook for about 5 minutes to mix well i flavors and serve on the table.
Mazzarelle
The mazzarelle are a dish dedicated to the Easter table and pay homage to offal which in this recipe comes expertly cooked , as was done in the poor kitchens of the past.
At the time, in fact, the peasant women did not have the Lamb meat for Easter, but only hers less noble parts , which, however, they knew reinterpret with wise passion giving rise to a special dish like this, which is still enjoyed today. Let’s see how it is prepared.
Ingredients for 6 people
- 1 lamb offal (heart, liver, lung, guts)
- endive leaves (or lettuce)
- onion
- parsley
- marjoram
- garlic
- White wine
- vinegar
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Method
- Open the guts and wash them carefully underneath the water . Put them in a bowl with water, vinegar, salt and proceed to rub and rinse them repeatedly, until they become white .
- Cut the offal into small strips, wash it thoroughly, drain it and put it in a bowl
- Chop the parsley, marjoram, a few cloves of garlic, the onion, add them to the bowl with the offal cut, salt, pepper and mix everything to flavor.
- Put the bowl in the fridge for approx 2 hours .
- After carefully washing the endive leaves , let them dry proceed with the preparation of the mazzarelle .
- Within each leaf arrange the filling of offal seasoned, then close them carefully using the guts like string and forming a sort of bundle.
- Fill a large saucepan with water and when it comes to a boil, dip the mazzarelle leaving them to cook for about 15 minutes . Drain and let them cool.
- Take a pan, pour in extra virgin olive oil, add garlic, onion, marjoram, parsley and arrange the mazzarelle to do them brown taking care to keep the flame low.
- When the mazzarelle begin at fry , pour a little white wine and water, repeating this step several times and continue to cook for about 3 hours .
- If you want to prepare them for the juice , just add the tomato puree and cook everything until you get a very narrow sauce. Serve on the table.
Brodetto alla vastese
It is said that the brodetto alla vastese was created by a fisherman’s wife, who, for to vary the usual dish based on fish , one day he decided to add gods tomatoes , garlic and parsley .
Lu vrudatte , which must be cooked in its terracotta pan, said tijelle , is prepared using fish of different varieties , is made very tasty by the hot pepper and, according to its original recipe, the pulpies half-time tomatoes from Vasto are those considered most suitable. Let’s see how it is prepared.
Ingredients (4 people)
- 700 gr of fish (mullet, sole, cod, squid, gurnard, cuttlefish, etc.)
- 300 gr of clams, mussels, corn on the cob
- 250 gr of peeled tomatoes
- chili pepper
- sweet red pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
- garlic
- basil
- parsley
- salt
Method
- Wash and clean everything fish .
- Cut the sweet pepper in strips and i tomatoes in pieces.
- In the classic terracotta pan pour in water and oil, add the garlic after cutting it finely, the red pepper cut into strips, the parsley and salt.
- Place the pan on a stove on medium flame .
- When the boil , start distributing the fish , without overlapping it, starting with crustaceans and the varieties that need one longer cooking , up to cod and sole and, lastly, clams.
- Far cook everything , strictly with the lid on, for approx 20 minutes taking care of not mix never the content: the fish can only be slightly moved rotating gently the pan and holding it by the handles.
- At the end of cooking add the chili pepper .
- The soup it should be served hot on the table and, if you prefer, it can be accompanied by toasted bread.
The caggionetti
Typical sweets inevitable on the Christmas table a, after the first bite i caggionetti offer the palate an exquisite stuffed which varies according to the areas in which they are cooked. It can be, for example, a filling based on chickpeas you hate Montepulciano grape jam , the famous and very good scrucchiata . Let’s see how the stuffed ones are prepared chestnuts, almonds, honey and chocolate .
Ingredients for the dough
- flour
- extra virgin olive oil
- fry oil
- White wine
- powdered sugar
Ingredients for the filling
- 1 kg of chestnuts
- 250 gr of honey
- 200 gr of dark chocolate
- 100 gr of candied citron
- 200 gr of toasted almonds
- 250 grams of sugar
- rum
- lemon
- cinnamon powder
Method
- After boiling the chestnuts , make them one puree using a vegetable mill to chop them.
- Grate the chocolate dark and mince the almonds .
- Arrange all the ingredients for the stuffed : chestnut puree, honey, chocolate, almonds, candied citron, sugar, grated lemon peel, cinnamon powder.
- Mix everything and when the filling is ready, leave it rest for a whole day.
- The next day move on to prepare the dough to make the caggionetti : in a bowl pour 2 glasses of white wine and 1 glass of extra virgin olive oil, add a little sugar and a little salt.
- Start merging the flour adjusting for the quantity as you proceed in processing, until you get a final dough that must be homogeneous, smooth it’s enough soft to be easily workable.
- Spread the browse so that it can turn out as much as possible subtle .
- Inside the dough, arrange, well spaced, spoonfuls of filling of any quantity.
- Fold the dough on itself and, using a washer , cut the dough creating shapes of Crescent moon around the filling.
- Fry the caggionetti in a pot with plenty of boiling oil.
- Arrange them on a plate with blotting paper to remove excess oil.
- After making them cool, dust them, as desired, with the sugar granulated , lo powdered sugar or with the cinnamon powder.
Pizza dolce abruzzese
It is rich in layers of Sponge cake bathed in liqueur, it is full of a sweet tooth stuffed , is rich in colors and is, above all, full of goodness : it is no coincidence that she is considered the queen of cakes.
The pizza dolce abruzzese never misses on the Abruzzo table of every occasion of celebration, but in the past it was there wedding cake par excellence and could get to have up to 50 centimeters in diameter. Let’s see how it is prepared.
Ingredients for the sponge cake
- 6 eggs
- 150 grams of flour
- 150 grams of sugar
- 1 lemon
- butter
- salt
Ingredients for creams
- 8 yolks
- 1 liter of milk
- 300 grams of sugar
- 100 gr of flour
- 50 gr of dark chocolate
- 1 lemon
- salt
Ingredients for the syrup
- Alchermes
- Witch
- 2 cups of coffee
- sugar
Ingredients for the decorated icing
- 2 egg whites
- 200 grams of sugar
- lemon juice
- colored sprinkles or flaked almonds
Method
- Start by preparing the Sponge cake : break the eggs, put them in a bowl, add the sugar, the grated lemon zest and set up until a mixture is obtained which must result frothy and light in color .
- To the mixture obtained add the flour and take care to mix it by making a movement from top to bottom.
- Grease and flour one die , pour the final mixture and cook in a convection oven at a temperature of 180 degrees , for about 25 minutes or a little more, checking the cooking with a toothpick. When the Sponge cake will be ready, remove it from the oven and let it cool.
- For the preparation of creams proceed as follows: pour the milk , add the peel of the lemon and turn on the stove on a very low flame to heat it up, taking care not to let it boil.
- In a bowl put the egg yolks and it sugar to mount them, then join the flour and mix.
- When the milk is hot, remove the lemon peel, take a little milk and pour it over the whipped eggs. Mix to mix.
- Pour the egg mounted in the pot with the milk hot on the stove, keep cooking everything, stirring , for about ten minutes, until the mixture thickens and forms the cream .
- Remove the cream from the pan and pour it into two bowls .
- In a bowl add the chocolate dark after having finely chopped, mix and create the chocolate cream .
- Leave the other amount of cream as is, cover the two bowls with one transparent film and let the two creams cool.
- To do the first wet pour into a bowl 2 cups of coffee , add a little rum, a little water and sugar and mix.
- To make the second dip, pour 1 small glass of Alchermes , a little bit of Witch , a little water and mix.
- Cut the Sponge cake and get it out of it 3 layers .
- On first layer distribute the first soak in the coffee and then the chocolate cream making sure that it has a thickness of 1 centimeter.
- Cover with the second layer , distribute on the latter the bathes of Alchermes and a layer of cream 1 cm tall.
- Finally, cover with the last layer of sponge cake and distribute over the wet with coffee .
- Put the pizza dolce abruzzese in the refrigerator for a whole night .
- The next day, prepare the icing and proceed as follows: in a bowl put the egg whites, at room temperature, start beating them using a fork, then add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice continuing to work them until they form a kind of foam .
- Now add it sugar , little by little, continuing to work to beat the egg whites until you get one cream that will have to be white and soft .
- Distribute the icing on the cake and decorate it with i sprinkles colored or with the flakes of almonds .
- If you don’t want to make the icing, the pizza dolce abruzzese can be covered with whipped Cream and with i colored sprinkles .