Walk through the old town of Bari on a Sunday morning and you will still see women sitting at tables in the alleys of Bari Vecchia, dragging little pieces of dough across a wooden board with a knife to shape orecchiette – "little ears". In autumn and winter, when the fields of Puglia are full of cime di rapa (turnip tops), the two meet in the region's most famous dish. It is peasant cooking at its best: the greens are boiled in the same water as the pasta, then everything is tossed in a pan with olive oil, garlic, anchovies and a little chilli. The slightly bitter leaves, the savoury anchovy and the toasted breadcrumbs that Pugliesi call mollica – once the "poor man's cheese" – make a dish that is far more than the sum of its few ingredients. Our cime di rapa have just arrived from southern Italy, so this is the moment to make it.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 1kg Cima di Rapa Meridionale (4 × 250g)
- 400g La Molisana Orecchiette
- 6–8 Scalia anchovy fillets in oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 small fresh chilli (or to taste)
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to finish
- 50g L'Agnese breadcrumbs
- Coarse salt for the pasta water
Method
- Clean the cime di rapa. Remove the tough outer leaves and the woody ends of the stalks. Keep the tender leaves, the thinner stems and the little flowering heads. Peel any thicker stems and cut them into short pieces. Wash everything well in cold water.
- Toast the breadcrumbs. Warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small frying pan, add the breadcrumbs and stir over a medium heat for 3–4 minutes until golden and crisp. Tip onto a plate and set aside.
- Cook the greens and pasta together. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt it well. Add the chopped stems first and cook for 3 minutes, then add the orecchiette. About 5 minutes before the pasta is ready, add the leaves and flowering heads so they stay bright green.
- Make the sauce. While the pasta cooks, gently warm the remaining olive oil in a large, deep frying pan. Add the garlic, peeled and lightly crushed, the sliced chilli and the anchovy fillets. Stir over a low heat for 2–3 minutes until the anchovies melt into the oil, without letting the garlic brown. Remove the garlic if you prefer a milder flavour.
- Toss everything. Drain the orecchiette and greens, keeping a cup of the cooking water. Add them to the pan and toss over a medium heat for a minute or two, adding a splash of cooking water so the leaves break down slightly and coat the pasta.
- Serve. Divide between warm plates, scatter over the toasted breadcrumbs and finish with a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil.
Tips from the shop
- Don't waste the stems. The thinner stems are sweet and tender once peeled – in Puglia nothing goes to waste, and they give the dish a lovely texture.
- Breadcrumbs, not cheese. With anchovies the Pugliese tradition is toasted breadcrumbs rather than grated cheese. For a vegetarian version, leave out the anchovies and finish with a little grated pecorino instead.
- Out of season? When cime di rapa are not around, tenderstem broccoli makes a good substitute, though the flavour will be milder and less bitter.
All the ingredients are available at our shop at 110a Dalry Road or online with 2-hour delivery in Edinburgh. Buon appetito!
