Yesterday I published a blog by my friend Mattia who, as he himself describes in his post, dreams of becoming a professional cook. Mattia is from Puglia in the south of Italy, and like most Italians is very passionate about his region’s culinary specialities.

Here, as promised, is my translation of Mattia’s traditional Pugliese recipe: il Pancotto (literally: cooked bread):

Ingredienti per 4 o 6 persone:

Pelate le patate e tagliatele in maniera “grossolana” (grandi pezzi), lavate e asciugate le cime di rapa (o altre verdure di campagna miste). Tagliate il pane a pezzi irregolari piuttosto spessi, e se aggiungete i pomodorini, tagliate anche questi a metà. In una pentola larga mettete le patate, i pomodorini, gli spicchi d’aglio, la foglia d’alloro, pepe, un pizzico di sale grosso e ricoprite con acqua fredda lasciando cuocere a fuoco medio per 20 minuti.

Peel the potatoes and cut them roughly into large pieces, wash and dry the turnip greens (or other available wild greens). Cut the bread into quite thick irregular pieces, and if you’re adding the small tomatoes, cut these in half as well. Put the potatoes, small tomatoes, garlic, bay leaf, pepper and a pinch of coarse salt in a wide saucepan and cover with cold water, leaving it to cook gently for 20 minutes.

La prossima fase dipende dal tipo di verdure di campagna che avete scelto; se avete delle cime di rapa, aggiungetele e lasciate cuocere per ancora 4-5 minuti, o se vi sembrano particolarmente dure più di 5 minuti, e successivamente calate anche il pane. Dal mio punto di vista, il pane deve assorbire molta acqua e diventare molto morbido, ma questo è soltanto un mio consiglio. Nel frattempo mettete a scaldare in una piccola pentola 4 cucchiai di olio extravergine d’oliva, e dopo 1 minuto aggiungete il peperoncino (poco) e le acciughe (a piacere), le olive (se le avete aggiunte) e lasciate insaporire l’olio a fiamma bassa, e servite il piatto irrorando con quest’olio insaporito.

The next phase depends on the type of greens that you’ve chosen; if you’ve used turnip greens, add them and let everything cook for another 4-5 minutes, or if they seem particularly hard, more than 5 minutes,  and then add the bread as well. From my point of view the bread should absorb a lot of water and become very soft, but that’s just my advice. In the meantime heat 4 spoons of extra virgin olive oil in a small saucepan, and after 1 minute add the chilli pepper (a little), the anchovies (to taste), the olives (if you are using them) and leave the oil on a low heat to absorb the flavour. Serve the dish dressed with this aromatic oil.

Mattia was concerned that the ingredients for his recipe wouldn’t be easily available outside of Italy. Let us know if this is the case and we’ll ask him for suggestions.