The village of Bova, so full of charm and history, is custodian of a set of traditional recipes based on simple ingredients, yet tasty at the same time .
Here are some recipes that are a real must.

SPRINGTIME RECIPES

PASTA E RICOTTA FRISCA [Pasta with freshly-made ricotta]

Ingredients for 4 people

500 g of perciatelli [ a type of pasta]
1 kilo of peeled tomatoes
350 g of fresh ricotta
1 decilitre of olive oil
½ onion
Salt to taste
1 bay leaf

Sauté the onion in the heated oil, add the pulped peeled tomatoes and salt, then simmer for about 20 minutes; before removing the sauce from the hob add the ricotta (previously mashed with a fork). Cook the perciatelli in boiling salted water, strain them when they are al dente and toss them in the sauce.

FRITTATA DI CACCIOFULEDDHI SERVAGGI [Wild artichoke omelette]

Ingredients for 4 people

300 g of wild artichokes (maritime thistle)
5 eggs
1 clove of garlic
20 grams of grated pecorino
Salt to taste
1 decilitre of olive oil

Clean the artichokes carefully and leave them aside; beat the eggs in a bowl, add the whole artichokes, finely chopped garlic and the grated cheese. Mix everything and add salt. Heat the oil in a pan and pour in the mixture and fry on both sides for about ten minutes. Serve the omelette with a salad of boiled new potatoes.

PATATI NOVI BUGGHIUTI [Boiled new potatoes]

Ingredients for 4 people

400 grams of new potatoes
1 decilitre of oil
Oregano
Ground chilli pepper
Chopped parsley
Salt to taste

Boil the potatoes, peel them, cut them into cubes and place them in a salad bowl; season them with oil, salt, oregano and chilli pepper. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve.

SUMMERTIME RECIPES

MACCARRUNI I CASA [Handmade maccheroni]
Maccheroni with goat’s meat sauce

Ingredients for 4 people

For the pasta:
600 grams of durum-wheat flour
3 decilitres of warm water
Salt to taste

For the sauce:
1 kilo and a half of goat’s meat
3 onions
1 kilo of tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
1 bunch of basil
1 bunch of parsley
2 glasses of white wine
1 whole chilli pepper
1 salted ricotta

Cook the meat in a large pan with the white wine until the wine evaporates and all the liquid dries off. Then add the oil and the finely chopped onion. Sauté until the onion is golden brown. Add tomato pulp and enough hot water to cover the meat. Stir. Add the basil, the bay leaf, the parsley and the chilli pepper. Simmer for about 3 hours.

In the meantime prepare the macaroni. Make a mound with the flour on a pastry board. Make a hole at the centre of the mound. Dissolve the salt in lukewarm water and pour it slowly into the “crater” at the centre of the four. Knead the pastry vigorously for about twenty minutes. When the mixture is consistent, rather dry and smooth, make a ball of it and wrap it in a cloth. Leave it to stand in a cool place for about a quarter of an hour. Then, knead the dough again, roll it out a little at a time and cut in into strips of about 2.1 centimetres thick and 5.6 centimetres long. Twist these strings around a cannici, a wire], or a knitting needle, applying very little pressure. Then remove the coils from the needle.
Arrange these maccarruni neatly on a floured cloth and allow them to dry for about one hour. Then boil them in salted water. Then drain them thoroughly.
When cooked, remove the meat from the sauce with which to season the macaroni. Add (optional) a sprinkling of freshly grated salted ricotta cheese.
Serve the goat meat as a main course accompanied by a side dish of purslane salad.

AUTUMN RECIPES

SPAGHETTI CU PISCISTOCCU E CAVULU DI JURI [Spaghetti with stockfish and cauliflower; also served, traditionally, at dinner on Christmas-Eve]

Ingredients for 4 people

500 grams of spaghetti
½ kilo of stockfish
½ kilo of cauliflower
2 potatoes
2 decilitre of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
Whole black pepper corns to taste.
Parsley
2 bay leaves
Salt to taste

Divide the cauliflower into florets and the potatoes into pieces; then fry them with the two cloves of garlic in oil for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly so that they do not stick to the pan. Add 1 and a half litres of water, and almost finish cooking the potatoes and cauliflower; at this point, add the stockfish from which all the water has been drained previously. Add the bay leaf, black pepper and parsley. Finish cooking. Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until they are al dente. Strain the pasta, add it to the stockfish and cook pasta and fish together for a few minutes. Serve piping hot.

BACCALA’ FRIJUTU [Fried salted cod]
Fried baccalà [salted cod]

Ingredients for 4 people

600 grams of baccalà
3 decilitres of olive oil
200 grams of durum-wheat flour
Chopped parsley to taste
1 clove of garlic
Salt

Preparation

Chop the parsley and garlic finely and add them to the flour and mix. Pour half of the oil into a pan. Take half of the previously steeped and strained dried cod, cut it into pieces of about 5 centimetres each. Flour each piece well on all sides, and fry it in the oil hot. Brown it evenly. Once cooked, remove the fish from the hob and place it on kitchen paper to remove excess oil; then add the salt.
Repeat the same procedure with the second half of the fish, having first discarded the oil used to fry the first half and having heated the fresh oil. Serve on a platter, having garnished the fish with slices of lemon and sprigs of wild chicory.

COSCIA DI AGNEDDU ALLA CRITA [Leg of lamb cooked in clay]

Ingredients for 4 people

An entire leg of lamb, weighing about 1.5 kilos
50 grams of rind of pork
1 clove of garlic
2 bay leaves
1 decilitre of olive oil
Salt
Rosemary
Sage
Oregano

Preparation

Chop the garlic, rosemary and sage; mix and add salt. Debone the leg of lamb and fill the cavity left by the bone with the rind and the chopped, salted garlic, rosemary and sage. Place the leg of lamb on a sheet of tinfoil or oven paper, rub it well with oil and oregano, and wrap the meat in the tinfoil, making sure to seal it well.
Pack clay all around this parcel of meat to seal it off completely from the air. Place it in the oven at a temperature of 350° and bake for two and a half hours.
Having removed the parcel from the oven let it stand for about 20 minutes; then split the hard, baked clay and remove the parcel. Open the tinfoil and remove the meat. Serve on a platter.

WINTER RECIPES

TAGGHIARINI E CICERI [Pasta with chickpeas]
Home-made tagghierini with chickpeas

Ingredients for 4 people

For the pasta:
300 grams of durum-wheat flour
1.5 decilitres of warm water
Salt to taste

For the soup:
300 grams of chickpeas steeped overnight
½ potato
2 cherry tomatoes (a bunch)
2 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
Parsley
Chilli pepper to taste
Oil as required

Pour 3 litres of salted water into a saucepan and add the chickpeas which have been steeped in water overnight. Add the two cloves of garlic, the bay leaves, two cherry tomatoes (chopped), the parsley (whole), the potatoes (cut into cubes), a trickle of oil. Simmer for about 3 hours and a half.
In the meantime prepare the dough for the pasta. Make a mound of the flour with a crater at the centre, on a pastry board. Dissolve the salt in lukewarm water and pour it slowly into the crater. Mix and then knead the dough vigorously for about twenty minutes. When the mixture is homogeneous, consistent, rather dry and smooth, roll it into a ball and wrap it in a cloth; let it stand in a cool place for a quarter of an hour.
Then make smaller balls from the dough and sprinkle them with flour to make rolling easy. Make a sheet of pasta from each ball using a rolling pin. These sheets should be no thinner than 2 millimetres. Take one sheet at a time, furl it and then cut the rolls obtained with a sharp knife in a slightly diagonal direction to form narrow strips of pasta.
Cook the pasta in salted water. Strain and add to the cooked chickpeas having first made sure to remove the garlic, bay leaf and parsley. Mix the pasta and chickpeas well. When cooked, douse with a little oil and add the chilli pepper, to taste. Serve piping hot.

SARDIZZU ‘RRUSTUTU [Roast sausage]
Sausage roasted over the fire

Ingredients for 4 people

Approximately 700 grams of spicy-hot sausage, seasoned with wild fennel seed
Parsley
Oil

Place the sausages on the grill over the red-hot coals and roast until well browned on all sides.
Cut the sausages into pieces and sprinkle them with freshly chopped parsley. Serve with a side dish of sun-dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil and bell peppers preserved in vinegar.