“Waste not, want not.” Whether times are good or bad, through thick and thin, this has be the best, simplest, most deliscious and ecological recipe in the world. With a zillion possibles variations, start getting creative: rub garlic on the bread, use feta cheese instead of mozzarella, add onions… uh oh, my mouth is already watering!

Stale, but not dry, bread
Firm, ripe tomatoes, diced
Mozzarella, diced
Basilico
Oregano
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Cut the bread into squares, place the cubes in a flat pan and bake in a hot oven, keeping an eye on them so that they get barely browned.  In a large bowl mix the bread with the tomatoes and mozzarella.  Add lots of basilico, a pinch of oregano, salt, pepper and mix well.  Let stand in the refrigerator for half an hour prior to serving.

(link to original article)

1. Figure half a pound of fresh anchovies and one artichoke per person. (The romanesco artichoke is a local variety found here. After removing the tougher leaves and outer fibrous part of the stem, you eat the whole thing, choke and all.)

2. Clean the anchovies of head and spine, and lay them out skin side down in an oil lined baking pan that has been dusted with bread crumbs. Dress with salt, parsley, finely chopped garlic. Add a layer of thinly sliced artichokes, dust again with bread crumbs, and un filo (a string) of olive oil.

3. Repeat the above paragraph again to create two layers of the anchovies/artichokes with dressing and breadcrumbs.

4. Put in oven at medium heat, about 325-350 deg F (160-180 C) for about 20 minutes, and serve immediately.

APRIL 17th, 24th and MAY 1st, 2010

(versione italiana)

Fresh, hot bread.  A rush of old memories.   Who can resist the smell of it, or the temptation to rush into the baker’s and buy a slab of hot pizza bianca?

My grandfather had a clever saying on how to remember where the sun rises and sets.  “It’s like bread”, he’d say in his thick yiddish accent. “It rises in the yeast and it sets behind the vest.”

Although small bakeries are getting harder to find in the big cities, we are fortunate to live in a part of Italy where people still make home-made bread that stays fresh for days, baked in their outdoor wooden-burning ovens.

And that’s an experience we’d like to share with you: a hands-on experience; kneading the dough, baking the pizzas and brushing off the loaves of casareccio - mixed with laughter, friendship and fine food.

With the collaboration the Mustilli family, famous for their exceptional Falanghina and Aglianico, Savour the Sannio invites you to spend a weekend in the region where, in addition to learning a few local recipes you will also taste the region’s superb wines.

My grandmother used to say, “If you can bake bread, you can make a living”. Come and learn from locals.

Calling all vegetarians! This is the perfect outing for you!

PROGRAM-Day One (Saturday)

-Arrival in Sant’Agata dei Goti and check-in at the Agriturismo Mustilli

-Welcome aperitivo in the gardens of the Mustilli home for a tasting of their latest wine: Spumante di Falanghina.

-Lunch and wine-tasting at Palazzo Rainone. Owner and enologist Leonardo Mustilli will explain the process of making wine today and guide us through a tasting of his renowned Falanghina and Aglianico.

-Visit to the 16th century wine cellars hewn into the tufa rock.

- Preparing the bread and kneading the dough.
- Cooking lesson: Pancotto.  A traditional recipe made with dried bread, vegetables and extravirgin olive oil.
-Preparation of the wood-burning oven and baking of the bread.
-Dinner with live entertainment at the Mustilli wine bar

PROGRAM-Day Two (Sunday)
-Breakfast
-Visit to the outdoor market
-Guided tour of the city.

PRICE
Adults: 175,00 euro per person with double room occupancy
Children ages 0-3: Free  (you pay only for their meals)
Children ages 3-6: Half price.

Price includes:

- double room occupancy with breakfast
-Welcome aperitivo
- Three course lunch with bottled wine
- wine-tasting
- bread-baking and cooking lessons
- Visit to the Mustilli winery and wine museum
- Dinner and live entertainment
- personal guide and interpreter
- Guided tour of S. Agata dei Goti

Click here to read about last year’s tour.

To reserve your place contact Barbara Goldfield at barbaragoldfield@savourthesannio.com or call 0823.953663 or 347.1416866

This exclusive event is limited to no more than 8 people per date.  The B&B requires two weeks advance notice so please sign up immediately to reserve your place.
We must reach a minimum of 6 people to hold this event.

DIRECTIONS BY CAR TO S. AGATA DEI GOTI FROM ROME
1. take the AI motorway south towards Naples and exit at CAIANELLO (125km from the Roma Sud tollgate).
2. take the SS 372 Telesina (first right) towards Benevento.
3. after 35 km take the exit for S. Agata dei Goti and Naples.
4. you will now be on the Fondo Valle dell’Isclero  (call us at this point.  You are about 15 minutes away)
5. Take exit for Sant’Agata dei Goti.  Follow this road to its natural end, then take a left and then a right.  This winding road will take you to the central square of Sant’Agata where we will be waiting for you.

By respecting all the speed limits the trip should take no more that 3 1/2 hours.

FROM NAPLES take the A1 Motorway north and exit at Caserta Sud.  Follow the signs for Benevento and Telese. After passing the Carolino Aqueduct, take the second exit marked Sant’Agata dei Goti. (call us at this point.  You are about 5 minutes away)  Follow this road for 5 km, then turn left, cross the bridge to central square of Sant’Agata where we will be waiting for you.

I met a girlfriend on the street the other day in Sant’Agata dei Goti.  Caterina was carrying two big plastic bags.  I asked her  what they were and discovered that she was taking some greens from her garden to an old lady living down the road.  In one bag was the ubiquitous broccoli raab, which in Campania is called simply broccoletti.  In the other was what looked like a heap of weeds.  Caterina’s family owns land that produces grapes for the Mustilli winery and her mother - from the generation that lived through the vagaries of war - always picks the edible weeds in the garden; and in the first warm days of early spring, still roams the fields in search of that wonder of wonders: wild vegetables or le verdure di campo.

We oohed and aahed a little while about wild greens and then went our separate ways.  Next day however, my doorbell rang and Caterina appeared with two even bigger, bulging bags, both filled with the same delightful assortment I admired the day before.

I happen to have a weak spot when it comes to wild weeds because no other vegetable can compare to the green, bittersweet, ancient taste of this mixture.  Furthermore wild edible plants define the term ‘fresh’: they must be cooked as soon as they are picked because they begin to wither immediately.  It’s not often one gets a chance to get a bagful of this stuff and I was so thrilled that I had to take pictures.  As Caterina explained how to clean them, I put a big pot of water on the stove.  As the water came to a boil I threw a handful of sale grosso together with the greens, cooked them for five minutes, strained them and voilà, done.  They can be eaten all’agro with a little olive oil and lemon, or ripassate in padella (pan-fried) with garlic, oil and peperoncino, or pancotto by adding cubed pieces of dried bread.  Added to beaten eggs it makes a mean frittata.

One day I hope meet Caterina’s mother so that she can teach me how to identify the edible herbs: ortica, cicoria, piscialetto (literally bed-wetter or dandelion), asparagi, radichiello, borragine and cardillo from the inedible ones; and when I do, I promise to organize a field day for food lovers, so that the next time you’re walking through a grassy field you’ll be able to do more then just pluck a few flowers, but to be able to pick and delight in these delectable edible weeds.

Recipes don’t get much easier or better than this! If you’ve never tasted a spaghetti omelette you don’t know what you’ve been missing. So if you’re someone who is unsure how much pasta to cook, have no fear and add a little extra. Now you’ll never throw away leftovers again!

Ingredients for 5 people: 400 gr of pasta, tomato sauce, 2 eggs, and olive oil. (Tomato sauce: heat olive oil and garlic, add passata di pomodoro (tomato purée) and cook for half an hour. Salt to taste.)

Boil sufficient water, salt to taste and cook pasta until it is al dente (meaning not overcooked; the core of the spaghetti should remain a little hard). Drain and mix with the tomatoes (the pasta should not be swimming in sauce). Add the two beaten eggs. Fry in a large pan until golden on both sides. Serve hot.