Recipe for 15 people:
500 gr Flour
3 Eggs plus 3 egg yolks
100 gr Sugar
40 gr Butter
Pinch of Powdered yeast
Pinch of Salt
1 Small Glass of Rum or Sambuca
300 gr Honey
Candied Fruit
Grated Rind of 1/2 Lemon
Peanut Oil for frying

On a pastry board make a well in the flour and mix in the eggs, butter, sugar, yeast lemon rind, salt and the liquor. Knead until the mixture is homogenous, then shape into a ball and let stand for half an hour.

Lightly flour the pastry board and roll dough into into long round strips that are no wider than your pinky.  Cut the strips into tiny pieces the size of chick peas and place on a clean kitchen towel sprinkled with flour.  Before frying take the excess flour off the dough by shaking them in a sieve.  Fry until slightly golden and drain on paper towels.

Pour the honey into a large double boiler and heat until it is liquified.  Add the fried dough and mix gently, making sure that the honey pentrates evenly over all the balls.  Add the candied fruit and stir again.

Pour onto a plate.  (The traditional composition is made by placing an empty jar in the middle of the plate and pouring the honeyed mixture around it in order to form a ring.  When the mixture has cooled, carefully take away the jar)

“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 at the Mustilli wine bar

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

PRICE
Adults: 185,00 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 with music
- 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.