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.

Ingredients for 4 people:

1 kg new potatoes

300 gr. dried cannellini beans

3 cloves garlic

1 large onion

Oregano

Salt

The night before put the beans to soak in a bowl and cover with water.

Next morning, rinse the beans, throw them in a pot and add enough water to cover them at least three times over. Without any salt, bring the water to a slow boil, partially cover the pot and stir regularly for two hours in order that the beans don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Drain the beans but keep a couple of cups of the water.

Peal the potates and cut into one-inch cubes. In a large pan heat the garlic in extra-virgin olive oil. Add the raw potatoes, the beans, ½ diced onion and oregano. Add one cup of the bean water and cook, stirring until the potatoes are well cooked, adding more water if necessary, until they reach a partially creamy consistency. Salt to taste. Peperoncino is optional

Here’s the good part: Locals serve this soup using the separated layers of the other half onion as a spoon, enhancing the wholesome flavour with the wonderful aroma of fresh onion.

A variation includes serving the soup over croutons made from stale bread that has been cubed and backed in the oven until crisp and crunchy.

 

Scauratielli or scauratieddi is a delicious dessert recipe that is a favorite among children and adults in the Campanian inland. All you need to do is watch Antonietta Rotondo, of the Terre di Conca agriturismo (working farm/culinary center/ongoing organic food extravaganza..yes an Italian Note coming soon). You’ll be hard pressed to see her with anything but a smile on her face as she prepares any regional dish of delicacy in general, and this recipe specifically:

Ingredients for 10 people:
1/2 liter of water
500 gr. flour
(This recipe can be made with more or less flour and water as long as they are used in equal amounts)
a pinch of salt
½ glass of marsala, port or strong wine
1 clove
1 stick of cinnamon
Grated rinds of 1/2 lemon and 1 orange
40 gr of sugar (optional)

Place all the liquid ingredients, sugar, citrus rinds, clove and cinnamon in a pan and bring to a boil for 2/3 minutes in order to fully release the flavours. Remove from the heat and slowly add the flour and salt, mix lightly and turn onto a wooden board. Mash out any lumps with a fork or pestle and then kneed the dough until soft.

Take a small amount of pastry and roll into lengths of 10cm and 1 cm in diameter. You might want to moisten your hands with a little oil to avoid the dough from sticking. Shape into the characteristic form (the two ends crossing over in the middle to form a loop…see fotos).

Fill a deep pan with oil and bring to a boil. Deep fry the raw scauratielli for 2/3 minutes and drain well on paper towels.

Fill a separate bowl with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon powder. Dip the hot pastry into this mixture and serve on a bed of lemon leaves.

Recipe by Antonietta Rotondo for Terre di Conca

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“Weeds”, wrote American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, “are plants whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”

For those fortunate enough to live in Italy, many are already familiar with the oranoleptic virtues of wild asparagus, broccoletti, thistles, chickory, chives, wild fennel, mint, puntarelle and rucola.

But would you be able to recognize them growing in your garden? The Mediterranean region has some of the few surviving cultures that continue to scavenge for edible weeds. The tradition in Italy goes back to Roman times, but now it is mostly the older people (those who survived the famine of World War II) who can tell the difference between agretti and erba cipollina. Edible weeds, when picked in the wild, are tasty, uncontaminated and an excellent source of vitamins and minerals.

Here is your chance to learn more about the wonderful and healthy world of edible weeds! Antonietta Rotondo will take us into the fields at Terre di Conca to identify and pick edible weeds and learn how to prepare them.

For lunch, apart from this bounty of the fields, eco-chef Berardino Lombardo will also prepare a cornucopia of non-meat and organic dishes including frittate made from his the eggs of his chicken, duck and geese, pancotto, cheeses, soups, legumes and desserts. All served with freshly baked bread and excellent wine.

After lunch we will visit the nearby 15th century Convento dei Lattani, gloriously perched on top of the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina. Of special interest are the church doors dating from 1508 with its 20 decorated wooden panels and the convent’s Spanish-gothic window.

Only an hour and a half from Rome, Terre di Conca is an easy drive and an undiscovered and still uncontaminated paradise.

Date: To be estabished (probably in June)

Time: 10am - 5pm

Cost: Adults: €50,00. Children 5-12: €25,00. Toddlers up to 5: free.

To participate register here no later than . Minimum 15 people.

Read what guests and food experts have to say about their experiences at Terre di Conca:

“We had a wonderful Saturday. Thank you for setting that up. It was like a mini holiday far from the business of Rome. The food was amazing, the setting spectacular and the company delightful. “

“We enjoyed the day so much ourselves. We were trying to decide on our way home what our favorite dish was and we all agreed, it was everything! For all of us it was a very memorable day.”

“We had a very nice time on Saturday. So thoughtful of you to order the lovely weather to go with the good food.”

Read what the food experts have to say about Berardino Lombardo:

Faith Willinger:
“Berardino’s organic farm supplies the restaurant with poultry, rabbits, pork, salumi and a garden of heirloom vegetables and fruits. The menu is pure tradition, with local just-made mozzarella, sheep’s milk ricotta, and polenta sauced with sausage, for starters”…”The bread is outstanding, baked in their wood-burning oven”…”There’s local pecorino aged in barrique casks, caciocavallo cheese aged six, twelve, or eighteen months, jam tarts (with homemade jam from organic heirloom fruit), conventuali butter cookies, spiraled with nuts and raisins, and scauratielli, or boiled cookies drenched with honey and orange zest. ”

Luciano Pignataro:
“This is one of those rare places that should be kept jealously secret and revealed sparingly only to those capable of appreciating the state of euphoria that comes when every pleasurable sense is fullfilled; like that offered by Berardino Lombardo, anthropological chef-turned-farmer-and-breeder who, with his wife Antonietta, have created a breath-taking restaurant, situated amidst ancient chestnut groves and the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina.”

Directions:

1. Take the A1 Highway south (towards Naples) and exit at San Vittore.

2. Follow the signs for Mignano Montelungo. After 2 km circa you will come to a large intersection with a stoplight. Turn right onto the Via Casilina and continue for 8.5 km. Turn right at signs for Mignano Montelungo.

3. Cross the railroad, go through Mignano and follow signs for Conca della Campania (or Conca), for another 8.5 kms. There are no signs for Terre di Conca which is on the left before reaching Frazione Piantoli.