It’s business as usual. Our globetrotting chef Ivan Tronci is grappling with a new challenge: Salento farmer’s street-food to greet autumn, which recently arrived here in Salento.
What could this new kind of street-food be?
A quick dish, an appetizer with the flavors of the Salento land and a dash of modernity. In fact, the innovative touch is given by the Aperol, while the strong reminder of work in the fields is given by the pumpkin and the saffron of Salento.
We have given you two basic information about this very noble spice and, we take this tasty opportunity (it is the case to say it), to invite you to our Experience “Become a farmer for a day”. Only you, friends of Foodismo, by registering for free on our website, will be able to pick these beautiful purplish-colored flowers in the countryside of Trepuzzi, a stone’s throw from Lecce.
Why think of a street-food for peasants? Let’s see what’s simmering in the pot
We find it hard to think of peasant street-food because, when we use that pairing of words in English, the first thing that comes to mind is something really good and at the same time unhealthy for our arteries.
In reality, the recipe that globetrotting chef Ivan Tronci brings to you is healthy, using ingredients readily available in our land and countryside, hence the name “peasant street-food.”
Before listing the ingredients, let’s introduce an intimate memory of our own Ivan Tronci
The title of this post frames the context in which this recipe was created.
We are talking to you about the Salento countryside, a universe of dry stone walls and centuries-old olive trees, between Otranto and the road that connects the seaside tourism capital of Salento, with Maglie.
Ivan Tronci, as a child, used to take long walks with his grandfather, who, would stop in the shade of these mammoth trees, sitting on a boulder. During the stop, he would explain to his grandson how to recognize whether a pumpkin has reached maturity or not.
Perhaps it was this explanation that inspired, fifteen years later, our Ivan Tronci, in the preparation of this dish.
Salento embraces autumn with an extraordinary dish
This recipe encapsulates autumn in terms of colors and flavors; mushrooms recall the outdoors, pumpkin (we didn’t take a cue from that famous commercial from a well-known banking institution) reminds us of positivity with its orange color that is truly reassuring, and saffron with its scents and aromas strongly recalls nature.
The ingredients of this extraordinary dish
The dish is an ensemble of healthy and wholesome raw materials.
Here, for you, is the list:
- a small-sized pumpkin
- Cantarelli mushrooms
- Salento saffron
- Spring onion (aka spunzale)
- EVO oil
- Maldon salt
- Sichuan pepper
- Goat cheese
- Sage
- Fresh cream
- a sprinkling of Friscous
- a splash of Aperol
Let’s look specifically at how to assemble these precious ingredients.
The preparation of this healthy appetizer: never been so simple and straightforward
Strip the small pumpkin of its seeds and inner pulp, which will be used for other recipes or other dishes on the menu. You will use only the shell, the outer structure of the pumpkin, which will be of great use when using the cantarelli mushrooms and saffron from Salento.
You must chop the spring onion (the “spunzale”) and gently sauté it with evo oil. Wait just a minute and then add the cantarelli mushrooms, previously hulled and cut in half; incorporate the saffron in stigmas, along with a pinch of salt and Sichuan pepper.
Let the mixture cook for just a few minutes, which will then be served inside the pumpkin casing.
In a small bowl, start incorporating the goat cheese with a dash of fresh cream, a pinch of Maldon salt, and, quickly using a common kitchen whisk, you will get a creamy mixture.
Give a sprinkle of Friscous and garnish with fried sage leaves and Aperol pearls.
Enjoy!
