Orecchiette Ripassate con Cime di Rapa e Peperoncino
Bari, Puglia
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The working recipe — the Market List, the Method, and where it lives or dies
I
Origin
Bari, Puglia
II
Description
The canonical pasta of Bari: orecchiette (hand-made semolina pasta pressed with the thumb into ear-shaped cups) cooked together with blanched cime di rapa (broccoli rabe) in the same pot, then ripassata (sautéed again) in olive oil with garlic, desalted anchovy dissolved into the oil, and fresh chilli. The anchovy provides a background umami that most diners cannot identify but would miss. The orecchiette must be made by hand — the cup shape only forms correctly with the thumb pressure technique.
III
The Thread
—Pasta cooked with bitter greens and dressed in olive oil — the Campanian parallel without the anchovy Neapolitan
—Pasta and green vegetables cooked together in one pot and sauced — the same co-cooking technique in a different regional guise Ligurian
—Noodles and bitter greens tossed in an aromatic fat-based sauce — the fundamental technique transcends regional tradition Chinese
IV
Flavour Context
Toothsome semolina cups and bitter-bright broccoli rabe in anchovy-scented olive oil — the pasta of Bari's morning markets, eaten at noon, unchanged for centuries
Pillars V — VII
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