Basilicata, southern Italy
The Lucana version of the ancient pairing of wild chicory and dried broad beans (fave e cicoria) — found across southern Italy but with distinct regional character here. Split dried fave are soaked overnight and boiled until they collapse into a thick, rough purée with no water remaining. Wild chicory (or cultivated catalogna) is blanched in heavily salted boiling water then plunged into ice water to set its colour and remove excess bitterness. The greens are then ripassata — briefly tossed in a pan with olive oil, crushed garlic and dried peperoncino over high heat. The fave purée is spooned into the base of a warmed bowl; the ripassata cicoria is mounded on top; the whole is flooded with newly pressed Lucana olive oil (olio nuovo) with its characteristic peppery finish. Served with toasted cracked-wheat bread.
Earthen, starchy fave with mineral bitterness from wild chicory; the olio nuovo's pepper and grass is the dominant flavour above both; garlic and peperoncino provide aromatic and heat counterpoint.
{"Cook the fave without salt until fully collapsed — salt toughens the cell walls and prevents the purée from forming","Blanch the chicory in heavily salted water, not plain water: the salt counteracts bitterness and sets the colour","The ripassata step must be fast and over high heat — it finishes the greens and infuses the garlic oil, not re-cooks them","Use olio nuovo (new harvest oil) if available: its grassy, peppery intensity transforms the dish","Leave the fave purée slightly coarse — it should not be smooth; texture variation is essential"}
{"Reserve a ladleful of the fave cooking water to thin the purée if it becomes too thick when standing","A few drops of chilli oil added at the table allow each diner to adjust heat to preference","The dish improves as the fave purée absorbs the chicory's bitterness — leftovers the next day are exceptional"}
{"Skipping the overnight soak, resulting in fave that cook unevenly and resist collapse into a purée","Over-blanching the chicory until it loses its slight resilience and becomes flaccid and flavourless","Using commercial olive oil where olio nuovo is specified — the peppery freshness of new oil is central to the identity of the dish","Under-salting the blanching water: the greens absorb salt at this stage and will taste flat in the finished dish"}
Basilicata in Cucina: Piatti della Tradizione Contadina