Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa e Acciughe Pugliesi
Puglia — Bari province, the iconic Pugliese daily pasta
The definitive orecchiette preparation: handmade orecchiette with bitter turnip tops (cime di rapa/broccoli rabe) and anchovy. The orecchiette and cime di rapa are cooked in the same water — the pasta is added to the cime di rapa's boiling water, and both are drained together. The dish is dressed with a sauce of anchovies dissolved in olive oil with garlic and optional chilli. The bitter green, the salty-umami anchovy, and the olive oil richness are the three legs of this preparation. Orecchiette made from semolina and water, shaped by dragging a blunt knife across a dough rope.