Gastronomic traditions between sea and mountains in summer

In Italy, nothing is more beautiful than summer, with its colours, its smells, its enchanting landscapes and nature that explodes in all its vitality. Of course, too the cuisine from north to south offers us delicious recipes and dishes , inspired by tradition, to cope with the increasingly high temperatures of this season.

Maybe you're visiting the excavations of an ancient city right now or you're staying by the sea or just relaxing in a country house surrounded by vineyards and peaceful mountain landscapes. No matter where you are, it's the food that makes it summer is the most beautiful time of the year ! There are freshly picked tomatoes, delicious vegetables that you can't find in other seasons, recipes based on seafood.

In this article we have selected two Italian regions, Puglia and Trentino . The typical recipes of these regions are perfect for bring some summer on your table.

Take a look at what we have to offer and welcome the warm season with open arms with the traditional recipes from Northern and Southern Italy !

The recipes and gastronomic traditions of Puglia

There Puglia is famous all over the world for the typical dishes of its traditional cuisine . A holiday in Puglia offers plenty of history and nature as well as pampering body and mind with the colours, scents and unmistakable flavors of its food tradition.

We want to offer you a Salento menu , which you can prepare at home , wherever you are. At the base of these recipes there are simple ingredients, easy to find in every region, even abroad!

In this way, while waiting to return to Puglia and have a binge of your favorite dishes, you will have the opportunity to have at least one taste whenever you want.

Traditional Salento appetizers

Since you can't always count on the presence of typical Apulian products , we can also suggest some effective customization. An example? If you can't find the Salento frisellina in supermarkets or bakeries in your city, you can make simple bruschetta and season them with fresh tomato and Apulian extra virgin olive oil . The result will be similar and in any case of great effect.

Here's how to prepare them bruschetta alla salentina :

1. season the slices of bread, preferably durum wheat, with a drizzle of oil before toasting them.
2. For an added twist, you can rub some garlic on the bread before baking or chop up some crunchy onions to add to the rest.
3. Once out of the oven, season the bread with the diced tomatoes, a few leaves of basil or oregano and a generous drizzle of oil. They will be delicious!

Among the appetizers, you can also include a taste of the typical "Salento pepperoni" . The recipe is very easy and is a real explosion of taste.

To follow the ingredients and the method of preparation of Salento peppers.

1. After frying the garlic and onion in a little oil, preferably extra virgin olive oil from Puglia, add the peppers cut into strips and without the internal filaments, and brown them for a few minutes, turning them from time to time.
2. Add the diced tomatoes, the pitted olives and, if you like, some capers. Leave to simmer for about 20 minutes, taste for salt and, once cooked, add fresh parsley for the presentation of one of the best appetizers always present on Apulian tables.

Salento-style aubergine parmigiana!

There Salento-style aubergine parmigiana it is a traditional recipe of Apulian cuisine that you absolutely must taste.

The ingredients behind this gastronomic speciality Apulian they are very simple, but their combination creates a real pleasure for the palate. It's impossible to resist!

Ingredients for 6 people

• 1.5 kg of aubergines
• 3 eggs
• Flour
• onion
• 1 kg of tomato sauce
• basil
• 150 g of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 150 g of mortadella or ham
• 1 medium mozzarella
• extra virgin olive oil and salt to taste

Eggplant Parmigiana: the traditional Apulian recipe

Follow our tips to prepare one delicious eggplant parmesan .

1. Prepare the gravy : heat the oil and add a chopped onion until lightly browned. Add the tomato sauce and let it simmer for about an hour. Add a few basil leaves before turning off.
2. Wash and cut the aubergines into slices . Put them in a colander sprinkled with salt and let them sit for an hour, so they can release the excess water.
3. Dry the aubergines and pass them in the eggs and then in the flour , after which you can start frying them in hot oil.
4. Pour a little sauce on the bottom of a pan and start placing the fried aubergine slices covering the entire surface . Cover this first layer with pieces of mozzarella, mortadella (or ham), grated cheese and more sauce. Continue like this adding new layers: be careful to cover the last layer of eggplant with plenty of tomato sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan.
5. Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes at 200°C.

Curiosities and other versions of Parmigiana alla Salento

The one just presented is the original Apulian recipe for Salento parmigiana , but many variations and customizations are possible. If, for example, you want to enjoy this dish in its lighter version, you can grilling eggplants rather than frying them .

Otherwise, if you love gastronomic challenges and are ready to eat a super explosive dish, you can too add meatballs or hard-boiled egg pieces . Every Salento grandmother prepares parmigiana in this way!

You can prepare one too vegan version of eggplant parmigiana , without meat or dairy products. Try using the vegan béchamel sauce made with soy butter and soy milk. In this recipe, we suggest adding some breadcrumbs to give it a crunchier texture.

Its preparation is like this rooted in the Apulian culinary tradition that one cannot fail to include it among the delicacies of the gastronomy of this region. It is no coincidence that over the years it has become the traditional dish of Sant'Oronzo's day in Lecce, to be enjoyed with the family for lunch on a hot day at the end of August!

A fresh dessert of the Apulian tradition: spumone

After such a substantial meal, one needs a fresh and tasty dessert , to be accompanied with seasonal fruit, always abundant on the tables of Apulian families.

If Italian ice cream is an excellence appreciated all over the world, it is Salento sparkling wine it is its maximum value. It's a dessert composed of hazelnut and chocolate ice cream with a heart of sponge cake and crunchy .

Prepare it Salento spumone at home it's very simple.

1. Get some dome-shaped molds and fill them with hazelnut and chocolate ice cream. Leave a space in the center, which you will fill with the sponge cake sprinkled with liqueur and mixed with chopped almonds and chocolate pieces.
2. Put the molds in the freezer and let the spumoni solidify.
3. Serve the Salento spumone with cold coffee with almond milk, a summer specialty “ made in Lecce ”.

Gastronomic traditions of Trentino: summer recipes

From southern Italy we go north to meet the typical recipes of Trentino, as if to say: sea and mountains! Here are some of the most popular summer recipes.

Typical Trentino summer appetizer: speck croutons and beer

Let's start with the appetizer. Among the traditional recipes of Trentino we find i crostini with speck, strictly South Tyrolean, and beer .

Ingredients for 4 people

• 4 fresh goat cheeses
• 3 tablespoons of abbey beer
• 8 slices of bread
• 16 slices of speck
• 4 or 5 pickled cucumbers

Preparation of croutons

1. Work the beer and cheese together until a soft and homogeneous cream is obtained.
2. Remove the crust from the bread and toast it slightly on both sides, then cut the slices into triangles.
3. Now spread the cream cheese on the slices and cover each one with a folded slice of speck.
4. Garnish with cucumber.

Mezzelune with apples and speck

We continue with a nice first course full of flavours: crescents with apples and speck. Follow our recipe.

Ingredients for 4 people

• 300g of flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 Golden Delicious apple
• 4 finely sliced ​​speck slices
• 250g of cow ricotta
• salt, pepper, basil, marjoram, thyme, breadcrumbs

Preparing the crescents

1. For make egg pasta mix 300g of flour with 3 eggs before adding a pinch of salt and prepare a homogeneous dough. Roll out the dough into a very fine sheet.
2. For the stuffed peel and cut the apple into small squares, then soften it with a small amount of water in a non-stick pan.
3. Place the ricotta in a large bowl . Add the remaining egg, salt, pepper to taste and the other herbs, then the cooked apple, speck and breadcrumbs until all the ingredients become a soft mixture.
4. Create circular discs with the dough and put a spoonful of filling in the center of each one.
5. Now wet the edges of the pastry and close each one shaped half moon .
6. Bring a pot full of water to the boil and drop the crescents into the lightly salted water to cook for a few minutes.
7. Remove the cooked pasta and add the melted butter as a condiment before serving.

A mountain second course: smoked pork tenderloin with marinated apples

Follow our recipe to make a tasty one smoked pork tenderloin with marinated apples , according to the original Trentino recipe.

Ingredients for 4 people

• 400gr of slices of smoked pork
• 2 golden apples
• 125gr of natural yoghurt
• Rocket
• chives
• sleep and dog's tooth
• wholemeal sesame bread
• poppy seeds

Preparation of the dish

1. Combine the various herbs to form a bunch in the center of a plate that has been lightly "flavored" with the juice of a lime.
2. Arrange them carefully finely cut slices of pork in a circular way.
3. Cut them diced apples and mix them with the yoghurt, salt and chives.
4. Garnish the pork slices with apple mix, bread slices and poppy seeds.

Dessert: fried apples with cream

To conclude a summer meal in Trentino, there is nothing better than savoring fried apples with cream.

Ingredients for 5 people

• 5 large apples
• 200gr of flour
• 2 eggs
• 3 glasses of milk
• half a glass of rum
• 40g of granulated sugar
• 1 grated lemon peel
• 100gr of butter for frying
• 1 sachet of vanilla sugar or cocoa or ground cinnamon

Preparation of fried apples with cream

1. Peel the apples and remove the cores , then slice them into not too thin pieces.
2. Put the apple slices on a large plate and drizzle them with the rum . Let them rest for 10 minutes.
3. Now start preparing the cream . Mix the eggs and sugar. When the mixture has a creamy consistency, add the flour and lemon grates. In a bowl, bring the milk to a boil.
4. Add the egg, sugar and lemon mixture and stir until it comes to a boil again . When the mixture seems very soft but not too thick, let it cool and then put it in the refrigerator.
5. Now heat the butter in a pan . When the butter has melted, dip the apple slices into the cold cream and then fry them, being careful not to lose the cream when the slices are turned.
6. Remove and sprinkle the apple slices with the vanilla, cocoa or cinnamon .