Orecchiette Potentina Style

Ingredients 

500 g of home-made orecchiette

400 g coarsely ground beef

500 g of ripe tomatoes

2 onions

3-4 basil leaves

2 hot red peppers

150 g of grated Pecorino

250 ml of extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Preparation 

Peel and chop the onion. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and brown the onion and the meat. Add the peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes. Season with salt and add the basil leaves. Cook over medium heat adding, if necessary, a ladle of water or broth. Cook the orecchiette in a large pot of salted boiling

water until al dente. Drain thoroughly. Pour the sauce over the orecchiette, mix well and sprinkle with grated pecorino. Serve immediately with the chopped hot peppers and the meat on the side.

Orecchiette Matera Style

Ingredients 

500 g of home-made orecchiette

500 g of ripe tomatoes

200 g. boneless lamb

200 g of mozzarella

150 g of grated Pecorino

175 ml of extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Preparation 

Cut the meat into cubes and sauté in a medium saucepan with olive oil. Add the peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes. Season with salt and continue to cook. In the meantime, cook the orecchiette in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain thoroughly. Preheat the oven to 160° C (320° F). In a terra cotta baking dish, make a layer of orecchiette, and add the sliced mozzarella, the pecorino and the sauce. Continue alternating layers of orecchiette and the rest of ingredients. Finish with the sauce and sprinkle the top with pecorino. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Orecchiette with Turnip Greens

Ingredients 

500 g of turnip greens

250-300 g of orecchiette

(home-made orecchiette with semolina flour, if possible)

Extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1 hot red pepper

Bread crumbs

Salt

Preparation 

Clean the turnip greens. Discard hard leaves. Wash and cook them in salted boiling water. Halfway through, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain thoroughly. In the meantime, in a pan sauté the coarsely chopped garlic, the chopped hot red pepper and the bread crumbs for a few minutes. Pour the

sauce over the pasta. Toss very well and serve. Variation: In a pan, heat olive oil and add chopped anchovies fillets. Cook for a few minutes. Add to bread crumb sauce and mix well.

Maccheroni with Bread Crumbs

Ingredients 

500 g of home-made maccheroni

100 g of stale country bread (crumb only)

2 garlic cloves

60 g of parsley

250 ml of extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Preparation 

Heat the oil in a pan and add the chopped garlic and the bread crumb (finely crumbled). Mix well with a wooden spoon. In the meantime, cook the maccheroni in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain thoroughly. Transfer it to a serving dish and pour over the bread crumb sauce. Toss very well. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve immediately.

Maccheroni with Hot Red Pepper

Ingredients 

500 g of maccheroni

2 hot red peppers

2 sun-dried sweet red peppers

2 garlic cloves

300 ml of extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Preparation 

Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the garlic and sauté until it begins to color. Add peppers and continue to cook until they are crunchy. Avoid burning them. Remove the peppers from the pan and crush them in a mortar. Pour the pepper sauce back in the pan with the oil. Cook the maccheroni in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain thoroughly. Transfer to the pan with the pepper sauce and mix well.

Wheat Grains with a Ragu of Lamb and Pork

Ingredients 

350 g of wheat grains

250 g of lamb

250 g of pork

500 g of ripe tomatoes

Grated ricotta salata to taste

2 hot red peppers

175 ml of extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Preparation 

Soak the wheat grains in water overnight. The day after, drain them and cook them in boiling water. When the wheat grains are cooked, season with salt. In the meantime, prepare the sauce by browning the lamb and pork, cut into cubes, in olive oil. Add the peeled, seeded and pureed tomatoes and cook over medium heat. Serve the wheat grains with the meat sauce. Sprinkle with the chopped hot peppers and the grated ricotta salata. Serve very hot.

Fusilli with Ricotta Salata

Ingredients 

500 g of home-made fusilli

500 g of ripe tomatoes

300 g of lamb

1 hot red pepper

150 g of grated ricotta salata

175 ml of extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Preparation 

Wash, peel, seed and dice the tomatoes, Cut the meat into cubes, In a skillet, pour a little olive oil and brown the meat, Add the tomatoes, Season with salt and continue cooking, Meanwhile, cook the fusilli in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain thoroughly, Serve with the meat sauce,

Sprinkle with abundant grated ricotta salata and finish with chopped hot red pepper (previously fried in olive oil for a few minutes).

Fusilli with Sausages

Ingredients 

400 g of flour

4 eggs

400 g of sausages

400 g of ripe tomatoes

2 hot red peppers

150 g of ricotta salata, grated

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Preparation 

Sauce: In a saucepan, sauté the chopped onion with olive oil for a few minutes. Add the sausages and brown them. Then add the peeled, seeded and pureed tomatoes. Cook over low heat.

Fusilli: Put the flour on a pasta board. Arrange in a mound and make a well. Add the beaten eggs, a pinch of salt and one tablespoon of olive oil. Start kneading the dough and continue until you get a ball of elastic and smooth dough. Let it rest 30 minutes wrapped in a moist kitchen towel. Roll a piece of dough into a thin cylinder and cut it 10 cm. long. Make the fusilli. Roll the knitting needle pressing on the dough so it can wrap itself around the needle. Slide the fusilli from the needle and place them on

a cotton kitchen towel with some flour. Set aside to dry. Cook the fusilli in a large pot of salted boiling,

water until al dente. Drain thoroughly. Serve immediately with the sauce and the sausages. Sprinkle with grated ricotta salata and chopped hot red pepper.

Minuich

(Homemade Pasta)

Ingredients 

600 g of flour

Preparation 

Put the flour on a pasta board. Arrange in a mound and make a well. Add lukewarm water. Start kneading the dough and continue until you get a ball of smooth and elastic dough. Roll a piece of dough into a rope 1 cm thick and cut into 2 cm long sticks. Make the minuich: place one piece of dough under

a thin knitting needle and with both hands give the needle a quick twirl so the dough flattens and wraps itself around the needle. Slide the minuich from the needle and place them on a cotton kitchen towel with some flour. Cook the minuich in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain

thoroughly. Transfer to a big serving dish and serve with a lamb ragu, a pork ragu, or a tomato sauce. Sprinkle with grated pecorino.