Famous for its rich history, full of mixtures and stylistic mixtures, deriving from the influences of the Arab, Saracen, French and Spanish world, the Sicilian culture today offers a historical, artistic and culinary heritage really vast and varied. And the kitchen itself represents one of the most important cultural elements, through which it is possible to understand and recognize the habits, behaviors and history of a people. This time, for the readers of healthiergang.com, we have decided to tell a few suggestions of the city di in a town, focusing in particular on some aspects of the local culinary heritage.
With the notebook in hand, and the same enthusiasm that Goethe's great viveur must have had during his trip to your city, we venture among the historical markets of the city, to discover local raw materials and more traditional dishes.
Entering the alleys of the Vucciria, del Capo and Ballarò we immediately notice long rows of benches surmounted by cassettes of fragrant citrus fruits, sacks of capers, olives of every color and shape, legumes placed in plain sight in jute sacks, dominated by chickpeas, lentils and broad beans.
Simple ingredients, from coastal and rural areas, rich in vitamins and proteins, with which it is possible to make a great variety of delicious dishes. Of course all vegan style! Who said, in fact, that the best of Sicilian cuisine is it based on fish or meat?
Our trip to a city, among markets, shops and typical focaccerie, allowed us to discover many Mediterranean dishes, delicious and decidedly Green!
Let's see some of them ...Index
Bread and panelle
The panino con le panelle (or chickpea flour pancakes) is one of the most popular dishes in a city. It is easy to make and requires the use of just two ingredients: chickpea flour and seed oil for frying. If you like, you can add a little pepper.
Here's how it's done ...
In a saucepan, melt 200 grams of chickpea flour in half a liter of salted water, making sure that no lumps form. Add a little pepper and put on the heat over very low heat, stirring constantly.
Keep on the stove for about 15 minutes, or until the dough starts to come off the sides of the pot.
At this point, quickly pour the chickpea mixture onto a smooth, wet surface (such as a marble or wooden table) and flatten it with a knife to make it as thin as possible.
Let cool the pasta for a few minutes, then cut it into rectangles; Once this is done, heat abundant seed oil in a pan and fry the panelle until they are slightly golden.
You can eat them like this or put them inside a soft sandwich. In any case, the result will be excellent!
Maccu (ie a soup of crushed broad beans)
To make this particular Sicilian recipe, you will need:
- 500 g of dried broad beans
- 2 large, ripe tomatoes
- an onion
- extra virgin olive oil
Leave the beans to soak in cold water for a whole night. The next day put them in a pot with new and salted water e cook over low heat for about 3 hours, taking care to turn them often and crush them from time to time.
Meanwhile, prepare a sauté with the chopped onion into very fine slices, i peeled tomatoes (seeded and cut into small pieces), oil, salt and pepper.
When the beans have become a cream, add them to the sauté, add a little salt and a little pepper, mix everything for a few minutes and serve!
Soup of San Giuseppe
To make this legume-based dish, you will need:
- 200 grams of dry beans
- 200 grams of chickpeas
- 200 grams of lentils
- 250 grams of broccoli
- 300 grams of pasta for soup
- 2 bunches of wild fennel
- extra virgin olive oil
Leave all soaking legumes for a whole night in plenty of cold water.
The next day, pour them into a pot with plenty of water, add the broccoli (which you have carefully washed and cut into pieces) and the fennel.
Add salt and pepper and cook over low heat for about three hours. At this point add the pasta and when cooked, add some raw oil before serving.
Eggplant caponata
ingredients:
- 4 eggplants
- 4 large, ripe tomatoes
- 1 stick of celery
- 1 onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 100 grams of black olives
- 50 grams of salted capers
- 1 tablespoon of vinegar
- extra virgin olive oil
Spread a little throughout your city, the eggplant caponata it is a dish suitable for all seasons. Excellent in summer, if served cold and inviting in winter, if served warm.
Here's how it is prepared ..
Take the aubergines and clean them after washing them well. Cut them into cubes, sprinkle them with salt and let them drain for about an hour in the pasta drain.
In the meantime, cleanse and finely slice the onion, crush the garlic, peel the tomatoes and pass them through a sieve; pitted olives; clean, wash and slice the celery.
At this point, put everything in a pan with plenty of oil, put it on the stove and let it cook over low heat until the mixture is well aggregated and homogeneous.
Here ends our eco-gastronomic journey in your city. And as always ... enjoy your meal!
