Walking through the market stalls on a cold November morning, it is not possible to remain indifferent to fruit and vegetable crates.
Among the citrus fruits and onions, there they are, green, fragrant, full of exquisite fleshy inflorescences: turnip tops.
Who is from Puglia, of course, has it in his blood; but also for those who are not, it is easy to fall in love with this wonderful and versatile vegetable, typical of Mediterranean cuisine.
And if you think you only season pasta, you are mistaken. Here is some simple recipe with turnip tops that comes directly from the land of the trulli, revisited in the light and healthy version .
1. Pasta with turnip tops
Ingredients for 4 people :
> 1 nice bunch of fresh turnip tops,
> About 3 hg of pasta (here you can choose between the classic orecchiette or strascinati, preferably fresh, or hard pasta like bronze-drawn spaghetti),
> excellent extra virgin olive oil cold pressed and Pugliese.
For those who want to "pollute" the purity of the combination of oil, pasta, turnip tops, there is the variant that also includes garlic and chilli, so, if necessary, get them.
Procedure : clean the turnip tops well, using the florets, the freshest leaves and keep the most delicate twigs engraved with a cross in the middle to facilitate cooking. Take a large pot, fill it with water and pour the tops; bring to the boil and cook for about five minutes.
At this point put the salt and the pasta chosen. Cook for the indicated time and drain everything. Season with extra virgin olive oil, as required by the purist recipe, and serve hot. This is the only way to appreciate the taste of simple ingredients and the unique taste of excellent pasta. But if you like it, add a rump of crushed garlic, which you will then remove, and some fresh, dried or preserved red pepper.
2. Flan with turnip tops
Ingredients for a pie for 4/6 people :
> 500 g of already cleaned turnip greens,
> 200 gr of ricotta cheese,
> 2 eggs,
> 80 grams of grated Parmesan,
> 1 crushed garlic clove,
> salt and pepper,
> breadcrumbs,
> chilli pepper.
Procedure : Cook the turnip greens for about ten minutes in lightly salted boiling water. Then drain everything, chop the larger stems and leaves and sauté in a pan with a dash of oil, salt, pepper, chilli pepper and the crushed garlic, which you will then remove.
Put the ricotta in a bowl, the grated Parmesan, two egg yolks (in the meantime you have beaten the egg whites) salt lightly and mix everything. Then add the turnip tops and leave them to cool. Finally whisk the egg whites until stiff, stirring very gently from top to bottom so as not to remove them.
Take a non-stick pan, it can go very well the one used for the plum cake, pour a drop of oil and cover it with some grated bread; pour all the mixture and cook for about 20/30 minutes at 175 ° C. Serve hot, perhaps with two baked potatoes.
3. Baked panzerotti with turnip tops
Ingredients for about 10 panzerotti :
for pasta you need:
> 1/2 Kg of flour 0,
> 1/2 cube of yeast,
> 200 ml of water approximately,
> 1 pinch of brown sugar or half a teaspoon of honey
> 2 nice pinches of salt;
for the filling you need:
> 200 g of turnip tops,
> 2 small tomatoes,
> 1 white onion,
> extra virgin olive oil
if you don't want to make the vegan version use a mozzarella fior di latte.
Procedure : warm the water (no more than 40 ° C), pour in the honey or a pinch of sugar and dissolve the half yeast cube in it. In the meantime, pour the flour on the pastry board, forming a hole in the center, where you will add the dissolved yeast and salt. Knead for about 10 minutes, obtaining a soft and elastic dough, which you will let rise in a warm place, in a bowl, with a cannabis on it.
After two hours, take the dough, form a large sausage from which you will get about ten balls; let them flour until they are still about for an hour, on a pastry board covered with a cloth or a film. In the meantime prepare the filling, stewing the turnips in a large pot with a drop of oil, the onion cut into thin slices, the two diced tomatoes.
Allow to cool and add the cubed mozzarella, if desired. Roll out the balls with a rolling pin, forming circles of dough, in the center of which you will put a generous spoonful of mixture, close with a half moon, having the foresight to combine the two edges of dough by brushing with a dash of cold water. Place the panzerotti on a baking sheet lined with wax paper, cook for about 15 minutes in a boiling oven, 250 ° C. Serve hot!
