Hello, dear food lovers! I just got back from vacation, and I bet you’re looking for… maybe a sauce for friselle??!! ๐ Well, I have a super tasty sauce ready for you!
A truly irresistible recipe, especially because it came to my home in a way… one of those memorable ways that become fond holiday memories. ๐
It was a wonderful and fruitful holiday… because I returned with a suitcase full of… recipes! And now I just have to replicate them (but do you think I can make them all?).
Well, I tried one right away.
Since I brought home a ton of friselle (and from this, you already understood where I’ve been), the very first recipe I served after returning had to be this one.
No, not the friselle recipe (for that, I need a bit more technical time!).
Nor the classic friselle recipe with chopped tomatoes and oregano, with or without olives, which we enjoyed so much this vacation week. They’re delicious, friselle seasoned in this simple way!
We tried them in every restaurant or bar, preferably with a sea view, where we stopped to eat during our exploratory trip from Otranto to Leuca with a brief stop in Lecce.
No, at home, I wanted to experiment with a sauce for friselle whose recipe I read while visiting the Aragonese Castle of Otranto.
Why are you laughing, doesn’t it ever happen to you to visit a castle and discover that among the many rooms there’s one set up as a library? ๐คฉ
And doesn’t it ever happen to you to stop with your daughter, the only other book lover among all the visitors that day, wanting to browse all those books about history, places, territory, poetry, and – wonderful! – cuisine?
Well, it happened to us. Just the two of us in that little room. And I browsed through a very interesting book of Apulian recipes. I don’t remember the title, forgive me, too focused as I was on looking at all the recipes. But I’m sure if you visit the Castle of Otranto, you’ll find the book there, proudly displayed!
Among the many, the recipe that struck me the most, also because it was very simple (so much that I could remember it without any paper or pen), is this sauce for friselle, fragrant, aromatic, and spicy. And if you don’t have friselle on hand, I assure you that spread on nice slices of bread, maybe Apulian, it’s… oh, slurp, a real treat!
It’s a rustic sauce, based on tomatoes, arugula, and celery, which I obviously modified a bit, adding a clove of garlic and a sweet pepper, because garlic and peppers, in my opinion, are ideal among these Mediterranean flavors.
Spicy is the best, but even without, it’s not bad.
Excellent alone on wheat and barley friselle.
Superb with added tomato pieces afterward, especially with barley friselle.
And in the latter, I found that adding a pinch of fennel seeds is just perfect. Try it yourself! ๐
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Seasonality: Summer
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups tomatoes
- 1 cup arugula
- 1 cup celery (including leaves)
- 1 sweet pepper
- 1 clove garlic
- chili pepper
- oregano
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- fennel seeds (optional)
Tools
- Chopper
- Small Bowls
Steps
Wash the vegetables and coarsely blend them with the food processor. The oil can be added at this stage to facilitate blending or at the end. It depends on the desired consistency. Consider also the type of tomatoes used (whether more or less juicy).
Spread the sauce over the soaked friselle (*) and drizzle with a bit of oil.
I also added more oil directly onto the sauce.Being precise, I must tell you that the ceramic bowls you see in the photos (purchased at the castle exit, already having this recipe in mind! ๐) contain two slightly different versions of this sauce for friselle:
one of them is without chili and garlic, made to satisfy a specific request from my daughter.
It’s excellent even like this, more delicate, although, to be honest, I prefer the spicy version.
And which variant would you like to try?
(*) How to soak friselle:
Soaking friselle is a simple operation if you have experience. The baker from whom I bought them gave me a detailed explanation, concluding with a ‘better to try first with just one frisella to gauge, because each production has a different baking time and might require a different soaking.’
It’s true. For some friselle, a brief rinse under running water is enough, for others, a total immersion for a few seconds or a bit longer might be better. It must certainly be a brief bath, especially if the friselle are wheat, and slightly longer for barley friselle.
Then, what I noticed in my short experience over these days is that after being soaked, drained, placed on the plate, dressed with the sauce, tomatoes, oil, etc., it’s good to let them rest for a while (five-ten-fifteen minutes, again, it depends). This allows the friselle to absorb at their best.
Finally, note that when you eat them, they should be quite soft and moist but with a slightly crunchy crust.
Well, I think I’ve said it all.
If these explanations aren’t perfect, please forgive me ๐ I’m a friselle neophyte! Apulians who know more than me, write to me! I’m open to your advice!
Salt-Free Tips
Since this recipe is the first post-holiday, today I’ll spare you my usual list of salt-free tips. On holiday, you always end up breaking the rules, and we did, since we always ate out and never used the kitchenette, which our B&B room was wisely equipped with. But gastronomic tourism… I can’t give that up! However, right after returning, we got back on track, and this sauce for friselle is without added salt. And it’s excellent! ๐
A Fond Memory of Our Holiday
Speaking of B&Bs, I want to take this recipe as an opportunity to greet Mr. Luigi. A delightful person, the official supplier of the chili peppers I used in this recipe, who offered us freshly picked prickly pears for breakfast (delicious!!!). We spent some pleasant afternoon relaxation moments together, with an iced coffee with almond milk (another ‘discovery’ of this holiday). Mr. Luigi is the owner of a very beautiful B&B, immersed in silence, welcoming, and well cared for. Finding the ideal place for your holidays, satisfying your tastes and needs, is a fortune. Corte dei Salentini is a serene and quiet place where you can recharge after a year of work, traffic, noise, and motorcyclists speeding by your house. A place I recommend visiting, from which you can explore all of Salento, following Mr. Luigi’s itineraries and precious advice, whom I greet warmly, awaiting the next holiday. ๐
Speaking of B&Bs, I want to take this recipe as an opportunity to greet Mr. Luigi. A delightful person, the official supplier of the chili peppers I used in this recipe, who offered us freshly picked prickly pears for breakfast (delicious!!!). We spent some pleasant afternoon relaxation moments together, with an iced coffee with almond milk (another ‘discovery’ of this holiday). Mr. Luigi is the owner of a very beautiful B&B, immersed in silence, welcoming, and well cared for. Finding the ideal place for your holidays, satisfying your tastes and needs, is a fortune. Corte dei Salentini is a serene and quiet place where you can recharge after a year of work, traffic, noise, and motorcyclists speeding by your house. A place I recommend visiting, from which you can explore all of Salento, following Mr. Luigi’s itineraries and precious advice, whom I greet warmly, awaiting the next holiday. ๐
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On my new WhatsApp channel and on Instagram, on the Facebook page and Pinterest, in my two groups: Catia’s group, in the kitchen and beyond and Exactly what I was looking for! and if you like… subscribe to my Newsletter.
