Turnip tops are a vegetable from the Apulian and Campanian tradition, a tasty vegetable, slightly spicy with a bitter aftertaste. They belong to the same family as broccoli, and their main regional preparations are stewed in a pan with garlic and chili, orecchiette with turnip tops, and turnip tops with sausage. Discover also the gourmet recipes with this typical southern Italy inflorescence.
For the properties, let Dr. Ricciuto speak: “The turnip top is highly appreciated for its low caloric value, which is about 22 kcal per 100 grams. Its nutritional values are as follows: 92% water, 2.9% protein, 0.3% lipids, 2% carbohydrates, 2.9% fiber. It also contains a good percentage of iron, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin C, and a high content of polyphenols.“
Due to their high purine content, they are not recommended for those suffering from hyperuricemia, gout, or diverticula.
HARVEST season for #friarielli (turnip tops or broccoli rabe) – from October to April
The Turnip tops (or broccoli rabe) are the flower of the turnips, while the Friarielli are the tenderest leaves of the same plant.
Tasty recipes with cold-season vegetables:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
- Energy 35.04 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 2.96 (g) of which sugars 0.02 (g)
- Proteins 0.71 (g)
- Fat 2.39 (g) of which saturated 0.35 (g)of which unsaturated 0.04 (g)
- Fibers 1.48 (g)
- Sodium 113.46 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 75 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
How to cook turnip tops?
- 14 oz turnip tops (or friarielli)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- to taste chili powder (or fresh chilies)
- to taste fine salt
- 2 leaves bay leaf (optional)
How to CHOOSE turnip tops?
Prefer turnip tops with thin and firm stems, leaves with a bright green color and without yellowed or limp parts, closed inflorescences with a beautiful dark green.
How to CLEAN turnip tops?
Turnip tops consist of the stem and its stalks, the larger outer leaves, the smaller leaves, and the top flowers.
1. Remove the hard base of the turnip tops and the spoiled and yellowed leaves.
2. Detach the tenderest tips of the flowers; they can be kept whole and cross-cut underneath or further divided.
3. Keep the finer stalks and cut them into regular pieces with the leaves.
4. Wash thoroughly to remove any soil residue.
Stewed Turnip Tops in a Pan
Sauté with a drizzle of oil, the garlic clove (without skin and core or in its skin and crushed), the chopped chili and optionally some dried bay leaves. Then add the turnip tops and salt. To stew them, cook them covered for the first few minutes, then uncover them to evaporate their water.
If they turn out too dry, add some water or broth.
If the broccoli are hard or particularly bitter, they can be blanched for a few minutes in hot water or steamed in advance.
To taste add:
– a splash of vinegar or white wine
– citrus peels and pine nuts
– raisins
– sun-dried tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
– tuna and olives
– anchovy fillets or anchovy paste
– sausage, pork ribs, spicy salami
🍀🍀🍀🍀
For a light version, let them wilt in their water without any fat, and once cooked, season them with good oil, chopped garlic, and lemon.
🍀🍀🍀🍀
You can use stewed turnip tops to season spaghetti.
How to do it? Blend them partially to create a green cream, then season the drained pasta with it and add the other cooked and not blended tops. Serve with stracciatella, crescenza, robiola, or stracchino cheese or crumbled taralli.
🍀
🍀
Boil the turnip tops in the water that will be used for cooking the pasta. In the meantime, sauté oil, garlic, and chili, then add the cooked turnip tops and toss them in the pan to remove their bitterness. Now, cook the orecchiette in their cooking water; once ready, drain them and add them to the turnip tops, mixing everything to flavor.
Variations:
– in the last minutes of cooking, add halved cherry tomatoes
– add anchovy fillets or anchovy paste
– enrich with bacon or tuna
– as an alternative to garlic, prepare a sauté of onions
– plate with crumbled taralli
🍀🍀🍀🍀
Cook the friarielli (raw or blanched) in a pan with oil and garlic, add small-cut raw potatoes (or slightly boiled), then finish cooking the potatoes with the turnip tops and at the end mash them.
Personal taste additions include cooked legumes (borlotti, cannellini, chickpeas).
🍀🍀🍀🍀
For a pizza:
– WHITE: 4 cheeses (choose among brie, fontina, grated parmesan or pecorino, gorgonzola, provolone, mozzarella), sautéed friarielli and anchovy fillets
– RED: tomato sauce, stewed broccoli rabe, and sausage
Turnip tops are also delicious as a filling for panzerotti.
🍀🍀🍀🍀
Some ideas
– pasta with stewed friarielli and tomato sauce
– pasta, ricotta, and turnip tops
– pasta, broccoli rabe, and tuna
– pasta, turnip tops, and bacon
🍀🍀🍀🍀
Prepare croquettes with boiled and mashed broccoli rabe, egg, coarse breadcrumbs, a little garlic, salt, and parsley. Cook in a pan with a little oil, fry or bake.
🍀🍀🍀🍀
In frittata (for vegans, in farifrittata or in cecina), cooked in a pan or in the oven.
Over the stewed turnip tops, pour a fried egg (or poached or scrambled eggs) and season with anchovy sauce (acciugata).
🍀🍀🍀🍀
In salted boiling water, or steamed and in a pressure cooker.
Season with oil, salt, and lemon.
🍀🍀🍀🍀
The cooking water can be saved to make broth, add to risotto, soup, or use for cooking pasta.
🍀🍀🍀🍀
STORAGE
Cooked turnip tops can be kept for up to 4 days in the refrigerator inside an airtight container, or alternatively they can be frozen.
