The typical products of Cerchio, including cheeses, saffron, oil and liqueurs, are linked to the gastronomic traditions of the province of L’Aquila, but above all Marsicana. Below we give a short list of the main dishes and related recipes that are made in Cerchio (AQ).

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APPETIZERS

Antipasto di insalata alle arance.

(Immagine da https://www.ilgiornaledelcibo.it/ricetta/insalata-di-finocchi-e-arance-rosse/)

Appetizer of oranges

It is a salad prepared with orange slices, seasoned with olive oil, salt, and black pepper, there are different variations in which they mix oranges with fennel, onions and black olives. In these cases, vinegar or herbs such as rosemary, mint or watercress are added. Put the slices of bread cut in half to toast, when they are golden, rub the peeled garlic on each slice. Grease well with oil and salt and serve immediately hot.

Basil omelette

Break the eggs, add basil, cheese, breadcrumbs, onion, salt and pepper: mix and pour into a pan with hot oil. Fry the omelette and enjoy it while still hot.

Summer omelette

Beat the eggs, salt, pepper, add water, basil, mint and spring onions and mix. Cook the mixture for 7 ‘, spread the cheese and cherry tomatoes over it and cook for 2’ under the oven grill. Impact it and serve immediately. Wash and drain the anchovies, chop the vegetables and chili peper, beat eggs, cheese, parsley, chili and salt; add the anchovies and pour one into an oiled pan. Cook the omelette, turning at least once: it can ne served hot or cold.

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First Disces

Pasta alle zucchine e zafferano.

(Immagine da http://fabioc.it/chezmoi/penne-con-zucchine-e-zafferano)

Lasagna of Lent

Clean and dry the anchovies. Flour and fry the sardines, drain and dry them. Boil the wild fennel; drain and chop it. Heat some oil, add the anchovies, the chopped fennel, the tomato sauce, salt and blanch. Boil the lasagna, drain and place them in a baking dish. Stacked, alternating fried sardines and pink sauce; pass in the oven, brown for 20 ‘, then serve.

Spich linguine

Open and clean the anchovies well, chop onions and rocket, drain the tomatoes, melt the oil and butter, pour in the onions and dry them. Add anchovies, white wine and blend; add tomatoes and rocket. Salt, season with chilli and cook for 10 ‘, until cooked. The onions should be crunchy. Cook the linguine, drain and pour them into the onion sauce. Jump and bring to the table.

Shrimp with crock

Shell the prawns without removing the head and flour them, while the butter melts, add the prawns; add salt, pepper, cook and turn them: rise and pepper. Add the brandy and flambé, evaporate with white wine and cook for another minute; impact and pour the sauce from the pan, garnish with chopped parsley and oil and serve.

Pasta with zucchine and saffron

Wash the courgettes and the flowers, peel the garlic cloves. Cut the zucchini into thin slices, crush the garlic, put everything in a pan with oil, salt and cook or f5/6 ‘. Add the flowers cut into strips; wet with water and cook. Sprinkle with pepper and saffron: cook by diluting the saffron and adding salt. Boil and drain the pasta, toss with the zucchini and saffron sauce; oil and serve the grated Parmesan.

Spaghetti alla Civitarese

Cook the pasta, separately prepare the sauce with olive oil, bacon, chilli, onion, saffron. Everything must be lightly fried except for the saffron and at the right time season and serve hot.

Noodles with squid ink

It is a classic first course of fish: the pasta, of a marked black color, is seasoned with a cuttlefish sauce and their black. It is a recipe with humble origins, today precious and with a strong scent of the sea. They are enriched with cuttlefish ink, the black ink found inside thin bags in the bowels of the animal.

Fusilli with vegetables

Fry the onion, aubergine, pepper and tomato in oil. Add some broth and tomato puree, salt and pepper and season with parsley, basil and garlic; cook for 10 ‘, put the fusilli in a saucepan and toss in the sauce, served with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Fish broth

Clean, wash and cut the fish, flavor a chopped carrot, onion, garlic: add the tomatoes, mix and pour in the water and salt. When it boils, add the fish and continue until it dissolves, drain and mix the fish, add the sifted broth and serve.

Tribe alla pennese

Chop celery and onion; wash the tripe carefully, cut it and let it fry in oil and with the chopped already prepared; brown, add the other herbs, pour the tomato sauce and dilute everything with water: cook for 120 ‘over low heat. Rest and before serving, season with plenty of Parmesan.

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SECOND COURSES

Tacchino alla canzanese.

(Immagine da http://blog.giallozafferano.it/mastica/canzanese-sapori-dabruzzo/)

Zucchini with cheese
Wash and cut the zucchini, melt the butter, pour the zucchini and mix well, add salt and cook for 15 ‘. Mix the cream and Parmesan, cut the fontina. In the oven, arrange the courgettes, mixed with the fontina, in a pan, season with Parmesan and cream, bake in the oven for about 15 ‘, turn off and rest for 10’, then serve.

Meatloaf

Soak the bread, squeeze it and put it in a bowl with the minced meat, salt, red pepper, grated pecorino, nutmeg, parsley, grlic and two fresh eggs, mix everything into an oval bread shape, add two hard-boiled eggs, flour it and cook it in a little olive oil, adding some broth: cook for 30′. Slice the meatloaf and serve it with mixed salad.

Stockfish Abruzzo style

Cut the stockfish, wash it and dryit; fry oil and onion, arrange the stockfish and cook for 10′. Chop parsley, garlic and chilli; sprinkle it on the fish, add bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, tomato purèe and add the mushrooms: cover and cook for 210′. Add the cut potatoes, add salt and continue cooking slowly until the stockfish is very tender.

Canzanese Turkey

It is an Abruzzo specialty, nutritious and digestible, also ideal for the Christmas period. It is a long and laborious recipe with many variations. He mainly wants female turkey meat, as it is excellent and tasty and much more delicate than that of the male.

Codfish all’aquilana

Soak the cod, cut it, pass it in batter and fry it in boiling oil. Pound garlic and readcrumbs dipped in vinegar until they form a sauce, pour it over the well-browned cod drained from the oil. Serve hot

Chicocce and potatoes

It is prepared with courgettes, potatoes, onion, oil parsley and salt. Cut the courgettes and potatoes into chunks, slice the onion, slice the onion: brown everything in a low and wide pan over medium heat.

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DESSERTS

I dolci abruzzesi “sassi d’abruzzo”.
(Immagine da https://ilfaro24.it/dolci-dabruzzo-sassi-dabruzzo-mandorle-atterrate/)

Sweet pizza
Divide the dough into two balls, cover them and let them rest. Flatten and roll out the dough, let it rest for 5 ‘, mix butter, sugar and cinnamon. Spread them on the dough, cook in the oven at maximum power for 14 ‘. Cool and transfer the pizza to a serving dish. Glaze with the cinnamon sauce.

Sassi D’Abruzzo

Toast the almonds in the oven for 30 ‘; add sugar, almonds and water in a non- stick pan: turn until the water has evaporated and the sugar has congealed around the almonds. Continue cooking until the sugar has crystallized, turn off and arrange the almonds on a sheet of parckment paper well spaced and wait for them to cool completely, then keep for a long time in a not too humid place, better if stored in a jar of glass.

Sulmona-style cassata cake

Beat butter, powdered sugar and egg volks; divide the mixture into three parts: in the first the cocoa and mix, in the second nougat and chocolate, and in the third the crunchy. Cut the sponge cake into four slices, on each sprinkle of liqueur, spread one of the creams, stack the layers, put them in the refrigerator and before serving decorate it with cherries.

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LOCAL PRODUCTS

In addition to listing some of the most important dishes that are made in Cerchio we also refer to two typical products made here, which are typical of the Abruzzo hinterland, such as the caciofiore Aquilano. This product is a cheese reminiscent of pecorino, has a medium maturation and its production is linked to the high-altitude pastures of the whole area of the province of L’Aquila. It would be a cheese with a cylindrical shape, soft creamy texture, milky-white color and delicate aroma. Let’s say that it binds very well to the tradition of local transhumance.

Zafferano di Cerchio. (Immagine da Wikipedia)

Another typical product of the Cerchio area is saffron which has been cultivated here for a long time. It has an intense purple red color and is marketed in conditions of absolute purity: its powder is still obtained today by working the flower completely by hand.