Scurcola Marsicana, like many towns in the Marsica area, is a municipality that has had strong urban development over the last forty years, but has nevertheless maintained a characteristic medieval-Renaissance historical centre. Among the best preserved medieval structures is the house of Corradino di Svevia, which some sources say is the house that hosted Corradino shortly before the great battle against Charles I of Anjou.

Surely this battle fought at the Piani Palentini between Scurcola and Magliano in 1268, has marked the history and traditions of Scurcola, which over the centuries has always in some way remembered this episode. The village, as mentioned in other sections, hosts numerous noble palaces, medieval and Renaissance churches and the ancient Orsini castle.

All this tells us that the village has a long history, made up and managed by an agro-pastoral people, who have lived in Scurcola over the centuries. Well, one of the most important testimonies left in this village concerns its very varied culinary tradition, which ranges from first courses to second courses up to desserts, with a variety of flavors and testimonies with dishes including fish, which recall the ancient lake cuisine, who was at home here given the close proximity to the ancient lake Fucino. Below we draw a list of the main dishes that are eaten in Scurcola Marsicana, accompanied by the recipes of the various dishes.

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First dishes

– Cannelloni all’abruzzese

RECIPE: Cut a sheet of white and yellow flour, water and salt into squares; cook, drain and dry flat. Mix the meat, eggs, pecorino cheese and nutmeg: brown. Place the filling on each square and roll up. Arrange the cannelloni in a pan, put in the oven and cook for 20 minutes.

 – Fettuccine all’abruzzese

RECIPE: Fry the bacon and onion in oil, place the minced meat in a casserole, adding oil: fry, add the chopped parsley and basil. Add broth, salt and pepper. Cook the fettuccine in abundant salted water, drain and place them in a bowl, sprinkled with pecorino. Add the dressing and serve.

 – Polenta all’abruzzese

RECIPE: it is prepared by frying bacon, sausage and onion, adding tomatoes and cooking slowly; prepare the polenta with water and cornmeal, spread it out on a pastry board and dress it with the sausage sauce and grated pecorino cheese.

 – Ravioli all’abruzzese

RECIPE: Mix the flour, 4 eggs and salt until it is soft and well flavoured, place it in a bowl, covered and leave it to rest for 30′. Mix a filling of ricotta, eggs and nutmeg, roll out the dough, cut it into squares, insert the filling, cover and close each ravioli. Boil them and season them with butter and sage. 

– Spaghetti al farro con pesto di noci e pomodorini

RECIPE: Mix dried tomatoes, walnuts, garlic, Parmesan, oil and chilli pepper; adjust the oil until you have a creamy consistency; boil the pasta and season: enjoy your meal.

– Spaghetti all’ortica

Clean and boil the nettles, boil the spaghetti. Drain the nettles without throwing away the water; fry the oil, garlic and chilli pepper, add the boiled nettles and sauté them. Add the water from the nettles and tomato: cook for 20′. Add the spaghetti and sauté them well, add the Parmesan and serve.

– Zuppa di brodo

RECIPE: Toast the bread, dip the beaten eggs and line them up in a pan; cover them with the pecorino cheese, pour in the broth, cover and put on the heat. At the first boil, switch off and serve immediately: it is the typical Easter day dish.

– Zuppa di lenticchie

RECIPE: Chop the onion, carrot and celery and fry them adding some vegetable broth. Add tomatoes, potatoes and lentils, mix, season and add broth, continue cooking for 90′. When the lentils are soft, puree them to obtain a cream, put them back in the pan with the remaining lentils, add salt and pepper and the soup is ready to be served!

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Second courses

– Agnello con peperoni

RECIPE: Cut the lamb, bone and flour them, brown in oil, then sprinkle with chopped rosemary and garlic. Peel the peppers and cut them into strips. Chop the peeled tomatoes. Sprinkle some white wine, then wet it with a ladle of broth and cook it for half an hour. Add peppers and tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook by adding hot water.

– Coniglio con lumache

RECIPE: Purge the snails several times, boil them and shell them. Clean and brown a rabbit, cut into pieces, in an earthenware pan with oil and onion; sprinkle with wine, salt, close and cook. Cook the snails in oil with fragrant mince, lemon zest and wine. After 20′, add the snails to the sauce and the rabbit, mix and serve.

– Funghi all’abruzzese

RECIPE: Mince the garlic and cut the mushrooms, melt the butter and oil, fry the chopped garlic and parsley, add the mushrooms, mixing well. Add salt and cook for about 30′ on a moderate heat.

 – Pastuccia 

RECIPE: It is a typical dish from Abruzzo: simple and requiring a few basic ingredients: bacon or pork cheek, which will give it flavor in an energetic and characteristic way. When the sausages begin to dry and harden they are usually used for this disho.

– Peperonata

RECIPE: They are a very tasty side dish, ideal as an accompaniment to delicate meats. The easy possibility of finding its ingredients allows it to be prepared all year round: being able to taste it hot in the colder months and accompany it with bruschetta in the summer: it is really excellent also served as a sauce in pasta.

 – Peperoni alla griglia

RECIPE: They are cooked by cleaning the peppers, cutting them in half, washing them and placing them on the oven grill, cooking them for a few minutes. At the end they are placed in a bowl, cut into strips, mixed with oil, parsley, salt and pepper.

– Pollo alla Franceschiello

RECIPE: Cut the chicken, brown it in an oiled pan, sauté it and flavor it with garlic, rosemary and hot pepper. Pour in the white wine, cover and cook for 50′. Add black olives and pickled vegetables: mix, flavor and then serve the chicken hot.

 – Pollo allo zafferano

RECIPE: Cut the chicken breast into strips, flour and brown with butter and cream; add saffron and speck and deglaze with the white wine. Finely chop the radicchio and season it with oil, salt, pepper and toasted dried fruit: serve the chicken strips on a bed of radicchio salad.

 – Stoccafisso all’abruzzese

RECIPE: The stockfish is cut, washed and dried; fry the oil and the onion, arrange the stockfish and cook for 10′. Chop parsley, garlic and chilli; sprinkle it on the fish, add bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, tomato puree and add the mushrooms: cover and cook for 210′. Add the cut potatoes, salt and continue cooking slowly until the stockfish is very tender.

– Triglie ripiene

RECIPE: Wash the mullet, open them in half to obtain a pocket and bone them. Peel the rosemary, chop it finely together with the garlic clove and place everything in a bowl. Add the breadcrumbs, a pinch of salt and pepper, pour a little oil and mix everything until you get a homogeneous and consistent mixture.

Stuff the inside of the mullets with the breadcrumbs and rosemary filling and seal well. In a large frying pan, heat a drizzle of oil, brown the finely chopped garlic and cook the mullet for about 10 minutes over a moderate flame, turning them on both sides to complete the cooking. Arrange them in a serving dish and flavor them, to taste, with a little lemon juice. Serve immediately.

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Dolci

– Ciammelle

RECIPE: This dessert is made with eggs, sugar, flour, oil and yeast and with the Fiatoni, made with cheese. The donut or  ciambella is a typical dessert of the Marsican area and each town tends to make it by adding something of its own. In Scurcola Marsicana this sweet has been chosen as the symbol of the town and every year for more than forty years there has been a folkloristic event which celebrates it in the form of a village festival. The goodness and delicacy of this sweet and of the event itself attracts a huge crowd.

– Coperchiole

RECIPE: Made up of two “lids” inside which there is a filling made up of a soft dough (not cooked) made up of honey, ground almonds, grated orange peel and a little liqueur;

– Cicerchiata

RECIPE: They are balls with a dough similar to that of shortcrust pastry; 

– Le Chiacchiere

RECIPE: To prepare the chiacchiere, sift the flour together with the baking powder and pour into a palenetaria with leaf. Add the sugar, the salt, the previously beaten eggs. Then the egg yolk and grappa. Add the seeds of the vanilla pod and the butter. Then continue to knead for 15 minutes until a homogeneous mixture is obtained: it must be firm and quite malleable. If necessary you can add 5-10 g of water.

Transfer the dough to a work surface, and handle it quickly to give it a spherical shape. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. After this time, divide the dough into portions of about 150 g and start working each one individually. Slightly flatten a first portion with the palm of your hand. Flour it and roll it out with the tirapasta set to the widest thickness. Fold the short sides of the strip of pasta obtained towards the center, then pull it again, setting the pasta roller to an increasingly smaller thickness each time, until it reaches 2 mm.

Perform the same procedure on all portions of dough. Let the rolled dough rest for a few minutes and in the meantime bring the oil to a temperature of 150-160 degrees. With a scalloped wheel, proceed by shaping rectangles of about 5×10 cm and making two central cuts on each one, parallel to the long side. As soon as the oil has reached the right temperature, dip 2-3 rectangles of puff pastry with the help of a slotted spoon and cook them, turning them to the right temperature. Dip 2-3 rectangles of puff pastry with the help of a slotted spoon. Then cook them by turning them on both sides until they are golden brown. Drain the sheets on absorbent paper and once cold, plate them and sprinkle them with plenty of sifted icing sugar. Your chats are ready.

– Castagnole 

RECIPE: They are balls made with eggs, sugar, flour, butter, liqueur;

– Morzitti, o “Mostaccioli

RECIPE: They are a dessert whose main ingredient is the must of the wine;

– Nevole

RECIPE: The cooked must is boiled with oil, cinnamon and the orange peel and flavoured, not thickened; form a fountain with the flour, pour in the liquid and mix until hot, cover with a tea towel. Heat the iron, place the pasta between the two plates, close and tighten: the nevola is cooked in a few minutes. Remove from the iron and quickly roll it up: if it gets cold, you can no longer work.

– Papatilli

RECIPE: Boil the apples, mix, add the almonds, lemon zest, pepper and flour to obtain a thick mixture. Pour it into trays and let it cool. Then cut it into small rectangles or triangles, which you will cook in the oven over low heat. They are served cold with dessert wine and can be kept for a long time.

– Parrozzo

RECIPE: It is made with semolina or yellow or white flour, sugar, ground almonds, orange or lemon peel and covered with dark chocolate. It is obtained by kneading and pouring the dough into a mould, then it is cooked in the oven. When cooked, when it is cold, it is covered with melted dark chocolate.

– Pizza di Pasqua

RECIPE: It is a sort of sweet bread whose dough is enriched with eggs, raisins and rum.

– Torrone ai fichi secchi

RECIPE: The honey is brought to the boil and continued in a bain-marie. When it turns white, add the whipped egg whites and cook, stirring. It is ready when a drop thrown into cold water crystallizes; add the blanched, peeled and shredded kernels and the figs into small pieces. Sprinkle with cinnamon, add sugar and grated lemon zest: thicken the mixture, pour it onto a surface greased with almond oil: give it a rectangular shape 1-1.5 cm high, cut it, let it cool and taste it.