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Despite the temptations of panzanella in Tuscany, pesto in Liguria, and cacio e pepe in Rome, Puglian food is our favourite in Italy.
In a country that lives for its cuisine and where we make annual foodie pilgrimages, that’s no small claim.
It was dreams of mammoth plates of antipasti that prompted our return visits to Puglia and they only confirmed that the region is foodie heaven.
Here’s why we love Puglian cuisine, and if you are wondering what to eat in Puglia, we share the best local dishes to try.
Contents
Why We Love Puglia Cuisine
Everything is Grown Locally
Puglia is an agricultural region in the far south of Italy (it’s the heel of the country’s boot). With plenty of sun, fertile soil, and a flat landscape it’s ideal for growing vegetables.
Local and seasonal aren’t fashionable buzz words here, it’s just the way things are done.
The fruit and vegetables are fresh and flavourful, with a more intense flavour than further north. The juicy tomatoes and cucumbers we ate here are different species from the insipid vegetables you find in England.
It’s not just fruit and vegetables either. Puglia has over 60 million olive trees and produces 23% of the olive oil in Europe. The fruity liquid is applied liberally to all the local dishes and enhances even the simplest plate of vegetables.
There are also vineyards all over the region producing some excellent local wines including full bodied reds like Salice Salentino, Primitivo, and Nero di Troia, and refreshing white and rosé wines ideal for summer lunches.
It’s Vegetarian Nirvana
Vegetables are the cornerstone of Puglian cuisine as so much grows here and historically it was a poor region that couldn’t afford much meat.
Instead the diet involves lots of vegetables, beans, pasta, and fish (which we found easy to avoid).
Vegetarians can just order an antipasto and a pasta dish in restaurants, it’s plenty of food and you won’t miss the secondo (the second main dish) which is usually fish or meat.
The Antipasti
An antipasto is an Italian starter, and in Puglia it’s the highlight of a meal. The best option is to choose the antipasti of the house that most restaurants offer.
You never know what you’re going to get, but there will be multiple small dishes, almost always vegetarian.
Common dishes are vegetables marinated in oil, grilled, fried or stuffed—in the summer there’s lots of aubergines, peppers, and zucchini; cheese, olives, and things like potato croquettes, sformato which is a kind of heavier soufflé made with cheese and vegetables, or torta, which is similar but made with pastry.
Whatever you find on your plate it’s bound to be fresh and bursting with flavour.
The biggest problem is trying not to overindulge. The antipasti plates are enough for a meal but Puglians would never dream of eating just that so expect a big bowl of pasta next.
On our first visit to Puglia we made the mistake of ordering an antipasti plate each—big mistake as both were large enough to feed a family, and trying to follow that with pasta was a challenge.
See our detailed guide to the best restaurants in Lecce for our favourite places to eat from gelato to traditional trattorias.
Eating at a Masseria
If you don’t have family in Puglia then the next best thing is to stay at a masseria. These fortified farmhouses are found all over the countryside and many offer guest accommodation.
Some are fancy affairs but others are smaller, more rustic experiences where you eat with the family like we did at Masseria Ferri.
At Masseria Sant’Angelo in Corigliano d’Otranto us guests sat with hosts Rocco and Ursula, and sometimes their friends, at a long table on the terrace while an endless stream of dishes was brought out—perhaps eight antipasti, followed by pasta, cheese, dessert and fruit.
The food was simple but delicious and it was the best way to try local specialities.
As the masserie are working farms you can try wine, cheese, olive oil, and jams they’ve made themselves as well as eating vegetables picked straight from the garden.
Our favourite place to stay and eat in Puglia is Masseria il Frantoio, an organic olive farm where incredible eight-course tasting menus are created using almost all produce from the farm.
Local Specialities
Puglia has its own food specialities but even each village has items that are only found there, such as poponetti, a type of cucumber we tried in Corigliano d’Otranto where you can find a market that sells nothing else but these melon-like vegetables.
In the same town we also ate piselli nano di Zolino a DOP protected pea from a village 4km away. They are larger and browner than normal peas and were traditionally eaten as a farmer’s breakfast with bread and vegetables.
We love how specific these local specialities are and that even a humble pea can be protected to guarantee quality.
Cheese Heaven
Puglia has many excellent types of cheese that will often turn up on an antipasti plate.
Burrata is the most famous cheese from Puglia and it’s a foodie highlight.
It’s a fresh cheese similar to mozzarella but with a gooey, creamy inside that oozes out when you cut into it. It’s rich and milky and needs nothing but some local bread and perhaps a drizzle of olive oil to accompany it.
It’s taken even further with stracciatella, the shredded buttery inside of the burrata without the ball container.
A rival for burrata for my favourite Puglian cheese is caciocavallo, especially the podolico variety made with flavourful milk from special cows that eat lots of herbs.
We loved the caciocavallo made at Masseria Ferri, and it was also delicious fried at La Cecchina restaurant in Bari.
Another common fresh cheese is cacioricotta, a mix of ricotta and cheese, and primo sale, which is the first cheese that comes before ricotta.
Handmade Pasta
Pasta in Puglia is made with durum wheat semolina, no eggs, and is usually handmade. The most common type is orecchiette or “little ears” which feature on every restaurant menu.
You can see them being made on the streets of Bari, and we had a go ourselves at this tricky task during our Lecce cooking class.
Another typical Puglian pasta is sagne ‘ncannulate, long twisted strands.
Bread in All Forms
Bread is served with every meal and is used to mop up the delicious sauces leftover on your plate.
Other tasty bread products include:
- Taralli – Baked bread stick rings that come in a range of flavours like fennel or onion and are often served with a drink or in your bread basket.
- Pizzi or puccia – A bread from the Salento that’s studded with olives and tomatoes.
- Focaccia – This is especially good in Bari, smeared with roasted cherry tomatoes, olives and plenty of local olive oil. Our favourite was at Panificio Fiore in Bari’s labyrinth old town.
- Frisella Salentina – A crunchy dry bread that we ate as a bruschetta base and made into a panzanella type salad with cucumber, tomato and basil.
The Best Puglia Food to Try
Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa (Little ears pasta with turnip tops)
We ate orecchiette pasta with various sauces including tomato, but the most typical pairing is with cime di rapa or turnip tops/ broccoli rabe, a leafy green vegetable with a slightly bitter flavour.
You can also find dark orecchiette made with black durum wheat. We ate it with tomato sauce and caciocavallo cheese at Ristorante Porta Nova in Ostuni.
Purea di Fave con Cicoria (Fava bean puree with greens)
Another very typical Puglian dish is a comforting bowl of fava bean puree paired wonderfully with cicoria or bitter greens. Cicoria is translated as chicory but is actually closer to endive than to chicory.
There are lots of different varieties from rustic to elegant, thick or thin, served with chile oil or whole roasted peppers. We think it definitely works best with something to balance the flavours.
We particularly liked the modern twist on the dish at Osteria Spiriti in Lecce when it was served with sweet caramelised onion, grilled pepper and toast.
Parmigiana di Melanzane (Eggplant parmesan)
A parmigiana can be made with any vegetable but aubergine/eggplant is by far the most common.
You’ll find it all over the country but it’s particularly popular in the south and we often ate it in Puglia, which made me happy as it’s my favourite Italian dish.
Sliced aubergines are fried (or sometimes grilled) and layered with tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, and basil. It’s all baked in the oven until it’s melty and delicious, serious comfort food.
It’s usually served as an antipasto, either as a whole dish or a smaller portion as part of an antipasti platter.
Pizza Rustica
Two layers of dough are stuffed with a variety of fillings and often served as an antipasto. Ours was filled with cicoria (bitter greens) at L’Altro Baffo in Otranto.
Pitta Rustica
A similar dish to pizza rustica but mashed potato is used instead of dough for extra tastiness. We had pitta rustica filled with onion and with fennel, pepper, capers and tomatoes.
Panzerotti
Panzerotti are most commonly small calzone-like pizza pockets, but the name is also used to refer to potato croquettes that we had with cheese and sage as an antipasto.
Zucchini Scapece
In other parts of Italy this means courgette marinated in vinegar, but we ate it in the Salento when it was first breaded and fried and then vinegar added for a wonderful tangy punch.
Mustaccioli
We were surprised to eat these soft chocolate almond cookies flavoured with cinnamon and nutmeg in the Salento as they reminded us of German lebkuchen.
Caffè Leccese
A shot of espresso is cooled and mixed with sweet latte di mandorla (almond milk) and some ice cubes for a tasty, refreshing summer drink. I’m not a coffee drinker but loved this in Lecce.
Read our Lecce travel guide for more tips for exploring this gorgeous city.
Sangria Leccese
Peaches in red wine. A simple but tasty way to end a meal.
Puglia Food Guide Summary
Although we’ve spent months in Puglia we still haven’t tried all the regional specialities.
The great thing about travelling in the region is that although you’ll find common threads—orecchiette, fresh vegetables, fava beans, burrata—every town you visit will have its own speciality.
Wherever you travel you’re guaranteed to eat well. Buon Appetito!
For a primer on eating etiquette in Italy, check out our dos and don’ts guide to eating in Italy.
See our post on the best places to visit in Puglia for our restaurant and accommodation recommendations in various towns.
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Great blog! We’ve found it very useful in our planning. We’re will be in Puglia for a week in a 3 1/2-month trip through Italy. Reading your notes, it seems to us that we should have allowed for more time in Puglia, instead of spending an entire month in the Amalfi area.
A week will be a great intro but there is plenty to do. The Amalfi area is wonderful too though! Enjoy!
that makes no sense ! where is the fish ??, where is the seafood?…Puglia is all about seafood! not everyone is vegetarian….:(
We are vegetarian, though, and this is a personal blog. To us, Puglia is all about the delicious vegetables :)
Hi from Boston,
This is very useful information. A group of us are traveling over in May, 2 are vegetarian and I think they’ll be very content.
Dear Erin,
Thank you so much for your beautiful posts about Puglia. I found your blog a few weeks ago when we book our flights to Bari and I got so, so excited.
The architecture looks beautiful and the food is everything I could wish for.
My partner and I are vegan at home/vegetarian when travelling and so your posts truly made us drool.
We will spend our first 5 day in Monopoli and the surrounding. Than we would like to go south to the Salento region.
This is where I hope to het your help and ideas – I can still not make up my mind where we should book accommodation. Lecce sounds just so perfect with the food and architecture and nightlife. However – it has no beach and this is a bog downer for me personally. The proximity to water is just so special for me and I cannot make a decision if we should be travelling 40 Minutes to the beach or to the city where we can have a nice dinner and evening.
Or..do you maybe have an idea or recommendation for me how I can get the best of both worlds – have the beach and the good Food?
Thank you so much for everything.
I hope to hear from you soon.
I would lean towards Lecce. The food there is better for vegetarians and as you are in the middle you can easily visit both coasts of the Salento peninsula.
You could also choose to stay in Gallipolli or Otranto which are lovely towns by the sea. I am sure you’d find good food, but we found the restaurants there more seafood focused than in Lecce.
I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time whatever you decide! Enjoy!
We stayed in Otranto for 2 weeks and visited Lecce for a day. As coastal towns like Ontrato are by the sea of course food tend to be seafood focused but there were plenty of vegetarian options. We loved being able to swim in crystal clear azure sea every day.
Sounds like a wonderful way to experience Puglia! Glad you enjoyed it!
My husband and I are considering a visit to Lecce and the surrounding area to celebrate my milestone birthday! We would be traveling late December to early January. Although we enjoy fresh and grilled vegetables, we are not fond of vegetables in sauces. We are hoping that we can enjoy some fresh seafood either grilled or in pasta with a light olive oil sauce (such as mussels or clams). Will we be able to find a lot of grilled seafood? What type of sauces do they use with their pastas? Thank you. I have enjoyed your blog.
Hi Lori
We are vegetarian so we’re not the best people to advise about seafood, but I’ve heard that the seafood is actually at its best in winter. Puglian food tends to be very simple so I’m you’ll be able to get seafood as you describe.
The main sauces for pasta are a simple tomato (sometimes topped with cheese) and cima di rape (a cooked green so you might want to skip that one). In Lecce there are restaurants that specialize in seafood that will have seafood pasta dishes and by the sea it’ll be everywhere.
Have a great trip!
We are going to be in Puglia region in July for 6 days. What are absolute musts for us to do during that time.
I don’t think there are any absolute musts as there are so many beautiful towns all over the region. This post should give you some ideas: https://www.neverendingvoyage.com/8-towns-not-to-miss-in-puglia/
You are going to fall in love. Divertiti!
We love this post! We are sharing it on our social (twitter and facebook) for our english speaking readers who’ll be eager to taste the delicious food of Pugla :-)
Thanks so much!
Love this post! My wife an I will be in bari oct 1 – then to various areas of the puglia region we can’t wait
I’m a local, in Puglia, and despite I’ve travelling everywhere in the world… I can relate on everything you write! Come back soon!
We’re planning to return next year. We miss Puglian food!
Dear Erin and Simon,
If you want to come back to Puglia, I would be pleased to offer (for free) you a week stay in Ostuni!just contact me for details, 4 years is a long break!Time for a “refresh”! Many things are changed, developed and needs to be “written” and shared with the rest of the world!
Thank you for your amazing article!Anna
Thanks very much for your generous offer Anna. We really want to return to Puglia – we aim to come back in spring 2018. I’ll be in touch once we have more details.
Thank you. Booked my trip to Puglia this July. Two weeks. Looking forward to your recommendations. Is it too early to be this excited?
It’s never too early to be excited! Have an amazing time!
Nooooooo, I hope you won’t miss Ostuni!I will be there August 10 with my husband!can’t wait!we made a good choice!
Have been in Puglia for a week and have only had one decent meal which l could easily make at home – arrabiata. The rest was literally shite on a plate. Very disappointing. Nothing is better than Mediterranean food. Sicily wins in my book. Still, we are spending a few more days here and will keep looking for the elusive dish of dreams…..
I’m going to Puglia in 3 weeks and this post was so informative and helpful! I’m an ex-veggie (still prefer to be vegetarian) and took tons of notes for when I’m dining. We’re taking the train to Bari and from Lecce, getting a car, staying in Monopoli, Martina Franca, and Gallipoli and doing day trips from each. I’m so excited! I’ve never been to Italy so we’re also doing a couple days in Rome.
I just came from this Region and I fell in love. The food, Trulia’s, farm, culture…mamma mia! I will definitely come back. All these pictures and descriptions are making my mouth water. I stayed in a Masseria and it was so beautiful. I took long walks into Martina Franco daily, rode our bikes through wineries, stopped at the local farm for fresh cheese appetizers. What an amazing part of Italy. I want to move here! The simplicity of all the fresh, local food, the warm smiles and inviting little nooks of long stone walkways called us daily. It is untouched, not commercialized, full of life and love!
It sounds like you have a heavenly trip! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
I loved eating all of this stuff when visiting Puglia. Such an underrated region! All I did there was eat :)
I want all this food right NOW! :)
We’re planning a trip to the south of Italy soon – Definitely thinking of hitting up Puglia!
Great images guys!
We are planning a Southern Italy trip for May 2014, but your photos have made me hungry now.
The more I read about Italy, the more it seems like India, in that it’s a country where each region really has its own culture and food, and one could easily spend an entire visa duration (for those of us unlucky enough to have to abide by Schengen limitations) in just one area. Like many other travelers, I’m sure, I started off thinking that one or two weeks in Italy would probably be enough to get the most of the place—after all, what is there to discover outside of Florence, Naples, and Rome? Now, of course, I know that there’s plenty for us to explore and I’m really excited to get to see these lesser known regions and really get to know them as you have.
(P.S. Saw in an above comment that you’re back in Asia! Where are you and how long will you be sticking around?)
When asked for our favourite country we usually say Italy, India and Japan. There are some similarities and are both foodie heaven and veggie friendly.
Yep, absolutely tons to explore in Italy. I’ve been over 10 times now including 2 months this year and I’ve barely scratched the surface.
We’re in Chiang Mai for the next three months and then will probably stick around until next summer. Hope our paths cross!
This is truly a vegeterians paradise. The food looks very fresh and yummy. great post and pictures too.
Great post as usual. I have some questions though. While eating should be enough, what else can one do in Pulgia? Did you have one place to stay & venture from there or did you move around? How does one find a masseria? I’m amazed that one can find such great vegetarian food in Italy.
You can see all of our Puglia posts with what we did and where we stayed here: http://www.neverendingvoyage.com/tag/puglia/
There’s lots of history, beautiful towns, beaches, cooking classes, wineries, biking/hiking/boat trips.
We stayed in various places and moved around a lot. I’d recommend choosing two bases, perhaps one in the Valle d’Itria and one in the Salento and doing day trips from there.
These pictures are amazing, you guys take such good food pics! we are missing good European in Asia, especially cheese. Thanks for keeping us going! :)
Thanks Andrew. We just got to Asia and know we’ll be craving cheese soon enough.
Great post guys. I’m sitting on a roof top in Udaipur, India right now drooling my face off. We only spent a week in Rome this summer and while we had some great meals Pulgia looks like foodie heaven. We will have to check it out soon.
You always want what you can’t have- we’ve been getting Indian food cravings lately! Puglia really is foodie heaven though -hope you make it there.
If you guys were to choose your ideal Christmas veggie meal what would it be? I need a show stopper for a dinner I’m throwing! You have more vegetarian fine dining experience than anyone I know!
We are probably not the best people to ask. We don’t bother with a meat replacement and just combine all the elements of roast dinners we like (it’s the only one we have each year) which involves a huge amount of roast potatoes, roast veg, steamed broccoli, yorkshire puddings, homemade bread sauce, mint sauce and veg gravy. There are loads of veggie xmas recipes out there though. Good luck with it!
Drooling-it’s enough to make you turn veggie!!
omg that food looks mouthwatering! especially the chocolate cookies being soft… i can’t seem to find a soft cookie in india! all hard as a rock.
23% of the olive oil in Europe?! Wow, given the amount of olive oil Europeans must consume, that’s pretty impressive for such a small region! I’m no coffee drinker either, but I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy the iced espresso with almond milk – yum!