Weeknight Meal Plan: October 2021

Small Plates from Puglia

Hello from life on the road. Fall is always our high season for tours but this year is busier than usual. Sophie and I are playing catch up with all the tours we missed in 2020 so we are basically hopping from one region to the next for September and October. While I usually use this space to make suggestions based on meals I’ve cooked at home, that just isn’t happening at the moment (poor Domenico!). Instead, this week I’m sharing a way of eating that we enjoy while on our tours in Puglia, where we are spending three glorious weeks with guests.

Puglia is a very long region, and so even within this area the types of recipes you find vary widely. By the coast? Fish for sure. Inland in the Itrian valley: expect meat. And vegetables - fresh, preserved, cooked, raw, and everything in between - play a starring role everywhere.

If you think this makes it hard to try everything, I am sharing a particularly Pugliese way of starting a meal that makes sampling as many dishes as possible not just easy, but mandatory. The Pugliese antipasto is how most restaurant meals start. Just order antipasti and the small plates start coming, fast and furious. This is my all time favorite way to eat, and easy enough to recreate at home.