Puglia, Italy- Stop One- Poglinano a Mare

Getting from Seattle to Bari isn't easy...you've got at best one stop, but likely two stops before you get there.  We left Sunday morning from SEA at 6am and arrived in Poglinano a Mare (about an hour south of Bari) at about 3pm Monday.  That accounts for a 9 hour time change, of course, but you will be really tired by the time you arrive, unless you are a great airplane sleeper, which ain't easy!.

A couple shots of espresso will set you right with the world before you jump into your rental car at the Bari airport. We did okay, but its always best to be a good navigator and don't add any extra commentary on the driving in Italy while the driver is trying his best. I've learned a bit being married all these years. 

At the centrico (city center) of Poglinana a Mare, it is not drivable (a ZTL), we had to What'sApp our host, and she sent a big golf chart to ferry us into the parking (an adventure on its own...) and then took us to the drop off point outside the city old stone gate.  From there, you are on your own, walking the street tired and travel worn (greasy even...) and trying to locate your small hotel from Google navigation isn't always easy.  Surprisingly it does rather well, but its not always clear where to turn.  After a couple wrong turns, we found it.  Our host had WhatsApp'd us the instructions and a video showing us where our room was. Up about 3 flights of stairs and then, there we were... finally. A quick shower and then off to see the town and get some food.

View from our hotel deck and breakfast area. 

More view from the deck with a view of this amazing city.

Lama Monachile is the name of this cute beach between two high cliffs.

A great pizza with arugula, cheese and tomatoes.  Knowing my husband, I'm sure there's some spicy salami under there too. Pizza in Italy is terrific everywhere.  They don't cut the pizza into wedges for you.... you are on your own.  Please don't ask them to cut it, they will laugh like you are a child. LOL. It didn't happen to us, but we saw it happen.

Seafood salad was so terrific! Some much great seafood in Puglia.

A view of the city beach, lovely at all times of day, but as twilight was falling we thought it was most beautiful.  You can walk down to the Lama Monachile beach, but go early, or you won't get anywhere to sit, it was very crowded during the day.

Here's the breakfast that was provided at our hotel, it was excellent and delicious too. If you're interested in the recipe for the tomato toasts called friselle, find it on my blog here.

There's lots of walking areas along the water on the city wall.  Highly recommend to take some early morning walks to see the sights and get some exercise, you're going to need it with all that pasta, pizza and pastries you will be eating in Puglia.

Puglia tomato friselle rusk bread - Traditional breakfast

I've always loved sliced tomatoes on toast, it was my pandemic breakfast of choice. Simply toast, a smear of mayo, sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper.... absolutely my favorite. Sort of a design of my own making, but maybe I saw it somewhere???

Getting to Puglia and waking up to the hotel breakfast on Day 1 was terrific.... cheese, meats, fruits (including one I've never seen, nespole- more on that later) and these yummy tomato toasts. 

Our host,  Elena, was telling us our choices for breakfasts.  She offered frisselle and described as tomato toast,  then said "5, maybe 6 would be right.... I think 6". I was a bit worried, then delighted, when I saw the plate and that they were small. In the photo,  you can see that there are 5... that's because I already put one on my plate and was tucking into a yummy bite. 

Here's my attempt at making it myself for the breakfast when we got to our VRBO a couple days later.

Our host had left us so many things as a welcome gift; fresh orecchiette pasta, jarred pomodoro tomato sauce, the frise (bread rusks), tomatoes, local olive oil, a fresh basil plant, fresh cheese and an assortment of fresh fruit.... oh, and local wine!

The top picture has small frise rusks and the second picture is the larger size. Both are great, but maybe the big ones take a bit more time to soften a bit.

Here's all we did:

12-16 large cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters or eighths

A bit of good olive oil, 2-3 tsp

A big bit of salt

Fresh basil, cut into slivers

A bit of pepper, if you like (and I do)

A couple teaspoons of water

*Some Frise Maltagliate... (dry, light "bagels, AKA "rusks" or bruschetta)

In a medium bowl, cut the tomatoes, drizzle with oil olive and salt. Add slivered basil and pepper.  Give a nice stir and get the 'rusks' ready to go on a plate. 

So our host, through interpretation through his 14 year old niece, told us to make the breakfast,  adding a sprinkle of water. My hubby heard that I should sprinkle the dry bread with water, but I interpreted it to mean that I would add a bit of water to my tomato mixture. I actually think my hubby was right, but honestly, drizzling the rusks with a bit of watery tomato oil also works deliciously too.

Let the rusk sit and absorb the mixture while you get the rest of the breakfast ready to go.  We drank quite a lot of espresso in tiny cups while we prepared our breakfast.

The rusks are in the package behind the bottle of olive oil.  There were more gifts from our host in the fridge: cheese and orecchiette. What a nice gift to leave, everything you need to make yourself a dinner, a snack and a breakfast.

*to make these at home it would be easy to use bruschetta toasts, or leftover French bread toasted/ dried in the oven.  It's supposed to be hard and dry,  hence the sprinkle of water. 

On day one,  here's a photo of our view as we ate breakfast. Not a bad place to start your day. 

Cauliflower Fried Rice

A simple and healthy side dish, or even a main dish, if you like.

I start with raw cauliflower that is grated in the food processor, or by hand. Use the big grater attachment, you want some bigger pieces and not tiny bits.

First, get all your ingredients ready to go ahead of time, do not assemble as you go as you will end up with over cooked fried rice!

Serves about 4

Ingredients

• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1-2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup celery, small dice
• 1/2 cup carrots, small dic1/2 cup white onion, diced
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 4 cups fresh cauliflower, grated
• 1/2 cup Ham, small dice (optional)
• 1/2 cup Bacon, diced (optional)
• 1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
• 2-3 Tbsp soy sauce

Other optional items/substitutions

• 1/2 cup broccoli, very small florets
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced small

Over medium high heat in a large non-stick skillet, add the sesame oil, vegetable oil and bacon (if using), use it to saute the celery, carrots and carrots until they start to soften a bit and the bacon is cooked, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and heat until just soft, about another 2-3 minutes. I add the well beaten eggs to the veggies and mix to 'scramble'.  You can make the scrambled eggs big or small by stirring more, it's up to you.  Add the raw cauli rice, the ham (if using) then the green onions and peas.  Stir to "fry" the mixture, and adjust seasoning with soy sauce.  You can add salt and pepper, if desired.

Try not to over cook the cauliflower rice, as it will start to lose moisture and make your fried rice soggy.

You can serve along side some grilled meat or fish, or even a Chinese stir fry.