Traditional dishes:

Olive all’ascolana: stuffed fried olives

Ingredients for 4

1 kg of large green olives in brine
150 g ground pork meat
75 g prosciutto crudo, finely chopped
4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly grated nutmeg
100 g breadcrumbs
2 tbsp tomato Sauce
4 eggs
50 g flour
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Rinse the olives and remove the stone, trying not to break up the flesh. Heat a drizzling of olive oil in a pan and brown the ground pork, stirring often to break it up and brown all over. Season with salt and pepper. Place pork in a bowl and mix with the chopped prosciutto, the Parmesan, a grating of nutmeg, 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons tomato sauce, salt and pepper and two of the eggs to help bind the mixture. Mix well and use to stuff the olives. Beat the two remaining eggs with a little salt and pepper. Roll the stuffed olives in a little flour, then in the beaten egg, and finally in the remaining breadcrumbs. Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan and fry the olives until golden brown all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on kitchen paper. Serve immediately, arranged in a pyramid shape on a pretty serving dish.

Brodetto: fish soup

This particular brodetto is from Le Marche, but there are as many different versions as there are towns.

Ingredients for 4

500 g cuttlefish
1 ½ kg mixed fish (red mullet, sole, cod, monkfish, scorpion fish, scampi)
Olive oil, chopped
Small onion, finely chopped
Fish stock, hot
Few stands saffron
Small glass water
Small glass white wine
75 g flour
Salt and pepper
8 small slices toasted stale bread, lightly rubbed with garlic

Clean and de-bone the cuttlefish and cut it into pieces. Clean the other fish and cut into chunks. Roll chunks of fish in the flour, shaking gently to remove excess, and place to the side. Heat a good drizzling of olive oil in a large pan, and sweat the onion until it is transparent then throw in the chopped cuttlefish. Cook for a few minutes over a low heat until cuttlefish begins to color then pour in enough hot fish stock to cover, add the saffron, cover and leave to simmer away gently for about 5-10 minutes. Remove cuttlefish from broth. In a second large pan arrange the floured fish and the cuttlefish pieces in layers, being careful to ensure that the most tender fish are at the top. Pour over the hot cuttlefish broth from the other pan, add the water and wine, season with salt and pepper and bring to a lively simmer. Cook this way for 15 – 20 minutes then carry pan to table to serve. Place two small slices of toasted bread in each bowl, cover with a serving of fish and pour over the broth. Eat immediately.

Passatelli di Urbino: bread pasta

Ingredients for 4

200 g spinach
300 g beef fillet, diced
75 g grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
3 tbsp butter
2 eggs, plus 2 yolks
Freshly grated nutmeg
75 g breadcrumbs
1 liter of meat broth

Trim and rinse spinach and cook it without adding any extra liquid, then, once cooked, squeeze dry. In a food processor, whiz together the spinach, beef, Parmesan, butter, eggs, abundant nutmeg and a good pinch of salt. Stir in the breadcrumbs to form a thick paste. Using a pasta machine if you have one, or rolling out by hand, create lots of very thick spaghetti shapes, and place on some oiled greaseproof paper. Bring the meat broth to the boil and cook the passatelli. As soon as they float to the surface they are ready. Drain, and serve immediately with some grated Parmesan cheese.

Coniglio in porchetta: stuffed rabbit

Ingredients for 4 – 6

1 large rabbit (with liver etc.)
Vinegar
Bunch wild fennel fronds
50 g pancetta
200 g ground veal or pork
75 g salami
100 g sausage meat
2 cloves garlic
1 egg
25 g lard
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
½ glass dry white wine, mixed with equal quantity of water