Ventricina MolisanaSpicy cured pork salami
A coarse-cut pork salami seasoned heavily with sweet and hot chilli pepper and fennel, cured in a natural casing, the tang of the Alto Molise.
Pairs with
Molise cuisine
Italy's smallest mainland region cooks between mountain and Adriatic: the fiery ventricina salami and aged caciocavallo of Agnone, hand-dragged cavatelli, spicy roast pampanella pork, and the fish brodetto of Termoli. Its signature wine is the rare native red Tintilia, joined by Montepulciano-based Biferno and fresh Trebbiano and Falanghina whites.
Antipasto
Caciocavallo di AgnoneAged stretched-curd cheese
A gourd-shaped stretched-curd cow's-milk cheese from Agnone, aged until firm and piquant, eaten sliced or grilled.
Pairs with
Primo
Cavatelli con la VentricinaCavatelli with spicy salami sauce
Hand-dragged durum cavatelli in a tomato sauce enriched with crumbled ventricina, the region's everyday Sunday pasta.
Pairs with
Fusilli al Ragù di CastratoFusilli with mutton ragù
Hand-rolled fusilli in a long-cooked ragù of castrato (mature mutton) with tomato and herbs, a dish of the transhumance sheep roads.
Pairs with
Secondo
Brodetto alla TermoleseTermoli Adriatic fish soup
A soup of mixed Adriatic fish and shellfish stewed with tomato, garlic, green pepper and vinegar, ladled over toasted bread, the pride of Termoli.
Pairs with
PampanellaSpicy roasted pork
Pork slow-roasted with garlic, vinegar and lots of sweet and hot paprika until glazed and tangy, the festival dish of San Martino in Pensilis.
Pairs with
Agnello Cacio e UovaLamb with cheese and egg
Pieces of lamb braised and finished with a binding of beaten egg and grated pecorino, the Easter dish of the inland villages.
Pairs with
Dolce
Calcioni MolisaniFried chestnut-and-chickpea pastries
Fried pastry parcels filled with a paste of chestnut or chickpea, cocoa, honey and cinnamon, a Molisan Christmas sweet.
Pairs with
Typical products
All products →DOP, IGP, STG, Slow Food Presidia and traditional specialities of Molise.
Caciocavallo Silano DOPDOP
Caciocavallo Silano · Cheese
A gourd-shaped stretched-curd cow's-milk cheese of the Sila highlands, aged tied in pairs over a beam.
Lenticchia di CapracottaPAT
Capracotta lentil · Lentils
Tiny, thin-skinned mountain lentils grown high above Capracotta, quick-cooking and delicate.
Molise DOPDOP
Molise olive oil · Extra-virgin olive oil
The region's only exclusively-Molisan protected product, a fruity green oil pressed from Gentile di Larino and Aurina olives.
Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOPDOP
Buffalo mozzarella · Cheese
A fresh pasta-filata cheese made only from whole buffalo milk, and by some distance Italy's best-known DOP cheese. Beyond the classic round it is made in the shapes traditional to its zone: bocconcini, trecce, perline, ciliegie and nodini, from 20 g up to 800 g, with braids reaching 3 kg.
Ricotta di Bufala Campana DOPDOP
Buffalo-milk ricotta · Ricotta
Ricotta made by heat-coagulating the proteins in buffalo whey, high in water and porcelain white. Truncated pyramid or truncated cone in shape, up to 2 kg, with no rind and a soft, grainy texture that must never be sandy.
Salamini italiani alla cacciatora DOPDOP
Hunter's salamini · Salami
Small salami sized to be carried in a hunter's pocket, which is where the name comes from. The zone is unusually wide: pigs may be raised across eleven Italian regions, from Friuli down to Molise.
Signora di Conca CasalePresidio
La Signora salami · Salami
One of Italy's rarest salumi, a large hand-tied pork salami of Conca Casale seasoned with wild fennel, coriander and orange peel.
Stracciata di AgnonePAT
Agnone stracciata · Cheese
A soft stretched-curd cow's-milk cheese of Agnone worked into a flat, folded ribbon, milky and mild.
Tartufo del MolisePAT
Molise truffle · Truffle
The prized black and white truffles of the Alto Molise woods, which yield a large share of Italy's harvest.
Vitellone bianco dell'Appennino Centrale IGPIGP
Central Apennine white beef · Beef
Beef from the white cattle breeds of the central Apennine spine, covering a band of thirty provinces from Bologna down to Latina. It is the designation behind the Chianina, Marchigiana and Romagnola beef that Tuscan and Umbrian cooking is built on.