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Basilicata soups, known as minestre, cover a range of vegetable and bean soups and pasta in such forms as the hand-rolled tubes called minuich, lasagne with beans and the little dumplings called strangulapreuti (priest stranglers). A substitute for pasta (or risotto) is grano, cooked wheat grains served with a sauce or even as a pudding (as grano dolce). Protected as IGP are beans from the town of Sarconi and bell peppers from Senise.
The region takes pride in its cheeses: pecorino, the goat's milk casiddi and caciocavallo from the ancient Podolica breed of cows. Part of the Caciocavallo Silano DOP is in Basilicata. Cow's milk is also used for manteca, a creamy pasta filata cheese with a filling of butter, and the rare burrino farcito, filled with butter and salame.
Basilicata, though a modest wine producer in terms of volume, boasts a grandiose red in Aglianico del Vulture, which carries the name of a vine introduced by the ancient Greeks and the volcano on whose slopes they planted it. When aged it makes a towering match for lamb and cheeses. Refreshingly tasty are the sweet and often bubbly Moscato and Malvasia.
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Regional
Specialites:
Cheeses
Caciocavallo Silano DOP
Vegetables
Fagiolo di Sarconi IGP
Peperone di Senise IGP
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