Typical dishes of Campania: recipes envied from all over the world

The first time that I have been in Campania i thought: leave me here, leave me between Buffalo mozzarella and Neapolitan pizza, sfogliatelle and babas. You know: for a chef gourmet and who loves local products like me, this region is a paradise. I didn’t remained, but I took away with me a big part of this land. I did it by writing the Campania recipes of typical dishes that you find on this page.

Naples was my biggest source of culinary inspiration, but I can confirm that in this region you can eat divinely everywhere. “Jamme, uagliò” ( means c’mon guys) : let me show you the characteristics of this cuisine from the celestial goodness, famous all over the world.

The characteristics of the Campania cuisine

Ok, pizza and buffalo mozzarella are the undisputed queens of gastronomy of Campania. But there is much more to taste in this region, thanks to a huge variety of products from agriculture, by farming and fishing, and thanks to the incredible fantasy of Campania people, who knew how to valorize this products. And all this, following the fine art of simplicity.
We said, not only pizza and mozzarella… In Campania we find other “kingdoms of taste”: that of dry pasta, for example, whose capital is Gragnano, and that of the tomato, the red gold, in the form of a sauce, which enriches the famous dishes of the neapolitan magnificent tradition.

From the colorfull fruit and vegetables sector, on the Campanian tables arrive many tasty dishes: I am thinking about the “friarielli”, strictly accompanied with sausage, and “Scarola”, with which you can make a tasty soup; to zucchini, special in “sacapece style” preparation, and eggplants of the famous “Parmigiana”; peperoni and artichokes that filled are turned into real treasures of taste.
And passing from the earth to the Tyrrhenian Sea, remember that the traditional Campania recipes is also famous for its delicious dishes based on fish and seafood.

The typical Campania food

Buffalo mozzarella DOP, Gragnano Pasta IGP, San Marzano tomato DOP are the three most famous Campanian food. But what else does Campania offer us?

Campanian cheeses:

Silano Caciocavallo cheese
Provolone del Monaco cheese
Campanian Buffalo Ricotta cheese
Fruit and vegetables:
Vesuvian Piennolo tomato DOP
Paestum artichoke IGP
Costa d’Amalfi lemon IGP
Sorrento lemon IGP

Olive oil DOP:

Cilento extra virgin olive oil
Salernitan extra virgin olive oil
Irpinia-Colline dell’Ufita olive oil
Sorrento Peninsula extra virgin olive oil
Terre Aurunche extra virgin olive oil

You must try: fried neapolitan pizzas
In Naples, pizza is not only cooked using the oven. There is also the fried variant. The “pizzelle” are small fried pizzas, generally only flavoured with tomato sauce, grated cheese and basil. Here you will find the recipe to prepare it at home.