‘Pizza e minestra’ is perhaps the Molise dish par excellence. A poor dish, with ancient origins, which has fed Molise for centuries. Follow the recipe!

There are many typical dishes and products in Molise but perhaps the most representative of Molise’s peasant culture is ‘pizza e minestra‘, a very tasty specialty.
It is a simple field or vegetable soup, enriched with chopped and softened corn pizza (in dialect ‘pizza de randinie‘). In Molise the corn pizza has been known for centuries as the poor’s daily bread.

It’s a simple dish to prepare. You need cornmeal and vegetables like chicory, chard or turnip greens. Approximately 4 people will need 500 g of cornmeal and at least 500 g of vegetables.

Follow the recipe:

1. Prepare the corn pizza   

In a bowl, mix the flour with hot water, knead it and add a handful of salt and two tablespoons of oil. Put the dough in a baking sheet (leveling it with your hands to a thickness of about two fingers). Bake in a static oven at 180° for about 30-45 minutes.

2. Prepare the vegetables soup

The vegetables will be boiled in plenty of water. Once boiled they should be sautéed in a pan with some oil and chilli pepper. Don’t let the vegetables dry out too much because the cooking liquid will serve you later.

3. Chop the corn pizza and add to the vegetables soup

Mix the corn mixture well with the vegetables, until reaching the right consistency, neither too hard nor too soft. This is precisely the most difficult part.

Brunella Muttillo