Cunserva mara pugliese

Cunserva mara (spicy preserve) all the magnificent Salento sun in this recipe, another delight of this enchanting land. La cunserva mara is a concentrate of tomatoes and hot peppers that is dried in the sun and then put in jars and is preserved for the winter, fabulous to spread on homemade bread. You can also use it to cook pasta or other dishes, such as roasts or stews, just add a little water and oil to stretch it, making it cook for two or three minutes.

When on holiday in Salento, I remain fascinated by the many dishes put in the sun to dry, and that fiery red color of the cunserva mara that hypnotizes you by showing off on the terraces of the houses all with the roof slowly, at the next vacation I will stop everything in a photo shoot maybe at sunset the most beautiful and fascinating moment. Well while I was writing I lost myself in the memories of the past Salentine vacations, a square country standing in time, the elderly people sitting outside their homes in the evening with their stories and listening to them, the lands cultivated with love, the evenings in the streets in August, the traditions and so much more. I return to the reality in writing you the recipe and the procedure of the cunserva mara, the doses of the hot pepper you can modify them according to your taste by decreasing or increasing the quantity, my doses will warning are already on fire.

The magnificent Salento sun in this recipe, another delight of this enchanting land

Ingredients

2 kg of small sweet red peppers

1 kg of spicy red peppers

1 kg of tomatoes

coarse salt q.b.

Method

All the ingredients must be well washed, without petioles, seeds and chopped. Then placed in a large pot, with very little bottom water and a handful of coarse salt covered and left to boil over low heat for about 5 hours, until they are beautifully crushed. Then take the creamy mixture obtained and pass it with a special machine to make the sauce and the passata, then place in large terracotta terrines for food.

wooden tray to dry the sauce in the sun, that's how it was made in the old days

Put the terrines exposed to the sun protected by a thinly woven veil. Remember to return the terrines in the evening to avoid the humidity of the night. According to the area where you reside it will take about 20 days of exposure to the sun and that is until the "Cunserva Mara" will not have become a dark color and will be quite hard. Place the dried sauce in a clay pot if possible and covered with a linen cloth and left in a cool place for two or three days, the cunserva will soften. Then gradually the extra virgin olive oil and with a wooden spoon mix well with the cunserva. In about 10/12 days we should have a thick, creamy, and spreadable cream that can finally be placed in clean, sterilized glass jars covered with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Not being in Salentino means you put the on a flat plate in the oven with abt. 60-70 degrees and leave it in there for coulple of hours until it will be quite dried out. After this you do the same procedure to soften and add some oil as you do, when leaving in the sun.

after 10 days drying in the sun ....