You say turnip greens and immediately think of Puglia it is practically automatic. On the other hand, the turnip greens – or friarielli, or turnip broccoli – where they grow better than in the Bari area, and in particular in Altamura, or in Fasano (Brindisi) or Martina Franca (Taranto)? They are simply indispensable and associating them only to the meritorious orecchiette is really reductive.

But before devoting ourselves to pure gastronomy, let's explore some other aspects of this vegetable.

Meanwhile, we specify: turnip greens are also cultivated a lot in Lazio (where they are generally called 'broccoli') and in Campania: in Neapolitan cuisine they are the most characteristic ingredient of some typical recipes and are known under the guise of friarielli, not to be confused with friarelli or friggitelli, sweet green peppers with an elongated shape.

We accept a truth: turnip greens are not Apulian. Not even Neapolitan or Italian. And not even Mediterranean. They come from the East, and seem to have arrived in Europe thanks to the Genoese. They share the health characteristics of many of their relatives of the Brassicaceae family, therefore cabbage and turnips. Rich in salts minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients, are useful for to prevent many diseases, including tumors, detoxify the organism and improve the functions of the liver. I'm a very good one source of fibers, which not only favor the correct functioning of theintestine but they also help to control the level of the sugars in the blood.

How to choose turnip greens

The inflorescences must be closed like a bud and never tending to yellow; the leaves that are eaten – especially the most tender – must be bright green and not withered; finally, the stems should be thin and still firm and crunchy.

The ideal is to consume them fresh. But, if desired, they can be cleaned by removing the damaged leaves and keep them in the refrigerator for 3 days, in a paper bag or in perforated food bags.

How to cook turnip greens or broccoli

Let's now pass to the recipes, to best enhance their unique taste, vaguely and deliciously spicy and calmly bitter. And let's start with the best known: the orecchiette, of course, just to say that in addition to our leading vegetable, the seasoning can successfully include the addition of salted anchovies or lard with rind, cut into chunks, to be added to the sauté.

The tops turnips make a wonderful dish of vegetables in themselves: stewed with the inevitable garlic and chilli, or fried in the same company but adding more vinegar and white wine in abundance ('Turnip and spicy turnips').

With meat and fish the classic combinations are with the cod – in red – and with the sausage: in Neapolitan cuisine, the latter is a beloved couple, even in the street version, that is, as a filling for sandwiches, or in the delicious and iconic 'pizza alla carrettiera', or more simply pizza with broccoli. A reputation that is repeated also in Tuscany, more precisely in the province of Lucca, where turnip greens become rapini. And then again as a side dish (try them with eggs!) In savory pies, pies and imaginative spaghetti …

Carola Traverso Saibante
January 2018
updated in February 2020
by Barbara Roncarolo