Bombette pugliesi

When I think of the food of Puglia, the region my grandfather Lorenzo hailed from, my mind goes immediately to immaculately fresh seafood, delicious pastas and gorgeous fruits and vegetables, and of course the wonderfully fruity olive oil the region produces.

But Puglia is no slouch when in the meat department, either. I won’t soon forget my encounter with bombette pugliesi on my last trip to Puglia, delicious little parcels of pork filled with pancetta, caciocavallo cheese and minced garlic and parsley, then grilled until golden brown. They really live up to their name—which literally means “little bombs”—as explode with flavor in your mouth.

Bombette are an absolute must try for your next trip to Puglia. Gastronomically they are perhaps most closely associated with the town of Martina Franca and the surrounding Valle d’Itra, about an hour’s drive south from Bari, but their popularity means you can find them elsewhere in the region—I had my introduction to bombette in Lecce—and indeed the country.

That said, there’s no need to wait until your next trip to experience this little flavor bombs. The recipe for bombette is really quite simple to make at home, involving just a handful of ingredients. Now that grilling season is here, it’s the perfect time to give them a try. And if you don’t have a grill, no worries. You can make these in the oven or on the stovetop as well.

The classic cut of meat used for making bombette is the capocollo, the same cut used to make the eponymous cured cold cut, another specialty of Martina Franca. It’s called pork collar in English as it’s taken from the neck. Pork shoulder butt, from just next to the neck, makes a decent subsitute.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 1 kilo (2 lbs) pork collar or well marbled pork shoulder, cut into thin slices
• salt and pepper

For the filling:

• 200 g (7 oz) pancetta, thinly sliced
• 200 g (7 oz) caciocavallo cheese, cut into cubes or thin slices
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• A few sprigs of fresh parsley

Directions

Mince the garlic and parsley with a knife or mezzaluna together until you have a rough paste. Set aside until needd.

Take the pork slices and place a sheet of parchment or wax paper over them. Pound them gently to flatten them out, taking care not to break them up. Season them on both sides with salt and pepper.

Now take a slice and lay a slice or two of the pancetta on top of it, then a piece of the caciocavallo, leaving a margin on the sides. Sprinkle with some of the garlic and parsley mince.

Fold the sides inward, then roll each slice up tightly, tucking the sides inwards as you go, to form a little parcel no bigger than about 5 cm (2 inches) wide. Repeat with the other slices.

Skewer the parcels with toothpicks to keep them together or use a long skewer to hold several parcels together (as pictured below).

Grill the bombette on all sides for about 12-15 minutes or so, until cooked through and golden brown on all sides.

Serve right away.

Notes on bombette pugliesi

The key to making bombette is to make sure to roll them up tightly, with the sides tucked inward, so the cheese doesn’t ooze out while they cook. (Ask me how I know…) It can be a bit fussy but it’s not hard work.

If you are using skewers, make sure to pass them close to the fold and pack the bombette tightly on the skewer so they help each other stay closed. And if you are using toothpicks, make sure to close the sides as well as the folds. As mentioned, the bombette should be quite small, no more than 5 cm (2 inches) wide, so they cook through relatively quickly. If need be, you can cut your slices in half.

I find it’s best to grill bombette over indirect heat so they have time to cook through. Then, if they’re not browned to your liking, give them a moment or two directly over the coals, turning them to brown evenly. If you want to grill them over direct heat, do make sure that they are not too close to the coals. These little bombs have lots of fat that can cause flare ups.

If you don’t have a grill…

As mentioned at the top, if you don’t have an outdoor grill or the weather isn’t cooperating, or if you would simply rather not grill your bombette, you could use a stove top grill pan. Or pan fry them gently in a little olive oil, turning them from time to time. (Covering the skillet helps them to cook through.) You can also roast your bombette in a hot (200C/400F) oven for about 20-30 minutes. Of these alternative methods, I find oven roasting the most satisfying. And also the easiest.

That said, grilling really does provide the best looking and best tasting bombette. There’s nothing like that faintly smoky taste and gorgeous color that grilling lends to the meat. You can even see the difference… Just take a gander:

The grilled bombette are in the front, behind are the oven roasted ones. I know which ones I’d rather eat!

Sourcing and choosing the pork

Pork neck, aka collar or coppa, or capocollo in Italian, is the cut you ideally want to use here. Pork collar (as opposed to neck bones) can be hard to find here in North America, but several online butchers carry it.

Asian markets often sell thin slices of pork collar for use in barbecue and hot pot. The slices are paper thin so there’s no need to pound them. They are quite economical and actually make decent bombette, but they are very delicate, so you need to handle them very gingerly.

A decent substitute for pork collar is the well marbled front section of the pork shoulder right next to the neck called the butt or sometimes Boston butt.

Where I live both pork collar and pork shoulder are generally sold as a roast, so I do my own slicing. It slices more easily if the roast is semi-frozen. A 30 minute spell in the freezer should do the trick. Try to get them just as thin as you can manage, ideally no more than say 30mm (1/8 inch).

You can also ask your friendly local butcher—if you’re lucky enough have one— to do the job. If you don’t need the whole roast for bombette, no worries. Pork collar makes an absolutely succulent roast thanks for its extravagant marbling, while pork shoulder can be ground for use in meatballs and meatloaf, or cubed for stew.

Unless your slices are paper thin, pounding is an imporant step to tenderize the meat and also provide more surface area for the filling. But do take care not to overdo it. You want to thin the slice, not pulverize it!

Finding caciocavallo and its substitutes

Caciocavallo is not the easiest cheese to source, but it’s available at better Italian delis or online at sources such as (in North America) igourmet, Murray’s Cheese, Alma Goumet or amazon.com. Otherwise, you could substitute a mild provolone or even another meltable cheese.

Pancetta

Where I live you can buy packets of pre-sliced pancetta. They work perfectly in this recipe. Otherwise you can ask for thinly sliced pancetta at the meat counter.

Variations

I haven’t come across too many variations on the original recipe other than the cooking method. The main one I’ve seen involves rolling the bombette in breadcrumbs before cooking.

I’ve also seen some recipes that call for another cured pork instead of the pancetta, such as Speck or even, in a slightly jocular vein, cured capocollo.

Making bombette pugliesi ahead

You can prepare the parcels well ahead of time, then grill them when you’re ready to eat. They only take a few minutes. Bombette are best right off the grill, but that said, they are quite tasty at room temperature, though you lose that special mouth feel from the melted cheese. They can also be gently reheated.