Braciole Salentine

I’m forever on a hunt for a good braciole, it’s my families main heritage dish, I think it’s what got me into cooking to begin with. While researching this trip I did come across a type of braciole made in Puglia and put it high on my list of things to look for, happily I found one.

Braciole Salentine which means in the Salento style. Puglia is broken up into three subregions, the southern half is called Salento, which the city of Lecce is in. These braciole were made of veal scallopine filled with a special type of cacciocavalo (aged cows milk cheese) from Martina Franca (a town just north of here), mortadella, and parsley. Braised in a light tomato sauce. The triangles of bread were fried in olive oil on both sides.

Nearby the Faggione Museum is I found this restaurant, Il Ristoro Dei Templari it’s a side street with not a lot going on, the name of the restaurant eludes to the Knights Templar and the museum confirmed evidence that the Templars were there a few doors down, I couldn’t find out if the restaurant was truly a Templar building or if it’s just a fun theme they were going for, the inside had several suits of armor as decoration.

Their Braciole Salentine at the time of my visit were €13,00