Boiled lampascioni are the simplest way to cook the wild bulbs Puglia loves: soaked overnight to soften their bitterness, boiled in salted water and dressed with extra virgin olive oil, pepper and, if you like, a splash of vinegar. Here is the recipe, how to speed it up with a pressure cooker, how to keep them, and why in the Murge they were once a meal in themselves.

Boiled lampascioni: the simplest recipe in the Apulian tradition

Boiled lampascioni are a real treat for Apulian palates. Lampascioni, also known in Italian as cipollacce turchine, are the bulbs of the tassel hyacinth, a wild plant: they look like small onions but are not onions at all, and they are especially well known in Puglia and Basilicata. If you are on holiday in either region, do not miss the chance to try them. The boiled version is one of the simplest and tastiest recipes of the peasant cooking of southern Italy. Everything else about the bulb, from its names to the other ways to cook it, is on our lampascioni page.

Boiled lampascioni, small pinkish bulbs, in a white dish with a spoon

Slow growth, unique flavour

Unlike ordinary onions, lampascioni need a long growing period, as much as four to five years, for the bulb to develop properly. Once harvested, they have to be cleaned carefully to get rid of their bitter edge. After cleaning, it is best to leave them in fresh water for a whole night and rinse them the next day: this tames the bitterness and gets them ready for boiling.

Many ways to enjoy them

Lampascioni can be eaten in many ways: fried, as fritters, baked with potatoes, or simply boiled. The boiled version is the easiest to prepare and a perfect side dish for a family meal. All it needs is extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and a splash of vinegar for an extra touch. Boiled lampascioni with vinegar are among the best-loved dishes of the tradition.

The recipe for boiled lampascioni

Here is how to prepare boiled lampascioni, a classic of Apulian home cooking.

Ingredients:

  • 500 g fresh lampascioni, cleaned
  • Apulian extra virgin olive oil, to taste
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Wine vinegar (optional, for the sharper version)

Method:

  1. Once the lampascioni are cleaned, wash them several times.
  2. To remove the excess bitterness, leave them in fresh water for a whole night and rinse them the next day.
  3. Boil them in salted boiling water until fully cooked.
  4. Drain them well.
  5. Serve them hot, dressed with oil and pepper and, if you like, a splash of vinegar, with a slice of rustic bread.

Pressure cooker, freezing and storage: what you need to know. Cooking is much quicker in a pressure cooker: 8 to 10 minutes once it comes up to pressure, instead of 25 to 30 minutes in an ordinary pan. Once cooked, boiled lampascioni freeze well: let them cool completely, dry them and put them in freezer bags; they keep for up to 3 months. Otherwise they keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. To keep them longer, the classic Apulian way is to put them under extra virgin olive oil with a few bay leaves and a few peppercorns: at that point they are home-made lampascioni in oil.

Boiled lampascioni: from shepherds’ supper to Mediterranean diet. In the peasant tradition of the Murge, the limestone uplands of central Puglia, boiled lampascioni dressed with oil and vinegar were a full meal, not a side dish. They were eaten with home-made durum wheat bread as the evening meal, after a day’s work in the fields. Simple, cheap, free for the picking in the countryside. What we now call the Mediterranean diet was the everyday necessity of the people who lived on this land. The bitter edge, which many people now try to soften with long soaking, was appreciated for what it was: a strong flavour that lifted a plain dish and made it satisfying. The final splash of vinegar is the only concession to seasoning; everything else is the bare ingredient.

Frequently asked questions

How do you clean lampascioni?

Remove the soil and the tougher outer layers, then wash them thoroughly under running water. Cut a cross into the base, remove the roots and the outer leaves. Then soak them in cold water for at least one night.

Can you freeze boiled lampascioni?

Yes: once completely cool and dry, they keep in the freezer for up to 3 months without losing flavour or texture.

More lampascioni recipes

Lampascioni are also fried, made into fritters, baked or preserved in oil: the other recipes are collected with the rest of our Apulian vegetable recipes.