The Feast of Stone and Fire

Introduction / Story

Matera is a city carved out of silence and stone. Its white cliffs and labyrinthine caves hold centuries of stories — of shepherds, saints, and families who built homes directly into the rock. But it’s also a city of ovens.

Every street, every courtyard, once had its own fire for baking bread or roasting meat. Out of this deep tradition of communal cooking came one of Basilicata’s richest and most beloved dishes: Orecchiette alla Materana.

It’s a dish that belongs to Sunday — to slow days when the house smells of tomato, lamb, and melting cheese. It’s part lasagna, part baked pasta, part hymn. The recipe turns simple orecchiette — “little ears” of pasta — into something layered and celebratory: coated in lamb ragù, blanketed with mozzarella, pecorino, and baked until golden.

When it emerges from the oven, it’s not just food — it’s gratitude. The kind that feeds the table and the heart in equal measure.

History & Cultural Context

Orecchiette arrived in Basilicata from neighbouring Puglia centuries ago, but Matera made them its own. The city’s ancient breadmaking culture — centered on Pane di Matera IGP — influenced its pasta as well: both rely on the same semolina flour and slow drying.

In a land where every crumb was precious, baked pasta was originally a way to reuse leftovers. The previous day’s ragù or roast lamb would be repurposed into a new dish — layered with cheese and baked until bubbling. Over time, this became a symbol of abundance, reserved for feast days, weddings, or when family gathered from afar.

The inclusion of lamb has deep roots in the pastoral heritage of Matera and the Murgia Plateau, where sheep-farming shaped both economy and culture. Orecchiette alla Materana therefore represents the meeting point of two worlds — the simplicity of wheat and the richness of the land’s herds.

Today, it’s still called “la pasta della domenica,” the Sunday pasta — the one that marks a week’s worth of labour with a single, comforting sigh.

The Pasta Shape

The orecchietta is one of Italy’s most tactile pastas — made by pressing a small round of dough against a wooden board with a knife, then turning it inside out with the thumb. The concave shape forms a little cup, with a smooth interior and a ridged exterior, perfect for holding thick sauces.

Matera’s orecchiette are slightly larger and thicker than their Puglian cousins — rustic and dense, with more chew. Traditionally, they were made using local semolina mixed with water, not egg, reflecting the Lucanian preference for sturdier, breadlike textures.

Their role in Orecchiette alla Materana is structural: they form the base, the middle, and the top layer — soaking in tomato and lamb sauce while still holding their bite after baking. A good orecchietta should come out of the oven still recognizable — soft on the inside, crisp on the edges.

The Sauce / Key Ingredients

The heart of Orecchiette alla Materana is its ragù — rich, slow, and fragrant. But unlike the Neapolitan version, the Lucanian one uses lamb instead of beef or pork, reflecting the region’s terrain and herding traditions.

The sauce begins with olive oil, onion, and garlic, followed by lamb pieces or mince browned until golden. Tomatoes — either fresh or preserved — are added, along with white wine, bay leaf, and sometimes a hint of rosemary. The mixture simmers gently until the meat softens and the sauce thickens into a ruby glaze.

To assemble, the cooked orecchiette are layered with the lamb ragù, mozzarella (or scamorza), and Pecorino di Filiano DOP — a sharp, local cheese aged in mountain caves. The layers repeat, ending with cheese and sauce on top. Baked in a terracotta dish, it emerges bubbling, crisp at the edges, and impossibly fragrant.

Modern Interpretations & Who’s Cooking It Now

Modern Matera has embraced its culinary roots. Restaurants across the Sassi district — Matera’s cave quarter — have made Orecchiette alla Materana a centerpiece dish.

At Ristorante Francesca, it’s served in miniature clay pots, layered by hand and baked just before serving. Chef Donato Romano at Osteria Pico makes a refined version with lamb shoulder slow-cooked for six hours, enriched with cruschi powder for a Lucanian kick.

In nearby Miglionico, Trattoria Da Peppino still follows the oldest version, using hand-cut mozzarella and wood-fired ovens. Even in fine dining, the dish keeps its roots visible — a small rebellion against modern minimalism.

Each version tells the same story: simplicity elevated through care, patience, and fire.

Traditional Recipe

Ingredients

• 400 g fresh orecchiette pasta
• 300 g minced or diced lamb (shoulder or leg)
• 500 g tomato passata or crushed tomatoes
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 100 ml white wine
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 200 g mozzarella or scamorza (sliced)
• 100 g grated Pecorino di Filiano
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt, pepper, and a few rosemary needles

Method

1. Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Cook gently until translucent. Add the lamb and brown evenly, seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour in the wine and let it evaporate over medium heat.
2. Stir in the tomato passata and bay leaf, lower the heat, and let it simmer for about an hour. The sauce should be thick and glossy, not watery.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C. Cook the orecchiette in salted boiling water until just shy of al dente — they’ll finish cooking in the oven. Drain and toss them with a few ladles of the ragù.
4. In a baking dish, spread a thin layer of sauce, add half the pasta, sprinkle with mozzarella and Pecorino, then add another layer of sauce and repeat. Finish with cheese on top.
5. Bake uncovered for 15–20 minutes, until the surface forms a golden crust and the edges begin to crisp. Serve straight from the dish, still bubbling, with a glass of local Aglianico.
6. Each bite should carry the chew of pasta, the sweetness of tomato, and the gentle wildness of lamb.

Plant-Based Variation

Ingredients

• 400 g fresh orecchiette pasta (egg-free semolina dough)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 500 g tomato passata
• 150 g cooked lentils or crumbled seitan
• 100 ml white wine
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 50 g chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 150 g vegan mozzarella or cashew cream
• 80 g toasted breadcrumbs mixed with nutritional yeast
• Salt, pepper, rosemary

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a wide pan and gently cook the onion and garlic until fragrant. Add the tomato paste, then the lentils (or seitan) and sun-dried tomatoes. Let them brown slightly to develop depth. Pour in the wine and cook until it evaporates.
2. Add the tomato passata, bay leaf, and rosemary, and let simmer for 40 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasoning.
3. Cook the orecchiette in salted water until al dente. Mix half of them with some of the sauce. In a baking dish, alternate layers of sauced pasta, vegan mozzarella or cashew cream, and the remaining sauce. Finish with the breadcrumb–yeast topping.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes at 180°C, until the top is golden and crisp. Let rest for five minutes before serving — just enough time for the aromas to fill the kitchen.
5. The result is rich, smoky, and comforting — a fully plant-based homage that keeps the rustic heart of Matera intact.

Fun Facts & Curiosities

• Orecchiette means “little ears,” but in Matera dialect they’re sometimes called recchjetidd, a tender local diminutive.
• Bread and pasta share DNA here — both made from the same semolina used for the city’s famous Pane di Matera.
• Before ovens were common, families would bring their trays to the communal bakery, marked with initials carved into the dough to identify them later.
• Orecchiette alla Materana is still a wedding dish in rural Basilicata — its layers symbolizing prosperity and fertility.
• Some cooks sprinkle a few crushed peperoni cruschi over the finished dish for a sweet Lucanian sparkle.
• A Materan saying goes: “Chi ha il forno, ha la festa.” — “Who has an oven, has a celebration.”