Antonio Mellino says: “Lemons, tomatoes, walnuts, courgettes and olives of the Amalfi Coast are incomparable to those I can find anywhere else in the world. The courgettes, for example, are smaller and have a much more intense flavour. I grow them myself and use them in my signature dish, linguine alla Nerano – the only other ingredient is parmesan – as well as my sea bass in courgette cream.
“The cuisine of Campania is simple but full of flavour: dishes such as gnocchi alla Sorrentina – baked in tomato sauce with buffalo mozzarella – or paccheri (large pasta tubes) with tomato and scorpion fish. The fish I use most is red snapper, caught within a few hundred metres of the restaurant. You must finish your meal with the best digestivo: our home-grown and home-made limoncello.”
Need to know: Some of the best markets to pick up fresh produce are in Piano di Sorrento, on the northern coast of the peninsula.
Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Dining and Cooking