Much of Puglia's cooking tradition includes greens that grow in the wild, such as ciucredde or cicuredde (chicory), traditionally served alongside fava beans. These are greens with thick stems and fringed leaves that are cooked in the broth or served with a drizzle of extravirgin olive oil.

ingredients

1,5 kgs wild chicory
Sea salt
Extravirgin olive oil
1/2 onion
750ml to 1lt tomato pure'e
150gr diced mozzarella
2 diced hard boiled eggs
1/3 cup diced mortadella
1/2 cup grated pecorino

Meatballs
200gr minced veal and pork
1 egg
1 slice stale casalinga bread (remove crust,sprinkle with water, squeeze dry, and tear into smal pieces)
1 tablespoon grated pecorino
Sea salt
Pepper

Wash the greens carefully, cook them al dente in a large pot of salted water, and drain well.

Meanwhile, in a pan, heat the olive oil and fry the half diced onion, removing and discarding it when it browns. Then add the tomato puree and cook until thick.

To make the meatballs, combine the groud meat, egg, bread, and pecorino in a mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands to combine thoroughly. Make hazelnut-size meatballs, then fry them in oil in another frypan and set aside.
In a bowl, combine the cooked greens with about 1 cup of the tomato sauce and abundant pecorino. Spread about 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish, then spread half greens evenly over it. Top the greens with half the mozzarella, 1 diced egg, and half the mortadella.
Arrange half of the meatballs on top, and then sprinkleon some pecorino and spread on additional tomato sauce. Make another layer of the remaining greens. Top that with the remaining meatballs, and then sprinkle on pecorino and top with the remaining tomato sauce.
Bake in a preheated 200C oven until the top is nicely browned, about 30 minutes.Sevre warm, but not piping hot.