"UMBRIA to visit and taste"

Campello sul Clitunno - City of the Truffle

*Summer truffle*

The harvesting season of the black summer truffle or scorzone (Tuber Aestivum) has begun.

This type of black truffle is the only truffle present during the hot season and its collection period can vary (depending on the region) from late April to early September. We list some specific features that connoisseurs know very well:

- the peridium (the external part), reddish when the fungus is young, and which darkens with maturation, is covered with pyramidal warts.

- the gleba (the internal part) has a color that varies from hazelnut to dirty yellow, with very branched whitish veins.

The Summer Truffle grows in both sandy and clayey soils and generally lives in symbiosis with plants such as oak, downy oak, beech, hornbeam, hazel, holm oak and pine. This truffle, of varying sizes, stands out for its pleasant and delicate aroma, slightly fungal, and for the strong but not excessive flavor, which can remind porcini, and which is highly appreciated, is widely used for the preparation of sauces and sausages.

As anyone who loves these underground mushrooms knows, their prices can vary a lot, depending on the type, quality, size and, above all, how productive the season was.

Speaking of the truffle therefore we cannot fail to mention the homeland of the truffle, Campello sul Clitunno, a village to visit absolutely !!!!

Umbria is full of villages perched like little jewels set in its mountains. Campello sul Clitunno is located in the province of Perugia, a short distance from the city of Spoleto and the famous village of Rasiglia. The town is mainly divided into two parts, the upper part that develops around the castle and the lower part downstream. The places to visit are close together, but to visit them you need to move by car.

- Campello Alto - A small fortified village surrounded by still perfectly preserved walls, it is a small jewel perched on the top of its hill with an inside building in stone and exposed brick that stood around its castle, a fortification built between the X -11th century by the Baron of Burgundy, Rovero di Champeaux.

Truly a place where time seems to have stopped, get lost in the alleys of the village to always find yourself at the starting point, which is the only entrance door of the city walls, facing the square and church of San Donato.

- The Castle of Pissignano and the surrounding village originally called San Benedetto is crossed by the via Franchigena. It was renamed Lizori by those who saved it from complete ruin in the 1970s, transforming it into a village where a variety of cultural activities take place.

- Campello basso - the Sorgenti del Clitunno, known since ancient times and considered sacred by the Romans, are also worth a visit. These springs have always been sources of inspiration for artists, poets and writers, among many Virgil, Corot, Byron and Carducci.

Their current shape was commissioned by Count Paolo Campello della Spina in the second half of the nineteenth century.

A mirror of clear and crystalline water fed by underground springs and surrounded by dense vegetation of weeping willows and poplars. To keep them swans and ducks.

- The real gem of Campello sul Clitunno is the Tempietto sul Clitunno, it is one of the best re-uses of Roman materials and elements by the Lombards. It is no coincidence that it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in the circuit of sites "The Lombards in Italy: places of power (568-744 AD)".

The church of San Salvatore, better known as the Tempietto del Clitunno, is located in the hamlet of Pissignano. It is a small shrine in the shape of a temple of early Christian origin. Externally it resembles a classical temple in antis. The 4 Corinthian columns stand out, each different from the other, surmounted by a richly decorated tympanum. Let's try to observe this small temple by paying the right attention to decorations and details, which really deserve. Inside there are still some 8th century frescoes and a small aedicule.

The Tempietto can be seen in part from the street, but to visit it you pay an entrance ticket, highly recommended to enter!

Let's now pass to the typical dishes of the country, we list only a few, and here the gourmets take note:

* Truffle croutons

Melt the butter, broth and Parmesan. Form a homogeneous sauce, add salt and pepper. Sprinkle the slices of bread with lemon, cover them with the hot sauce and sliced ​​truffles.

* Butchery croutons

Fry oil, garlic and anchovies, melt and pour the truffle; chop the chicken livers and brown them with capers, oil and garlic, pepper, salt and leave on the stove for 10 '. Add the truffle sauce, heat and turn off as soon as it boils.

Spread it on toasted bread croutons and brush with white wine and then serve hot.

* Spaghetti / Strangozzi alla norcina

Clean the truffles, dry them and chop them; cook the spaghetti, pour the oil into a pan, add the truffles and mix well. Put back on the heat, add garlic and anchovies, reducing everything in cream, pepper and turn off as soon as the garlic turns golden. Put the pan back on the heat, remove the garlic, drain the spaghetti al dente and pour them into the pan, sauté, plate and serve.

* Lamb with black truffle

Heat the oil and garlic, add the lamb with garlic, salt and pepper, fry and brown the meat, sprinkle with the wine, evaporate and cook slowly. Then pour in the vinegar, cook again then turn off.

Grate the truffles, then add oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Serve the stew and sprinkle it with the sauce.

And ..... Enjoy your meal !!!

Stay tuned!