PASSATA CONTADINA

From the dialectal word ‘Prun’, literally bump, derives the name of the indigenous varieties of tomatoes grown in Lucera: the Prunill. It is grown with the dryland farming system, it’s small size and elongated, characterized by pointed ends. The Prunill bunches are harvested in August and are kept hanging, held together by a wire, in typical necklaces or crowns. The unique and intense taste of this tomato, with its silky texture, worked from fresh raw material and then potted, is unmistakable.

It is suitable to give flavour to wild game based sauces, but especially as a condiment for pizza.

The fields in the countryside of Lucera, between Tavoliere and the Sub Appennine Dauno zone, are grown in organic manner respecting the seasonality and they are cared for the entire year prior to harvesting. After the work in the fields, Paglione takes care of the products in a meticulous and patient way. Everything is fresh, ensuring the highest quality of the ingredients, worked without dispersing the natural flavours and aromas.

In 1994, the Faccilongo and Albano families, who had always been farmers, begin converting the company into an organic farm, with a self sufficient processing plant and using the philosophy of ‘short supply chain’. The Paglione farm, led by their son Nicola Faccilongo, focuses its work on the respect for the land, the history and the gastronomic culture of its territory, the ‘Daunia’, the northern most part of Puglia, enhancing the indigenous varieties. Paglione works to preserve and integrate the fauna and flora of the territory into the production cycle and protects the land from impoverishment and desertification threats. That’s why Paglione doesn’t use any kind of pesticides, guilty of poisoning and killing bees: small, tireless and precious guardians of the biodiversity of our planet.