Purgatorio alla Calabrese

01 / ABOUT THE DISH

About the dish

Purgatorio is a traditional Calabrian vegetable dish, although some might even consider it to be an unusual sandwich because it's usually served in a hollowed-out loaf of bread. The dish is made with plum tomatoes, basil, olive oil, eggplants, young potatoes, and peppers. The sauce is cooked until the vegetables become tender and the potatoes soft. A loaf of bread is then cut lengthwise, some of the bread is scooped out, and in goes the purgatorio. The bread is typically closed, sliced, and served while the sauce inside is still hot. In the past, the farmers used to take this dish to the fields and eat it for lunch.