Friarielli color up your dishes

Traditionally, Campania's Assessorato all'Agricoltura has certified Friarielli as one among the growing number of traditional local products of Campania, ranging from fruit, nuts and vegetables to cheese, fish, milk products and honey.

Friarielli with tiny yellow buds

One of my favorites are the broccoli friarielli, also known as brocoletti. Its leaves are spiked, with tiny buds resembling tiny heads of broccoli. It has small yellow flowers that are also edible. Overall, the leaves taste slightly nutty and bitter. 
They are usually fried in pans with olive oil and gloves of garlic, chili and a bit of white pepper. It is a sidedish used with cold meats but could also accompany pasta. You could also mix it into your salad, or make a puré.

Friarielli and salsiccia on a typical Sorrentine ceramics plate

There is even a website Friarielli in Italian dedicated to this vegetable. The following is a recipe collected by Luciano Pignataro for Pasta, Salsiccia and Friarielli.

Luciano Pignataro's Pasta con salsiccia e friarielli