Having never been a fan for the often underwhelming Italian beaches on the Adriatic side, I was not excited about our trip down the coastline of Le Marche along the Riviera di Conero. I started to cheer up as we passed several metal food trucks selling porchetta (roast suckling pig) along the coast.
While it is true that the vast majority of the beaches cannot compete with the Mediterranean coast of Italy, like most things in life I went in search of one thing and discovered instead many delights I had not considered. It’s a bit like comparing the beaches of California to those of New York’s Hamptons. They are both lovely in their own way. After a week, I left genuinely impressed by the natural beauty, delicious food, friendly people and historic towns of Le Marche.
We stopped in the Bay of Portonovo and walked down to the beach through marshlands, a home to many different types of birds. We arrived at a beachside seafood restaurant called Il Molo, noting its beach packed with sun worshippers. Il Molo serves excellent fresh local seafood and features local wild mussels (moscioli) on their menu. Their tomato-rich brodetto (a fish and seafood stew with many variations) had huge depth of flavour while the fish remained delicate and perfectly cooked. Their mouth-watering fritto misto (breaded and fried seafood), just the right side of crisp with lemon juice contributing tartness to cut through the oil, brought great joy to the children. We also tucked into the slightly charred but perfectly cooked grilled fish and some of their many fish-based pasta dishes. The restaurant was started over 50 years ago, built from a boat wreck and later improved upon. It still has a relaxed coastal ambiance and fantastic, simple, fresh food you would want to enjoy every day.
To the south of Portonovo, the most spectacular strip of coastline in the Conero Regional Park (Parco Regionale di Conero) begins at Sirolo and goes down to the Greco-Roman town of Numana. The rocky coastline is characterised by crystalline waters and stunning beaches. Further inland, Mount Conero (Monte Conero) has an amazing view of the ocean from here and is known for its excellent red wines (Rosso di Conero). We passed the excellent wineries of Garofoli and Le Terrazze on the way up Monte Conero.
On Monte Conero, a lovely place to stop for a drink and to enjoy the panoramic view is the Hotel Monteconero Badia San Pietro. It was a Benedictine monastery built on a spot overlooking the Adriatic Sea.
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Coming out of the Parco Regionale di Conero and joining the motorway, the outline of an amazingly large cathedral can been seen in the distance. This is Loreto, a major site of pilgrimage for Christians and an unmissable place even for the non-religious (of which I count myself as one), and despite having seen seemingly millions of churches this far in life, we were not at all prepared for this basilica.
The main square (Piazza della Madonna) has the Basilica of Santa Casa to the east, the Illyrian Palace to the south, the Papal Palace to the north and west. The 15th century Basilica houses the Holy House, the Virgin Mary’s house (Jesus Christ’s mother for the unfamiliar). Mary’s home in Nazareth (today in Israel) was made up of two parts, a grotto cut out of rock and a small stone house in front of the grotto. In 1291 when the Crusaders were expelled from Palestine, the small stone house was transported by “angels” first to Croatia and then to Loreto on 10 December 1294. Mary’s tiny home is now encased in marble and housed within the amazing basilica, more extraordinary than any I have ever seen before.
We were lucky in that one of my favourite sculptures, La Pietà by Michelangelo, was visiting the Papal Palace from Saint Peter’s in the Vatican. Everytime I had seen it previously was amongst a large crowd of people where I would have to stand on tippy toes to get a glimpse. Here in Loreto there was not a single other soul and I had, in effect, a private viewing.
Continuing on our journey further south we finally arrived at Villa Giulia, a stately country home outside Fano owned by a Roman family, which was to be our home for the next few days. We were escorted into their beautiful gardens and offered platters of chilled fruit and aperitivi. Villa Giulia exuded a relaxed elegance which made it one of our favourite places over our 3 month trip. We felt spoiled yet comfortable, as though we were staying at a friend’s country home. The pool sits between a sunflower field, a vineyard and the vegetable garden. Dinner is served on the terrace with views of the ocean. The bedrooms are filled with antiques.
Venturing down to Fano for dinner one night, we were lucky enough to discover Maria or rather Da Maria, a restaurant run by Maria, a very special cook. When I rang for a reservation the previous day, a small voice inquired how many we were. After some thought, she responded that if the fishing boats come in with enough fish then we can come. This was a first for me and very admirable prioritising quality and locality over profit.
Da Maria only opens when fresh fish is available that day from the Adriatic and is cooked over a charcoal fire. They only serve fish, use local organic products when possible and never use frozen or farmed ingredients. The results are fantastic. As the ingredients are sourced daily there is no menu, dishes are served as they are made.
When we arrived were welcomed like old friends to come and sit in their garden. We had a simple meal of salad, grilled polenta with clams, lightly cooked mantis prawns with olive oil and parsley, sole poached in olive oil and parsley and another excellent brodetto (this time there were mussels, tub gurnard, sole and baby skate in a rich sauce of tomatoes and herbs cooked in terracotta). They finished with genoise sponge cake and homemade liquirizia and limoncello. Being born with an intense dislike for licorice I was loathe to try liquirizia but I was presently surprised; it was delicious.
If you love seafood and relaxed elegant surroundings then this is the perfect coastal holiday. In my next post I will cover the historic towns in Le Marche which are in easy reach. Until then, I’ll give a brief introduction to brodetto.
Brodetto and fish and seafood stews by other names are traditional along the coasts of Italy. Brodetti (the plural of brodetto) were historically made by fishermen with the leftovers of their catch and so included many different types of fish and seafood. Today brodetto may often include prized fish and seafood. Each town has their own version of brodetto and while there may be general agreement as to the ingredients, oftentimes the exact recipe is jealously guarded. For example, some towns use tomato whereas others do not, some use vinegar, saffron, white wine, etc. Some like Ancona, have a minimum of 13 different types of fish in them. What is generally advised is to use whatever is fresh. Da Maria advised me to use a different terracotta pot for each type of dish so as not to marry the flavours.
Recipe:
Brodetto marchigiano (fish and seafood stew)
The difference between a good brodetto and a great brodetto is the freshness of the fish and the flavour of the tomatoes. If you cannot get truly excellent tomatoes then use the best passata possible. This dish is traditionally made in a terracotta dish wide enough so that the seafood can be placed in a single layer not touching each other. If you don’t have a terracotta or claypot dish, use a thick bottomed pan.
There are different versions of brodetto depending on which town you are in along the Adriatic. Tomatoes are optional in some versions and others use different combinations of green peppers, pepper, chilli, saffron and/or vinegar so feel free to add these ingredients if you wish. Traditionally brodetto all’anconetana is made with 13 different types of fish but just try to get a variety you are happy with. While not traditional to brodetto from Ancona (or really even brodetto made with tomatoes), I do like to add 1 to 2 pinches of saffron to the broth before the fish and seafood are added.
40 mls extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 medium onion, skinned and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, skinned and finely chopped
50 grams flat leaf Italian parsley, leaves removed, washed, dried, and finely chopped
750 grams tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1.5 kilos mixture of white fish (such as cod, sole, mullet, turbot, monkfish, scorpion fish, sea bass, eel, snapper, grouper, gurnard or flounder), cleaned, scaled, and cut in thick tranches (smaller fish can be left whole); cuttlefish (cleaned); squid (cleaned); mantis prawns; langoustine; prawns; and clams (soaked in cold water and rinsed a few times, shells scrubbed) – heads, tails and bones reserved
40 mls wine vinegar
Sea salt
8 slices of fett’unta
Rinse the prawns and langoustines in cold water. Remove the prawn heads and set aside. Using clean kitchen shears, cut the sides of the mantis prawns (including the legs) off to more easily open them and eat them later.
Place the onion, garlic, parsley and olive oil in a terracotta pot over low heat and cook until the onion is soft. Add the tomatoes and the fish heads and bones and the seafood shells. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Once the tomatoes and fish heads are soft and fall apart easily, remove the contents of the pot and place in a food mill with a medium die. Pass the contents through the die back into the terracotta pot. (If you don’t have a food mill, then strain the contents through a fine mesh sieve. If you have a food processor or high powered blender or Thermomix, chop the remaining contents and push through the fine mesh sieve.) Discard the solids.
Add salt to taste, vinegar and if you like, saffron. Heat the broth over low heat to a simmer and begin to add the fish and seafood in the order of which take the longest to cook (add the thickest cut and meatiest pieces of fish first such as monkfish tails) and cook for 10 minutes.
Add smaller, thinner cut and flat fish to the pot, bring to a simmer and cook another 10 minutes.
Add the shellfish and cook for the final 10 minutes until everything is cooked.
Place a mixture of the different types of fish and seafood into each serving bowl. Pour the soup over the fish and serve with hot fett’unta to soak up the broth.
To visit:
Fano:
Da Maria
Via IV Novembre, 86
Fano, Pesaro e Urbino
Tel: +39 0721 808962
This restaurant is not easy to find, we had to ask many locals before finding building numbered 92 on Via IV Novembre, located after the bridge. Enter the gate to the left of the building
Recommended dishes: Maria asks for preferences before presenting her excellent dishes. The wine list is short but features some excellent producers.
Il Molo
Localita Portonovo
Ancona
This beachfront restaurant is situated in front of a pier (molo means pier). The restaurant has been open for 50 years featuring very fresh local seafood, particularly the local wild mussels (moscioli). They also have their own private beach (pay to use). The wine list features many wines from Conero and local verdicchio wines.
Recommended dishes: frittura del’Adriatico (breaded and deep-fried mixed seafood), brodetto (fish and seafood stew with 6 types of fish, mussels, clams, squid, langoustine and prawns), spiedini di calamari e gamberi (grilled brochettes of calamari and prawns), spaghetti pomodoro con moscioli (spaghetti with local mussels in tomato sauce), carbonara di pesce spada (spaghetti with swordfish and creamy egg sauce)
Drink:
Hotel Monteconero
Via Monteconero, 26
60020 Sirolo (AN)
Tel: +39 071 9330592
Set in a former Benedictine monastary, this is a lovely hotel to stop for a drink to enjoy the panoramic view over the Adriatic Sea.
Stay:
Near Fermo:
VILLA GIULIA
Via di Villa Giulia, Località San Biagio 40
61032 Fano, Pesaro
Tel. +39.0721.823159
Fax +39.0721.837076
What a great, informative article about our coastline. We fell in love with Le Marche 14 years ago and bought and restored our beautiful “Hideaway” farmhouse here near Amandola and totally agree there are some wonderful places here. Our nearest coastal national park is the “Conero” which really is a stunning spot. The whole region still remains very undiscovered and unspoilt.
We have spent many happy times on Portonovo beach eating some of the very best mussels in the world. Here is one of the few places they grow wild and can be bought right on the beach. For another wonderful dining experience try Da Silvio near Sirolo, were you are perched high on the cliff overlooking the stunning blue waters and pine forests. After a very long, lazy lunch, crash out for a snooze on the beautiful beach below.
The area can easily be reached with flights from the Uk with Ryanair to Ancona and Pescara and with the new road opening soon, Perugia airport will be less than an hour and half too.
There is so much to see and do both on the coast and also further inland towards the stunning Sibillini National Park. If you are looking for holiday accommodation whilst coming to stay in the area, marcheownersdirect.com are a group of like minded holiday home owners who have been living in this wonderful region and have years and years of experience and tips of where to visit and explore. They are a non-profit co-operative and work together to bring you the most unbiased holiday experience.
Between them they have farmhouses and apartments, boutique hotels, agriturismos and bed and breakfasts and love talking about and sharing advice about visiting the stunning area.
Sarah and Mark hideawaylemarche.com
Hi Sarah and Mark, We will definitely try that for holiday accommodation and Da Silvio for a meal next time we are in Le Marche. It truly is a stunning part of Italy and our kids really enjoyed their time there. Thanks for the tips! Janet