wine pairing & recipes

This traditional recipe definitely makes me feel like I am in the Northern part of Italy with its cabbage and meat ingredients! My mother-in-law often makes this dish in the winter with a vegetarian ricotta filling alternative for me. It is a classic Italian “don’t waste anything” recipe made from meat leftovers.

For this recipe will follow our local cooking class instructor’s guidelines about how to make classic capunet. Fernanda, originally from Barbaresco, has been passionate about cooking her whole life and has a special interest for finding the highest quality ingredients. She loves inviting people into her home to learn the traditional Piemontese recipes and teach people about their origins. I always learn something new when I visit her!

Fontanabianca – Barbaresco Bordini ’16

Ingredients for 2 people 

Rump Steak With Radicchio and Potatoes

Recipe From La Cantina  – Verduno

Don’t be fooled by this simple cafè’s exterior! Emiliano Burlotto and his wife Victoria have transformed this simple local’s lunch spot into a gourmet haven! In the sleepy town of Verduno, you can find La Cantina, a family run business with a Cheers – like quality, where everyone knows your name. We consider this a hidden gem, off the tourist path where you can find wine makers and local regulars who enjoy their  fantastic wine list and creative menu.

Boffa – Barolo Capalot 2015

RUMP STEAK WITH FERMENTED RADICCHIO, POTATOES & GREEN PEPPER SALAD (Ingr. for 1 pers.) 

•  220 g/7-8 oz rump sirloin
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Himalayan pink salt
• 1 pat of unsalted butter
• Barolo reduction: 25 cl/1 cup of Barolo and 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 friggitello (green sweet chili pepper)
• 3-4 new potatoes cut in half
• 1 radicchio
• pan juice with vegetables and spices
• sea salt

RADICCHIO (MAKE 1-2 DAYS AHEAD)

Clean and cut away all the white hard part of the radicchio leaving you with just the red leaves, put in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper and 2 teaspoons of sugar, balsamic vinegar 10 CL/ 1/2 cup. 

Close in a ziploc bag allowing no air inside and allow to ferment for 1-3 days. If you can’t find radicchio use Tropea red onions.

POTATOES

Wash new potatoes and cut in half. Boil for 4 minutes on a high flame. Put in an oven tray and dress with salt, oil, pepper, rosemary, garlic cloves and a pat of butter. 30 minutes before you are ready to eat the steak, put in the oven at 200-220C (390-400F) for 20 minutes.

INSTRUCTIONS

REDUCTION: Put Barolo in a sauce pan with sugar and reduce it until you get a glazed consistency. 

GREEN PEPPER SALAD: Clean the friggitelli (green small peppers), cut them in julienne strips and then dice, dress with oil, salt, pepper and a balsamic vinegar glaze. 

RUMP STEAK: Get the frying pan ready with olive oil, salt and pepper and wait until the oil starts to smoke a bit 190° (375F). Sear the steak on each side to favor the closure of the pores, adding then 1 pat of butter covering the steak for 1 minute so you can achieve a light crust (shiny brown color).

Finish the cooking in a convection oven with ventilator at 180° (355F) for :

• 4 min – rare 
• 6 min – medium rare
• 10 min – medium

(this is an approximation and depends on the size of the steak)

Advice from the chef:  The chef makes his own bone broth 1 or 2 days before by toasting the bones with herbs in the oven on highest temp for 20 min. Then he reduces water, bones etc. to make a nice gravy for the meat.

Visit La Cantina’s website or follow them @lacantina_verduno

We met Margherita when she was just a city girl, a food blogger living in Torino. Soon after, her passion for cooking became a career and before you know it, her whole family left their jobs and school to follow this dream! Ahhh how I love a success story! This tiny restaurant called Très, is an off the beaten path treasure. Located in the Alta Langa above Barbaresco, you will be welcomed with big smiles and exquisite food. Your jaw will drop as you wonder whether this casual restaurant is not really a secret Michelin Star!?

TRéS RECIPE FOR PESTO FILLED RAVIOLI WITH POTATO CREAM AND GREEN BEANS

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE 

PASTA

• 400 grams ( 2 cups) of all-purpose flour
• 300 grams ( 1 1/4 cups) of egg yolks (approx. 12 yolks)

PESTO FILLING     

• Fresh basil
• Pine nuts
• Parmesan
• Salt
• Extra virgin olive oil

POTATO PUREE

• 250 grams (1 Large Russet) potato
• 100 ml (1/2 cup heavy cream)

GARNISH

• Handful of green beans

*What do I do with all those egg whites? You can definitely use the egg whites for meringues for dessert or you can use a traditional fresh pasta recipe (1 egg for every 100 grams)

INSTRUCTIONS

You can make the pesto and boiled/blanched green beans ahead of time.

1. Use mortar and pestle ( or a blender is fine) and throw in a few handfuls of basil and a spoon of pine nuts. Add enough oil to get a smooth pesto with less olive oil so the filling doesn’t get too runny. Add parmesan and salt to your liking.
2. Boil salted water and throw in the green beans. Cook for 5 minutes and drain and set aside.  

Pasta:

1. Boil salted water in a pot for the peeled potatoes. While the water boils and the potatoes cook you can start to make the pasta. When the potatoes are done, drain water and keep hot in the pot.
2. Make a mound of flour with a well on top. Add egg yolks and mix first with fork. Then start kneading the mixture until it is smooth and elastic. Put pasta through the pasta maker, making the sheets as thin as possible.
3. Use ravioli molds or a cup for circle shaped pasta or a knife to cut squares in the sheets. Put pesto filling in sheet and close with another sheet. If it is too dry try adding some water on the edges to seal the ravioli well.
4. Puree the still hot potatoes with the cream in a blender adding salt to your liking
5. Cook pasta in salted water for a few minutes and drizzle with olive oil when they are done
6. In the center of the plate scoop the potato pure and place the ravioli on top with the green beans and basil as a garnish. 

Visit Très Restaurant website

Photo Credit M. Vinella

Husband and wife team, Marc Lanteri and Amy Bellotti, run this suggestive Michelin Star restaurant, Al Castello in the grand castle of Grinzane Cavour.  We have the honor of calling them friends! Amy is an American expat, originally from Colorado who ventured off to Culinary School in Piemonte. Marc Lanteri comes from an interesting area on the border of France and Piemonte called Valle Roya where you can see the mix in his beautifully done dishes. Alessandro, their sommelier has helped us to pick out the best wine from our Barolo Wine Selection to go with this dish.

>>  You can also watch my IGTV interview with Amy on Instagram 

>>  For my video / interview with winemaker from Nada about this wine watch the video on Youtube Channel

MARC’S RACK OF LAMB  with aromatic herb infused pan juices, Taggiasche olive tapenade and summer garden vegetables

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE 

• 2 racks of lamb or 8-12 chops

• 0,5L Beef Stock

• 1 cup mirepoix, medium dice

• Fresh thyme, rosemary and oregano

• sea salt qb

• 2 carrots

• 1 zucchini

• 4 radishes

• 200gr green beans

• 1/2 c Taggiasche olive tapenade* , room temperature 

*What are Taggiasche olives? A local Ligurian black olive but you can use any olive tapenade (Kalamata for ex.) you can find

INSTRUCTIONS

 Brown the rack of lamb in a hot sautè pan with a drizzle of olive oil and a piece of butter.  Remove and dust with sea salt.  

Add mirepoix to sautè pan and brown vegetables, bathe with stock and ad aromatic herbs. 

Reduce to 1/2, adjust salt and pass through fine mesh strainer.  Set aside.

Prepare garden vegetable assortment and cook in salted boiling water leaving vegetables al dente. 

Remove from water and drizzle with extra vergine olive oil.

Bake lamb in 350° F oven for 8-10 minutes.  Wrap in aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minuts.

Heat serving plates in oven, nappe with olive tapenade, plate vegetables. 

Slice lamb chops and plate, sauce and serve!

For questions or comments info@marclanteri.it 

Photo Credit M. Vinella

The chef we are featuring this week is Alessandro Boglione from Gastronomia Urbana in Alba. He was trained by top chefs in his career and brought a Michelin Star to the Castello di Grinzane in the Barolo region. Chef Boglione had always dreamt of bringing simple yet perfectly executed food into people’s homes and making it accessible to all. This is why he opened a gourmet “urban deli” in the heart of the city. There are a few tables where people can sit, but you can also take away homemade fresh foods along with a few featured hot dishes of the day. When the Dellapiana family from Rizzi winery suggested pairing a torta salata (or quiche) with their Dolcetto, I knew he would be the perfect one to ask! This is his recipe for a ricotta and pancetta quiche but you could easily substitute the pancetta with steamed spinach for a softer flavor and vegetarian option. Remember to plan ahead since you should make the dough one day before!

RICOTTA (Seirass) QUICHE with smoked PANCETTA

Use individual small tart tins and lie dough inside Pour in the filling and cook for 170°C (340°F)  for 20 minutes. 

Serve room temperature.

INGREDIENTS PASTA BRISE’ (Dough) 

500 g (2 cups) All Purpose Flour

250 gr (1 cup) softened unsalted butter

140 gr (1/2 Cup) water

1 yolk

8 gr (1 1/2 teaspoons) salt

Mix all the ingredients together until you get a smooth and homogenous dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for at least 12 hours.

FILLING FOR 10 QUICHES

180 gr (3/4 cup) Ricotta “Seirass”

180 gr  (3/4 cup) fresh cream

2 eggs

100 gr (1/2 cup) smoked pancetta cubes (or chopped bacon) 

So what is Seirass? Seirass is a high quality Piedmontese ricotta which is typically smoother and creamier than the usual grainier type found in Italy. It comes exclusively from the whey and although was traditionally made from sheep’s milk, is now more commonly found from cow’s milk. Use whatever kind of ricotta you can find – but the creamier the better!

What goes together, grows together. This is why we chose the refreshing Arneis from Roero made by Bric Cenciurio.

BRIC CENCIURIO – Roero Arneis (White selection only)

There is nothing like eating fresh fruits and vegetables from your garden. So many of us have zucchini these days and get stuck in a rut. The combination with saffron, makes it the perfect match for our Roero Arneis from the Spring Whites Only Selection from our 2020 shipment. A summer wine with a summer zucchini pasta.

INGREDIENTS (4 people)

INSTRUCTIONS

Check out Cascina Vrona & rooms 

 (Picking the fresh saffron in their garden)

What makes Italian food so great is that the cuisine is simple but the ingredients are high quality and tasty. We are lucky to live in a place where fresh porcinis grow but you could even use button mushrooms or perhaps portobellos.

PODERI COLLA EXTRA BRUT – ‘Blanc de Noir’

The long aging on the lees of this structured wine go great with the hearty flavors of mushrooms with the bubbles cutting the fat and refreshing the palate.  We decided to feature Chef Luca from their small restaurant in Novello (one of the Barolo villages) because this is our go-to spot for delicious fresh mushroom dishes. Their porcini tajarin is amazing but their fried porcinis are unforgettable!

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

Clean the mushrooms by scraping off the dirt or if they are very dirty, you can rinse with a small amount of water but when working with mushrooms, the less water the better. 

Cut mushrooms in 1/2 cm slices

Bread the mushrooms with egg and panko breadcrumbs

Heat the oil very hot and fry, flipping them often until they are a nice golden color.

Drain, and blot with paper towl

Sprinkle salt

and Voila!

Check out Angolo della Rosina Restaurant & Rooms >