Category: Cooking

Cooking · Glutenfree · Life at Castello di Montegiove · Virgin Olive Oil

Pasta con pesto di Cavolo Nero

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160 g Pasta (with or without gluten)

125 g Ricotta

300 g di Cavolo Nero / Tuscan Kale

1 spoon anchovy paste

50 g chopped Almonds

1 garlic clove

Black pepper

Olive oil

Parmesan cheese for serving

 

Clean the kale and cut away the stalk.

Cook the kale until tender, leave to cool. (save some of the cooking water for later)

Heat water for the pasta.

Transfer kale, olive oil, 2/3 of the almonds, anchovy paste, ricotta and garlic into a food processor and blend until smooth. If the pesto gets to thick add some of the cooking water from the kale.

Cook the pasta, drain and add it to the pesto, serve with a drizzle of olive oil, ground black pepper and parmesan cheese.

 

Buon Appetito!

Cooking · Life at Castello di Montegiove · Wine

Rabbit in Mustard

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Lifeatcastellomontegiove. mustardrabbit

This winter we have had a visiting French winemaker Caroline staying with us. We all tried our best to speak French, the girls with more luck than Lorenzo and I, but we had lots of fun trying. Caroline’s favourite dish is Lapin à la moutarde, so that’s why this classic French country recipes has sneaked into my Italian kitchen.

Serves 4:

1 rabbit, cut into serving pieces

4 tablespoons butter

2 large shallots, chopped

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup grainy country mustard, like Dijon

Fresh thyme

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

 

Heat the butter over medium heat in a large sauté pan with a lid. Pat the rabbit pieces dry and brown them in the butter. Once the rabbit is browned, remove it to a bowl.

Add the shallots to the pan and brown them well.

Pour in the white wine and turn the heat to high. Add the mustard, thyme and water and bring to a boil. Season to taste.

Add the rabbit pieces, coat them with the sauce, turn the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. It might need more time, but should not need more than an hour total. When the meat is ready, remove it to a platter. 

Turn the heat up and boil the sauce down by half. Turn off the heat and add the cream and parsley. Stir the sauce to combine. Season to taste.

Return the rabbit to the pan. Coat with the sauce and serve at once.

Serve this dish with crusty bread, green beans and Castello di Montegiove RoSaTo.

 

Buon Appetito!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas · Cooking · Glutenfree · Life at Castello di Montegiove

Candy Apples

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Lifeatcastellomontegiove candy apple

 

An almost healthy Christmas afternoon snack and both fast and easy to make.

For 4 apples you will need:

125 g sugar

1/2 dl water

4 sticks (around 25 cm long)

a pieces of parchment paper

 

Wash and dry the apples and stick the stick into the tops of the apples.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan mix together sugar and water, leave it bubbling on medium/low temperature until the candy syrup is clear.

Roll the apple around in the candy syrup one at a time, let the excess syrup drip off. Put the apples on the parchment paper and leave them to harden -takes around 10 minutes.

Buon Appetito!!!

Cooking · Gluten Free · Life at Castello di Montegiove

Buckwheat crêpe – Galette

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Lifeatcastellomontegiove galette

French Buckwheat Crepes are gluten free. It is an easy and healthy recipe that French people love to eat for dinner stuffed with spinach, goat cheese or ham.

225 g buckwheat flour

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 large eggs

2 dl milk

2 dl water

Butter for cooking

 

Put the flour, salt, egg and half the milk and water into a bowl or jug.

Beat to a smooth paste then stir in the remaining milk and water to make a thin batter (you can leave the batter in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or continue to cook the pancakes right away).

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and get the pan nice and hot.

Pour or spoon some batter into the hot pan and roll it out to the edges.

Cook the pancake, loosening the edges, until the base is golden.

Turn it over and cook the other side. Repeat until the batter is used.

Put the galette in a large baking dish and into the oven to keep warm while you make the others.

Serve with sweet or savoury fillings of your choice.

 

Buon Appetito!

Cooking · Life at Castello di Montegiove · Wine

Harvest time Poussin

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Castello di Montegiove. Harvest time Poussin 1.jpg

 

Harvest time is very very busy, but the poussin dinner has by now become one of our “must does” even after a long days work in the wineyard and cellars. To sit down with a good glass of wine and enjoy the odour of the newly pressed grapes in the cellar is one of the little pleasures of life.

Serves 4

4 Poussins

30 g Butter

Salt & pepper

3 dl chicken stock

1 dl Red wine or RoSaTo

50-100 g seed free grapes cut in halves

2 ½ dl Cream

Rinse inside and outside of poussins, and pat dry.

Fill each of the poussins with the grapes and close with a wooden toothpick.

Melt the butter in a large casserole and brown the poussins starting with breast side and then the other sides.

Turn the poussins with breast side down, season with salt and pepper, add the chicken stock and the RoSaTo. Cook for about 15 minutes then turn carefully to the back and cook other 15 minutes. Be sure they are cooked through. Remove from the casserole and let them rest for 15 minutes covered with foil.

Meanwhile heat the pan gravy, add the cream and cook for about 5 minutes season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with roasted or mashed potatoes and a glass of Castello di Montegiove MiMoSo.

Buon Appetito!

 

Castello di Montegiove. Harvest time Poussin 2

Cooking · Life at Castello di Montegiove

Crème Caramel

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castello di Montegiove creme caramel

Crème Caramel

120 g caster sugar

Cold water

5 Eggs

6 dl milk

Vanilla sugar
-Preheat oven to 180°C.

-Cook milk and vanilla in a saucepan until boil. Set aside to cool down.

-Combine 20 g of sugar with 2 tbsp. cold water in the metal cream caramel mold. Place the mold directly on the burner on low heat. When the sugar is melted and golden remove from the heat.

-Whisk eggs and the remaining sugar in a bowl until creamy. Slowly add the cooled milk mix and whisk gently. Pour into the mold with the melted sugar.

-Place the mold in a round baking dish. Pour boiling water into the dish until half full. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove baking dish from the oven and the mold from the water. Set aside to cool down.

-Before servingrun the point of a sharp knife around the top edge of the mold, place a dessert plate on top and invert. Give the mold and plate a sharp shake and carefully remove the mold.

 

Buon Appetito!

Cooking · Life at Castello di Montegiove

Vitello Tonnato Freddo

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Vitello Tonnato is one of my favourite summer dishes, it is easy to prepare and as you can make it in advance it is one of the best dishes to serve for guest when you are not sure of the ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).

 

Meat:

600g Veal girello / Veal nut (tied with string)

1 carrot

1 onion

1 celery stick

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

Olive oil

1 pinch of salt

Water

 

Sauce:

200g of tuna tinned in olive oil, drained

3 anchovy fillets

2 eggs, hard boiled, just need to use the yolks

2 tbsp capers, drained

1 lemon, juice only

Pepper and saltto taste

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Bring the water to boil in a large saucepan add salt, meat, carrot, onion, celery, the vinegar and olive oil. Cover and simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Remove the saucepan from the heat, leave the meat in the liquid and allow to cool completely. Don’t throw the liquid away.

While the meat is cooling, make the tuna sauce. Place the tuna, capers, anchovy fillets and egg yolks in a food processor and blitz for about 30 seconds. Add the lemon juice and olive oil and whiz for another 10 seconds. Season with black pepper. If the sauce is too dense you can add a bit of the cold liquid from the saucepan. The finished sauce will have a similar consistency to fresh mayonnaise

Remove the string from the meat slice the veal thinly and place the slices on a large serving dish. Pour the sauce over the top of the meat garnish with whole capers or cornichons. Leave covered for a couple of hours before serving.

Buon Appetito!