A very nice and not so heavy mulled wine made from Castello di Montegiove RoSaTo wine.
Mulled wine for 4 People:
1 bottle Castello di Montegiove RoSaTo
2 sticks of cinnamon
5 cloves of dried carnation
peal and juice from a large organic lemon
Sugar as you please
Add all ingredients to a saucepan and let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes on low temperature, adjust sugar and lemon. Serve in heatproof glasses and enjoy.
Bon Appetito!
The large Italian portobello mushrooms are delicious and very easy to prepare. You can use them instead of meat for a vegetarian dinner, as a side dish or for a simple lunch together with a green salad and a piece of bread. You can even sneak in a grated black truffle for a more extravagant version.
As side dish that serves 4:
4 large Portobello mushrooms
Filling:
1-2 large garlic cloves minced
Parsley
Bread crumbs
Butter
Salt and pepper
For topping Parmesan cheese, grated.
Heat up the oven to 200 degrees.
Cut the stalk out and clean the mushrooms (save the stalk) and leave them upside down on baking paper on a baking tray.
Chop the stalk, and the rest of the ingredients in a food processor. Put the mix back in the mushrooms and sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top.
Place in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the parmesan cheese on top is golden.
Buon Appetito!
This recipe is the perfect dish to make during the Cherrie season. We use it for dessert, for afternoon tea or for brunch it is always delicious.
Ingredients:
125 g Flour (if gluten free use the flour for bread)
200 g Sugar
4 Eggs
2 dl milk
750 g Cherries
Butter for greasing the baking dish
Powdered sugar for decoration
Preheat the oven to 175C. Butter an ovenproof baking dish wide enough to hold the cherries in one layer.
Wash the cherries and remove the stones and stalks. Add the cherries to the baking dish.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, followed by the milk until you have a smooth batter.
Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake for about half an hour, until just set. Sprinkle with the powdered sugar and serve warm.
Buon Appetito!
Meringues or kisses as they are called in Denmark are so easy to make and they are absolutely fat free, just egg whites, sugar and in this recipe I have added some chopped pistachio. Whats not to like!
3 Egg whites (room temperature)
120 g sugar
25 g finely chopped pistacchio nuts
Preheat the oven to 100 degrees celcius and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until completely stiff, then while beating the eggs add sugar, a tablespoon at a time. Mix until the meringue mixture forms stiff peaks.
Carefully mix/fold in the chopped pistachio nuts.
Using a piping bag pipe a dollop of the meringue mixture onto your baking sheet.
Bake for around 60-90 minutes, remove from the oven and allow the meringues to cool before serving.
Buon appetito!
This mushroom pâté recipe is an updated version of the classic retro vegetarian buffet dish from my childhood in the 70-ies.
Mushroom Pâté (serves 4-6)
500 g fresh mushroom (cleaned and chopped into small pieces)
3 small onions, chopped
1 Garlic clove, minced
50 g Hazel nuts, chopped
100 g cooked rice
1 tblsp. Fresh or dried Thyme
30 g Gorgonzola
2 ½ dl cream
Olive oil
2 Eggs
Salt and Pepper
Can be served warm or cold together with freshly baked bread and a salad.
Buon Appetito!
At Castello di Montegiove we are lucky to have our own truffle reserve with black truffles. We very often organise truffle hunts for our guests and it is always a great adventure to experience how the truffle hunter and his dogs are collaborating to find the funny little round truffles growing below the ground. For this recipe I am using the black Montegiove truffles.
serves 4
375 g Risotto rice
50 g Fresh black truffles, grated (leave some to grate over the risotto for serving)
1 small onion, chopped
4 tblsp. Olive oil
1 ½ l boiling warm Broth
½ glass of white vine
20 g Grated Parmesan cheese (or as much as you like)
30 g of butter
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Heat the oil and half of the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat, add the onion and let it fry for a couple of minutes, add rise and let it all cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the wine and let it evaporate, then add ½ cup of boiling broth to the rice and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth ½ cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 15-20 minutes.
At the same time heat the rest of the oil and butter in a small pot and add the grated truffles. Warm up over a low heat, add the truffle mix to the risotto.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the Parmesan cheese, stir well, season to taste with salt and pepper, leave the risotto with the lid on for a minute to rest, then serve on warm plates and grate fresh truffles on the top.
Buon Appetito!
The best thing about these first days of the wine harvest is the newly pressed red grape juice “il mosto di vino rosso” a delicacy closely linked to autumn. For us at Castello di Montegiove it marks the moment when the grapes pass from the vineyard to the cellar.
In the evening we gather around the big table in the kitchen with a glass of fresh pressed sweet grape must and drink it together with roasted chestnuts from the Umbrian mountains around Montegiove. We eat them with a pinch of salt and somehow, we always end up eating way too many, the combination of the sweet must and the salty chestnuts is just delicious.
End of August and September is just around the corner, the garden is full of delicious apples and blackberries just waiting to be transformed into cakes and other autumn delights.
This cake can be made with cinnamon for the Scandinavian hygge taste or with vanilla for a fresher summer taste. It is nice for dessert or served with a hot cup of tea on a cold autumn or winter afternoon.
Ingredients:
1kg apples peeled and chopped
2-3 cups Water
Lemon juice
Sugar (depending on how sweet the apples are)
Vanilla sugar or cinnamon
Topping:
125 g Almonds grated
125 g Butter softened
125 g Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
75 g Flour (if gluten free use the flour for bread)
Cook apples in water and lemon juice until tender. When cooked season with sugar, cinnamon or vanilla.
Preheat the oven to 190 C. Butter an ovenproof pie dish.
Pour the cooked apples into the pie dish.
Topping: Mix grated almonds, soft butter, sugar, eggs and the flour.
Pour the topping over the apples and even out.
Bake for 30 minutes 190 C or until the top is golden and crisp.
Remove cake from oven, can be served warm or cold, serve with blackberries and ice cream or whipped cream.
Insalata di Polpi is one of our favourite summer dishes. It is easy to prepare in advance and is perfect on a summer buffet, as a starter or for lunch with a glass of Castello di Montegiove BiAnCo.
To serve 4 you will need:
1 kg Octopus, cleaned and washed (remove the inside of the head)
5 large potatoes
Olive oil (Castello di Montegiove)
White vinegar
Lemon juice
Parsley
Salt and pepper
Place the octopus in a very large pot with plenty of cold water.
Bring water to boil add salt and boil the octopus exactly 10 minutes, remove the pot from the stove and let the octopus cool down in the boiling water with a lid on.
Meanwhile peal, cut and boil the potatoes.
Cut the octopus in smaller pieces and serve the cold or lukewarm with the boiled potatoes, season with white vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper.
Buon Appetito!
This weekend we had a great experience with 3 Danish wild boar hunters, hardworking chef Mikkel Karstad and photographer Anders Schonnemann.
The hunters where out early morning and late night waiting for the boars. They all went looking for truffles with our truffle hunter and his dogs and found a nice handful of fresh truffles. Mikkel and Anders collected wild cicoria and herbs with signora Mara from the village and they made a gorgeous dinner together.
Saturday Mikkel grilled the meat from the wild boar the hunters had shot the day before and we all had lunch together in the garden under the trees. It was fascinating to see how everyone collaborated to make it all work out perfect. Anders made stunning photos of the whole event and we all fell in love with Montegiove all over again just looking at his photos.
A great weekend with lots of wine, fun and inspiration.
