ROSSO OF MONTALCINO
A red D.O.C wine, Rosso of Montalcino is made from Sangiovese grapes, only grown in the surrounding area. It is harmonic, elegant, sapid, not specially demanding but complementary with many foods. Rosso di Montalcino is brillant and limpid to the eyes, with a composite ruby red colour; to the olfactory senses it offers a fine intensity and fragrance in which the scents of small fresh fruit and light touch of cherry can be recognized.
MOSCADELLO
From the variety Moscato Bianco, inside the territory of the Commune of Montalcino, the Moscadello D.O.C is produced in these varieties: Natural, Sparkling and Late Harvest. Moscadello pleasantly accompanying pastries and dry biscuits. It straw-yellow colour has an aroma of a well-balanced and fresh muscatel with some floral scents.
SANT’ANTIMO
Red and white D.O.C wine produced in the Municipal territory of Montalcino. This denomination makes it possible to classify Montalcino wines other than Brunello. It has extremely variable characteristics according to the different types.
www.consorziobrunellodimontalcino.it
MAP OF WINE MAKERS ( PRODUCTION AREA AND SITE OF BOTTLING ESTATES)
EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
It is optained from pressing numerous, small, multi-coloured olives of several tones of green and smoke-black picked between October and November. The main types are Maraiolo, Leccino, Olivastro andPendolino.
THE HONEY
Apiculture is an art that is highly appraised in this area as it is still among the most important and oldest activities of Montalcino's economy. The honey obtained is as typical as the vast extension of Mediterranean brush and woods. The most famous essences are: broom, wild rose, strawberry and chestnut. www.asgamontalcino.it
THE CHEESES AND THE CURED MEAT
Sheep’s milk cheese is produced in a variety of ways by the hands of a few local experts: sweet or salted, fresh, semi-aged or aged. It is quite suitable sweetened with honey to accompany the sweet wines produced in this area. The local tradition includes tasty cured hams, sausages, salami, finocchiata, soppressa and blood sausage, buristo, which are also made from Cinta Senese pigs or wild boar.
RECIPEST
TUSCAN TOAST
Ingredients: 500 grams of Tuscan bread, 200 grams of chicken, spleen,1 chicken liver, salt and pepper, ½ cup of beef broth, ½ cup of white wine, capers, 1 celery, 2 leeks.
Preparation: Firstly remove skin from spleen and bile from liver. Slice finely the white parts of leek, and celery and lightly fry in olive oil until transparent. Add chopped spleen and liver. Simmer, then add white wine until evaporated. Slice capers and add to mixture with a little broth. When mixture is reduced remove from heat and chop more finely vegetables and meat. Spread the just prepared mixture on toasted bread slices. Serve the toasts still warm.
Ingredients: 300 gr. of stale Tuscan bread, tomatoes, red onion, 1 small cucumber, leaves of basil, extra virgin olive oil, red vinegar (some drops ), salt and pepper.
Preparation: Cut the bread in slices, place them in a salad-bowl and cover with water. Let the bread soak in 5 minutes then take it off and squeeze away the water in excess. Cut all the vegetables in slices or in small cubes, mix them to the bread and season with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper (as much as you like). This recipe is specially recommended for the summer season. If you want to get the best result, prepare the salad and let it rest in the refrigerator almost one hour before serving.
BREAD AND VEGETABLES SOUP
Ingredients: 300 gr. of stale bread, 5 tomatoes, 500 gr. of dried white beans, 400 gr. of black, cabbage, 300 gr. of savoy cabbage, one whole onion, one whole leak, two branches of celery, two carrots, two cloves of garlic, one thyme, one glass of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper Before you start the preparation, there are some things you need to know:You must boil the beans in much water (2-3 lt.) on a very slow fire, the water must not boil but only "move", hard boiling will spoil the beans and you will find the pan full of empty peels. Remember to season the water with: two spoonfuls of olive oil, one tomato, one clove of garlic, some sage, salt. You must take off the "ribs" from the cabbage and cut in stripes the softer part of the leaves only. You must use Tuscan bread one week old and cut it in slices of 1 cm. of thickness. The ribollita is to be prepared one day before the time you want to eat it. Find the pan full of empty peels. Remember to season the water with: two spoonfuls of olive oil, one tomato, one clove of garlic, some sage, salt. You must take off the "ribs" from the cabbage and cut in stripes the softer part of the leaves only. You must use Tuscan bread one week old and cut it in slices of 1 cm. of thickness. The ribollita is to be prepared one day before the time you want to eat it.
Preparation: Use a big pan (better if it is a piece of crockery). Mince the onion and the garlic and make them brown in olive oil, add the leak, the celery and the carrots, cut in very little pieces. Add the tomatoes in pieces, the cabbage, salt, pepper and the thyme. Let all the vegetables to dry up in a few minutes. Now keep apart ¼ of the beans previously cooked and mash the rest in their water, add this soup to the vegetables in the big pan and cook 1 hour ca. When the black cabbage is well cooked, add the beans you kept apart and allow to cook for a few minutes more. The soup will be almost "liquid" so deep inside it the slices of Tuscan bread and leave two layers of them on the bottom of the pan. Let the ribollita cool down. Warm the soup covered on a slow fire before serving, once it is served in the dish, do not put cheese over it, but a little of extra virgin olive oil.
PINCI WITH MEAT SAUCE
Ingredients: ½ Kg. flour, 1 whole egg, 1 glass water.
Preparation: Mix all ingredients together and knead dough until stiff. Roll out dough with rolling pin 1 cm. thick, cover it with a dish-towel and let rest for 20 minutes. Cut dough into strips and roll each of these shaping into long strings.
MEAT SAUCE
Ingredients: 250 gr. ground lean veal, 1 marrow-bone, 2 tuscan sausages, chicken giblets (1 or 2), parsley, carrot, onions, celery salt (s.q.), ground pepper (s.q.), 1 boullion-cube, olive oil (s.q.), ½ cup white wine, 400 gr. ripe tomatoes.
Preparation: Grind herbs in a food-processor and brown mixture in olive-oil; add ground-meat, sausages, finely chopped chicken giblets, marrow-bone, salt, pepper and bouillion-cube. When all ingredients are well browned, pour in wine and let it evaporate. Add pureed tomatoes and let simmer over low flame for about two hours.
HUMID WILD BOAR
Ingredients: Pork meat, Garlic, Rosemary, Chilli, olive oil, white and red wine, bay leaf, tomatoes salt, peeled apple.
Preparation: Clean pork meat, cut into pieces. Place in pot and let cook until liquid is formed. Remove liquid, and add garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, chili and peeled apple. Fry and add salt. When meat is cooked add red and white wine and leave to evaporate. Add tomato and cook for 2 hours till meat is tender.
CASTAGNACCIO
Ingredients: 400 grams of chestnut flour, 50 grams of pine nuts, rind of one orange, 1 twig rosemary, pinch of salt, extra virgin olive oil.
Preparation: Mix flour, salt and water, until mixture is thick and creamy. Add rosemary, orange rind, pine nuts and 1 tablespoon oil. Add mixture to mould and cook for 35 minutes at 180C.
