This year, the order of the day for Easter is: innovation! For once we are putting aside traditional dishes to prepare three dishes that are completely unusual, but which are no less inviting. We have chosen a recipe that is classic and yet little known. A first course that expertly combines the culinary traditions of Sardinia and those of Emilia; and a high-impact second course that will also be exquisite. If you are looking for the perfect Easter menu, you can start to make appointments!
Easter menu: 3 recipes and 3 wines to amaze
Piedmontese antipasto
It begins with an homage to tradition: a must from our region, the perfect way to begin the meal. A mixture of flavoursome vegetables aromatised with vinegar and nestled on a bed of tomatoes. The recipe is simple. A piece of advice? Prepare it at least one day in advance. The flavours will become noticeably more intense.
Serve this traditional dish with a mixture of cured meats: we recommend Hungarian Salami to give a spicy touch to the antipasto, and Finocchiona, a typical Tuscan cold cut with a gentle and inviting taste.
The right wine? We have chosen the decisive territoriality of the Primitivo Puglia: a meeting of flavours and territories, an inviting panorama of the best of Made in Italy…and more! And if you should have any doubts about the merit of this combination, because generally you should follow a scale of growing intensity, put them aside. The first sip of this red will sweep aside all hesitations!
Carasau Bread Lasagne
Simple and irresistible: here’s how to cook it
Ingredients
200g Carasau bread, vegetable stock, white wine, Genovese pesto, Parmigiano Reggiano, whole milk, 100g flour, butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg
Preparation
Prepare the béchamel: heat the milk in a saucepan, and at the same time melt the butter in a pan. When it has liquefied, remove the butter from the heat and add the flour, all at once. Return to the heat (very low) and cook until it becomes golden in colour.
Remove from the heat, and add a pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper. Then begin to pour the tepid milk over the butter and flour mixture (the French call this a roux). Amalgamate carefully to avoid lumps; mix and then return to the heat. When it begins to boil, after 5-6 minutes, the béchamel is ready.
Heat 250ml of vegetable stock. When it is tepid, remove from the heat. Immerse the Carasau bread into the stock for a few seconds, drain and then begin to arrange it at the bottom of a pan with high edges. Add plenty of béchamel and two or three spoonfuls of pesto. Mix, cover with a sprinkling of cheese and then create another layer. When you have used up the ingredients, cover with a more generous sprinkling of parmesan and cook in a pre-heated oven at 160° for roughly 30-40 minutes. When the lasagne seems ready, increase the temperature to 180° (or select the grill function) to lightly brown the surface.
Uncork a Raggiante Bianco: the delicateness this wine’s bouquet will make way for the intense perfumes of the lasagne, completing the sensory experience of this quality first course with a full flavour and fresh, evocative notes.
Mixed seafood with artichokes and onion rings
Celebrate spring with a second dish featuring irresistible Mediterranean notes
Ingredients
Around twenty anchovies, around twenty prawns, 6 artichokes, 6 golden onions, rice flour, turmeric, a few leaves of parsley, extra virgin olive oil, salt and black pepper
Preparation
Wash the anchovies, remove the fishbone cutting through one side only. Then dry them carefully and place to one side. Remove the carapace from the prawns without removing the tail. Rinse under cold running water, then dry them and place aside. Clean the vegetables and slice them finely, taking care to cut the onion into whole disks; only when they are perfectly dry, place them in a paper bag (the kind usually used for bread) with three or four spoons of rice flour, close the bag with one hand and shake. Check that the onion rings have been uniformly covered and then place aside.
Dice the parsley; add the diced leaves to the rice flour on a deep plate, sprinkle with the turmeric and place the fish and crustaceans on the plate. Press them firmly and turn, so that they become uniformly covered.
Heat plenty of extra virgin olive oil in a pan: why extra virgin? Because it has a higher level of heat resistance and is healthier and tastier for frying! When you have reached the perfect temperature (check by dropping a crumb of bread into the pan, to see whether bubbles form around it), begin to cook firstly the vegetables and then the fish. When everything is golden brown, drain and pat with absorbent paper. Serve your spectacular mixed seafood dish while still piping hot!
With this delicacy that speaks of spring, uncork a Premium Class Sparkling White: a persuasive Bollicina, perfect for matching the intensity of the fried food and giving a complex of inviting and always delicately balanced aromas, sip after sip.
All that remains is to wish you…Bon Appétit!