Buon Giorno!

This month, we travel to Liguria, the third smallest of Italy's provinces of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. Liguria is a very small wine-producing region located in northwest Italy on the Ligurian Sea. It touches France's Provence region on the west end and tuscany on the east. This area is on the Italian Riviera and includes well-known resort areas like Potofino and San Remo, as well as the port city of Genoa. Liguria has only about 12,000 vineyard acres, and its wine production is one of the smallest of the twenty Italian wine-producing regions. It contains the DOCs of Cinqueterre, Colli di Luni, Colline di Levanto, Golfo del Tigullio, Riviera Ligure di Ponente, Rossese di Dolceacqua and Val Polcevera. It is the home of pesto, ciuppin, and great seafood.

As is our custom in the Italian club, we present two wines this month,  both from Bisson, Liguria's finest producer of wines. First off, their lovely 2006 Golfo del Tigullio, Bianchetta Genovese, Ü Pastine ($22.50), a mid-weight white that goes with all sorts of seafood, and their 2006 Il Granaccio  IGT($28.50), a grenache that has high acidity and nice balance.           


Recipes:  For the Bianchetto  Linguine al Pesto.             
This recipe comes courtesy of Jeff's ex-wife, Karen Croft, whose brother in law,  Elio Guaitolini, owns  Elio's in New York (Italian restaurant to the stars and one of the best exemplars of Ligurian cuisine anywhere).  Karen adapted this recipe from Elio's mama, who made it for her in the family home on the Ligurian coast. 

Servings: 4
Ingredients:

• 2 [tiny] cloves garlic [Elio's sister used a half of a small clove to serve 8 people,but that is probably because the basil where she lives is so fine and delicate that more garlic would have overpowered it]
• 2 bunches of basil leaves [stems removed; use the tenderest leaves possible, wash them and dry several times on paper towels to get all moisture off]
• a small handful of pine nuts, toasted lightly in a dry frying pan
• 1/2 t. salt [use Italian sea salt]
• 2 1/2 cups olive oil [this is the time to use the best you can afford; preferably from Liguria]
• 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley [Italian]
• 3 Tablespoons Pecorino Romano cheese, grated [or half Parmesan, half Pecorino]
• 1 1/2 pounds thin linguine
• More salt to taste
•  a small knob of soft butter
•  reserve some pasta cooking water to thin the sauce
  

Combine first six ingredients in a fblender at medium speed for 3-4 minutes. Set aside.
Bring a pot of 2 quarts water to the boil. Add salt [a good handful; it should be like sea water]. Cook linguine for 4-5 minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta and return to pot [or to a warm serving bowl to which you have added a small knob of soft butter]. Add pesto and combine. If pasta is dry, add some reserved pasta cooking water. Add grated cheese and serve.

Buon Appetito!!!             

For the Granacci;  Cappellini in Red Sauce.
I've only been to Liguria a few times.  Really, all I know about Liguria is courtesy of my late friend Modesto Lanzone, who owned a great eponymous restaurant in the Opera Plaza in the '80s.

 I spent a lot of time there when I was a film PR guy for the theatre next door, listening to Modesto's great stories about food and art and his childhood in Genoa, all the while wolfing down this simple, but esatisfying pasta.  Modesto and his son Gene would regale me with stories of the Cinque Terra, of Genoa, San Franciso in the late sixties,  and the road down to Florence.  Who knew if the stories were true - they all sounded great.....

Ingredients

• One package Capellini
• 2 lbs fresh ripe tomatoes, skinned
  
• 1 clove garlic, smashed and diced
  
• 1/2 small onion, minced
• olive oil
• basil for garnish
• salt
• olive oil
• grating cheese (Reggiano preferably)

Boil a pot of water.  Sauté onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil until translucent.  Dice skinned tomatoesand toss in pan. Let cook for 10-15 minutes until sauce consitency.  Add some salt to taste.
Throw dried pasta in water. Let cook according to directions (1-3 mins).  Drain.   Divide sauce into two bowls.  Toss pasta into one bowl, covering thoroughly, but lightly with sauce.  Plate pasta.  Drop a few tablesppons of sauce over pasta, grate cheese over, and top with a few fresh basil leaves.  Serve

• < Prev
• Next >