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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

An Italian Feast Paired With Beers

A few weekend past, some friends and I did what I enjoy most, cooking a nice meal, and joking around.  I chose to do a taste of  Italy at harvest time, to be paired with a variety of beers (Belgian, French Canadian, Italian).

Menu
Antipasti – insalata di pomodori con bocconcini y prosciutto – Birra Duvel
Primi – Bucantini all’Amatriciana – Birra Moretti
Secondi – Salsicca all’Uva e Spinaci alla Genovese – Birra Blanche de Chambly
Dolci – Ricotta con Mielle, Pesche e Canella – Birra Pecheresse

I chose to do a classic Tomato and Bocconcini salad with Prosciutto, I did a quick improve because we had an  extra mouth to feed, I ended up doing a chiffonade of prosciutto. This was paired with the Belgian classic, Duvel, a light, crisp, clean beer that wouldn't over whelm our pallet.

Because of it's texture bucantini has become a new favourite choice of pasta,  and Bucantini all' Amatriciana is well established in my repertoire. The Italian Moretti is a light lager that isn't too assertive, it's slight bitterness is a nice accompaniment to the sweetness of the Amactriciana.

For the Secondi and Contorno, I originally intended to get Blonde de Chambly (a saison pale ale), but mistakenly got Blanche de Chambly (a Belgian white ale).  the Blanche de Chambly is a yeasty, lightly spiced white beer, was a nice balance to the spice and fruit flavours of our secondi.  The sausage I chose a sweet Italian sausage and added a splash of fennel seeds to add an anise note to the plate.  Since I was using panchetta in another course, I swapped the anchovies in the spinach for some panchetta. I added some dried sour cherries with the raisins to add an extra layer of flavour to the contorno.

Finally, a simple desert.  I cut some ricotta with some low fat cottage cheese, a splash of salt, and cinnamon to taste.  Add some sliced peaches and drizzle with a good honey.  I served a Peach Lambic, Pecheresse, to round out the meal.

I will be doing my recipes in other posts so stay tuned.


More Later....
G

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