Tolaini presents Osteria da Bernardo in Pisa

Wineries embrace restaurants. For the column “Ristorante Amico” (Friend-restaurant), a wine producer presents one of his favorite restaurants, which in return offers a recipe paired with one of his wines. 

In the central Piazza S. Paolo all'Orto, behind the Theater of Pisa, a few steps from the Arno, is the Osteria da Bernardo, which has made the quality of the offer - food and hospitality - its distinctive feature.

The environment is studied in detail and offers an elegant setting, where you can stay in intimacy and tranquility, pampered by the staff of the Osteria, even in the large outdoor area. While sipping an aperitif while waiting for the table, attention is drawn to the quantity of labels on the shelves: Tuscany first of all, but also other interesting terroirs.The menu has its strengths in the quality of the raw material and in the imagination of the proposals, in a continuous dialogue between tradition and innovation.

At the helm of the restaurant, since 2016, the young Robert Mozzachiodi, former founder of the Hidden Garden of Coltano, immediately distinguished for taste and professionalism

The proposed recipe:

Ischian rabbit and eggplant pie

Ingredients for 4 people:

A rabbit weighing approx. 1 kg., 900 g of peeled tomatoes from Agro Sarnese Nocerino, 5 cloves of Voghiera garlic DOP, 100 cc of extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 fresh chilli, 2 eggplants, 1 sprig of parsley, 1 bunch of basil, 1 organic lemon from Sorrento, salt, pepper, ice, rice starch.

Direnctions:

Cut the rabbit into medium-sized pieces and put it in a saucepan together with the oil and garlic and chilli and a few basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about an hour.

Debone the rabbit pieces and set them aside in their sauce. Remove the garlic cloves.

Cut the eggplants in half and empty them in order to obtain two "chests". Cut the pulp into pieces of half a centimeter. Sprinkle the pieces of salt, put them in a colander and let them release all their water.

Fry the chests and chunks in plenty of peanut oil.

Blend the basil leaves together with a few ice cubes, pass the liquid through a fine sieve and slightly thicken the liquid obtained with a pinch of rice starch previously dissolved in a little warm water.

Mix the chopped eggplants with the boned rabbit and its sauce and fill the chests.

Put them in the oven at 180° for 10 minutes.

Garnish each chest with a few drops of basil extract, julienned basil leaves and grated lemon zest.

Wine to pair:

Picconero 2011 Tolaini

Clear, very deep ruby-red color with garnet highlights. Clean with intense aromas of cherry, plums and wild berries, and nuances of spice, vanilla and licorice. Rich, concentrated and muscular, yet wonderfully balanced with big tannins. A long flavorful aftertaste echoes with juicy fruit and mouthwatering tannins for minutes afterwards. Sensual and young, this wine promises a long life in the bottle. Note: Some sediment may occur in the bottom of the bottle, as the wine is not filtered. 

Production area: Castelnuovo Berardenga, in Chianti Classico, on lime and clay soils with a considerable presence of gravel size stones. 

Grape varieties: Merlot 65% and Cabernet Franc 35%. Plantings completed in spring 2000 with a planting density of 6,900 to 11,000 vines per hectare. Yield is 50 q/ha.

Vinification: Grapes are firstly selected during harvest in the vineyard and then on the sorting table when they arrive to the winery; they are destemmed and the whole berries are immediately put into French oak fermenters. The temperature is computer controlled in the tanks where the must is kept in contact with the skins for about 30 days; manual pigiage and remontage are done frequently, throughout the day every 4-6 hours and weekly one delestage is done. Malolactic fermentation takes place in French oak barriques (100% new). Maturation is on fine lees for 6 months in barriques. Aging is 18 months in barriques, 12 months in bottle.

Production of 2011 vintage: 15,500 bottles.

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