Chicken thighs with peppers

A quick and simple recipe that recalls mid-August Roman Ferragosto holiday (Feast of the Assumption) tradition. Here we offer a simplified version, good for lunch or dinner, and pair it with a Lago di Caldaro Classico Superiore Vigna Der Keil 2022 Manincor.

Ingredients for 4 people:

8 chicken thighs, 6 sweet pulpy peppers, 2 red garlic cloves, 2 fresh rosemary sprigs, a glass of white wine and salt and extra-virgin olive oil as needed.

Directions:

Rub the chicken thighs with salt and then let them marinate for around an hour in the white wine with the rosemary sprigs and a garlic clove split in two.

Wash the peppers and cut them in half to remove their seeds. Cut the peppers into vertical strips that are around 2cm wide.

Put two tablespoons of EVOO into a broad pan and quickly sauté the peppers letting them remain firm. Salt only at the end.

Take the chicken thighs out of the marinade, dry them carefully and then sauté them at a high heat on the skin side. Filter the juice and keep it apart.

Turn the thighs over and douse them with the marinade before continuing to cook until they are golden-brown and the skin is again crispy.

Serve the chicken on pre-warned plates with the peppers alongside and trickle over some EVOO.

Wine to pair:

(by Stefania Vinciguerra)

Lago di Caldaro Classico Superiore Vigna Der Keil 2022 Manincor

Bright soft-hued ruby. Delicately fruity on the nose reminiscent of cherry and toasted almonds, juicy on the palate, extremely “quaffable” and elegant on the finish.

Production area: Vineyard “der Keil” (monopole) at an altitude of 250 meters above sea level; south-facing sites overlooking the Lake of Kaltern, among the warmest in all South Tyrol. The old vines grown in sandyclay soils rich in calcium carbonate.

Grape variety: Various varieties of the Vernatsch family; pergola-trained old vines.

Vintage 2022: An early year, warm in summer, with sufficient and well-distributed rainfall, cool nights and sunny days in autumn. High physiological maturity, intense aromas, crisp acidity, balanced alcohol. Best conditions for long-lived wines with tension and nerve.

Harvest: Verntasch was harvested in the end of September, at the best time. The average yield per hectare was 57 hl.

Vinification: The grapes were de-stemmed and crushed and fermented in open wooden vats, partially using yeasts naturally occurring on the grapes. Skin contact lasted one week at relatively low temperatures (24° C) with the skins being gently pushed down in the embryonic wine once per day. The aroma and flavor of the wine were refined during five months’ maturation on the fine lees in a large oak barrels.

Characteristic: Biodynamic, Respekt-BIODYN, Vegan

Alcohol content: 12.5 % vol.

Total bottles: 20,400 bottles were filled.

Serving temperature: cool but not chilled, 53 - 57 °F

Suggested food pairings: Goes especially well with South Tyrolean platters of cold cuts (speck), ideal for social drinking, perfect for a big bowl of pasta or any dish based on tomato, garlic and olive oil, white meats though also fried fish.

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