Montauto presents Il Pellicano restaurant in Porto Ercole

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.

This luxury boutique hotel in Porto Ercole is a familiar romantic getaway for discerning guests all over the world and those seeking exclusive weekend breaks from Rome, on the Tuscan Coast. Its restaurant is led by Michelino Gioia, a Michelin-starred chef who relishes the bountiful produce of Italy giving individual ingredients due respect, allowing each to stride across your palate with pride. 

Every morning fishermen present their catch at the kitchen door, lamb arrives from Tuscany, T Bone steaks from Chianina cow and Chef Gioia grazes the gardens for Mediterranean herbs. He will order in some of his favorite ingredients: pigeon, oyster, red mullet, blue lobster and shrimps; all will appear on the menu in gastronomic form.

New dishes to anticipate on Il Pellicano’s menu will include scallops created with pork crackling, creamed potatoes, apple sauce and red wine; ravioli filled with tomatoes, burrata cream and raw red shrimp; and turbot with stuffed endive and anchovy sauce. After dinner, a stylish trolley rolls out with slabs of velvety chocolate to be casually chiseled. 

Piano music drifts through the night air brushing elegant shoulders in evening dress, the moon rises into an impossibly large orange orb, fishermen’s lights flicker on the inky bay below seeking out something fresh for the morrow.  

The proposed recipe:

Scallops, Piglet’s feet biscuit, applesauce and soft potatoes purée

Ingredients for 4 servings:

For the Scallops: Scallops n.12; Sprig of thyme n.4, Extra-virgin olive oil g. 80; Clove of garlic n.1; Salt and pepper

For the Piglet's feet biscuit: Piglet's feet kg 1.5; Fragrant herbs; Butter g. 80; Demi-glace g. 150; Extra-virgin olive oil g. 100; Coarse salt g. 500; Salt and pepper; Sprig of thyme n. 3; Clove of garlic n.2

For the Soft potatoes purée: Ratte potatoes g. 330; Echiré butter g. 150; Fresh whole milk g. 100; Salt and pepper

For the Applesauce: Apple n. 1; Water g. 200; Sprig of thyme n. 1; Salt to taste; Xantana g. 1

For the Red wine sauce: Red wine g. 300; Sugar g. 30; Cinnamon g. 10; Cloves n. 1

For the Garnish: Shiso sprout leaves n. 4; Purple potatoes chips n. 8; Potatoes goffrate chips n. 8; Extra- virgin olive oil of Sabine

Directions: 

For the scallops: Clean the scallops, remove its coral, wash and dry them. Cook them in a no stick pan with extra virgin olive oil, a clove of garlic, thyme and salt. Scallops must be golden outside and soft inside. 

For the piglet's feet biscuit: Leave the piglet's feet under salt and fragrant herbs for 12 hours. After that put them under running water for one hour. Dry them with a kitchen towel or paper and cook with olive oil in a pan until the feet becomes golden.

Let them cool and vacuum seal with all the other ingredients except the demi-glace and after cook in a steam oven at 68 degrees for 24-36 hours.

Open the vacuum bag and take the meet and all the cartilage of the cooked feet; chop them using a knife and season them with salt, pepper and the demi-glace. 

Spread the film on the table, pour the mixture on it and create a roll, making sure to close the ends well. Let it rest in the fridge and after cut in little slices of 0.7 mm. Either cook in a no stick pan and golden both side or cook them under the salamander.

For the soft potatoes purée: Cook the whole potatoes in a boiling salted water and after peal them. Put in the potato-masher and sieve two times if necessary. Put the hot potatoes in the mixer and add the hot milk and the soft butter slowly and after salt and pepper mixing slowly. 

After adding milk and butter the mixture must be fine and velvety (if the potatoes are too soft, do not add the milk and lower the amount of butter).

For the applesauce: Wash the apple, vacuum seal it with the water, thyme and salt. Cook it in a steam oven at 100 degrees for 10 minutes; cool down the vacuum bag in iced water and after cut the apple in 4 pieces and remove the seeds. Blend and sieve the apple and use the xanthana if necessary.

For the red wine sauce: Brown the sugar in a pan and add the red wine and all the other ingredients; reduce it to the desired consistency. Let it cool and serve the sauce apart. 

For the plate assembly: In a rectangular dish, put three slices of the rolled piglet's feet with the seared scallops on top, add two quenelles of potatoes with the potatoes chips on top. Add the two sauces in the sides and garnish with Shiso sprout leaves.

Wine to pair: 

Maremma Toscana Enos I 2019 Montauto

Straw yellow with shades of light green. The nose opens gracefully and elegantly with notes of exotic fruit (passion fruit) and traces of flint. On the palate, the flavors are fresh and linear, interlaced with a velvety texture and a salty, harmonious and persistent finish.

Production area: the southern part of Grosseto province, in the Maremma hinterland; the vineyards are located at 200 meters above sea level and 10 km from the Tuscan coast. The soil is predominantly clayey and stony and is characterized by sharp temperature variations between day and night. 

Grape variety: 100% Sauvignon. The grapes come from 40 years old vines, managed with organic method and trained with high spurred cordon, in order to favor shading during the summer heath and avoid an undesired oxidation, with 3300 vines per hectare.

Harvest: when fully ripe, grapes are selected and harvested manually. The grape harvest takes place during the last ten days of August, starting very early in the morning, in order to guarantee a cool temperature when the grapes are brought to the wine cellar and to lower the risk of undesired fermentation.

Vinification: soft pressing of the whole bunch of grapes. Settling for 36 hours, fermentation in stainless steel tanks at a constant controlled temperature of 16°C.

Serving temperature: 8-10°C.

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