Grilled cuttlefish with confit tomatoes

The cuttlefish has a well-defined taste and is very versatile in the cuisine. This time we taste it paired with Montechiari Brut Donna Catherine 2016 Fattoria di Montechiari.

Ingredients for four people:

8 cuttlefish not too big (preferably Italian), extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt, chopped parsley, 8 tomatoes, confit ingredients (garlic cloves, thyme and lemon peel) and confectionary sugar.

Directions: 

Clean the cuttlefish making sure not to break the ink sacks. Keep two sacks for later use.

Dip the cleaned cuttlefish in boiling water for about five seconds and then put them in ice water. This will soften them. Dry the fish well with paper towels and peel off the outer skins. Rub the fish with a mix of lemon juice, salt and a trickle of olive oil.

Heat a cast iron skillet or a non-stick pan and cook the fish a couple of minutes per side, flattening them slightly with a spatula.

Warm a ½ cup of water in a small pan, squeeze in the ink and then filter everything with gauze or a very fine strainer and put to the side.

For the confit tomatoes: place the whole tomatoes in a pan and season them with olive oil, salt, a dusting of confectionary sugar, three unpeeled garlic cloves, sticks of thyme and the yellow strip of a lemon peel. Place the pan in an oven pre-heated to 100°C for three hours or until they have dried.

Take four plates and with a brush paint a stripe of black ink on each. Place two cuttlefish per plate with the confit tomatoes. Dress with olive oil, salt and lemon juice and sprinkle chopped parsley on top.

Wine to pair:

(edited by Stefania Vinciguerra)

Montechiari Brut Donna Catherine 2016 Fattoria di Montechiari

It has the color of a pale rose petal and slight perlage. The nose leads back to the original grape, Pinot noir, with small berries accompanied by citrus scents of pink grapefruit and kumquat and a delicate spice. The taste is fresh, of good volume, with a pleasant saline note and delicate bubbles.

Production area: the hills of Montecarlo near Lucca in Tuscany (200 meters above sea level); the vineyards where the Pinot noir is grown, in the farms of Galante Alto and Galante Basso, were identified by Giacomo Tachis.

Grape variety: 100% Pinot noir from over thirty years old vineyards on medium mixtured, sandy soil rich in bone.

Harvest: manual, in August.

Winemaking: manual sorting table, fermentation at thermo-controlled temperature. Classic method at least 18 months on yeasts. All stages of wine processing, in the vineyard and in the cellar, follow the biological process.

Alcoholic content: 12.5% vol.

Serving temperature: 6-8°C. 

Suggested food pairings: good as an aperitif, even better during the meal, especially with fish dishes.