Orecchiette with rapini turnip greens

This recipe is a classic in Puglia cuisine which we pair with a Caravaggio Emilia Bianco Cantine Romagnoli.

A dish that is always delicious, it is best when prepared during the year’s colder months, when the rapini, or Mediterranean turnips, become more flavorful and bitter due to the cold.

Ingredients for 4-6 people.

1/2kg orecchiette pasta, 1kg cleaned rapini, 2 large garlic cloves, 4 anchovy fillets, 2 chili peppers and extra-virgin olive oil as needed, with the quantity of garlic, anchovies and chili pepper depending on personal preferences. Optional: bread crumbs.

Directions:

Boil the rapini in salted water making sure not to overcook them, given that they will cook further together with the pasta. Drain and save the water since it will be used to cook the orecchiette.

In a large aluminum or non-stick pan, add an ample amount of EVOO, the garlic cloves that have been peeled and crushed, the chili peppers that have been broken into pieces and the anchovy fillets. Sauté everything at a medium heat and, using a wooden spoon, break up and dissolve the anchovies. Turn off the heat when the garlic begins to brown.

In the meantime, boil the orecchiette in the water used for the rapini and drain when they are still undercooked, very al dente.

Turn the heat back up high under the pan with the oil and add the rapini and the orecchiette. Stir continuously until all ingredients have fully cooked and have been flavored by the oil.

If desired, you can sprinkle on top some “poor man’s cheese”, which is nothing more than dried bread crumbs, which were fried aside in EVOO.

Bring the pan, still hot, to the table and serve.

Wine to pair:

(edited by Stefania Vinciguerra)

Caravaggio Emilia Bianco Igt Cantine Romagnoli

Even the deep yellow color reveals that certain richness that is found at the tasting. The nose is typical of Malvasia, with white flowers and hints of white tropical fruit, and the taste has a corpulent structure but excellent acidity with a slight residual sugar that promotes the pleasantness of drinking and emphasizes the typicality.

Production area: Villò di Vigolzone, in the province of Piacenza, in an area that rises from the river Nure to a plateau, between 190 and 230 meters high. The soils are red clays of ancient origin, with deposits of iron and other mineral elements.

Grape variety: Malvasia di Candia aromatica,  cultivated in vineyards facing South and South-East, with a planting density of 4500 plants/Ha and Guyot management of vines with renewable shoots. Yield of 75 q.li/ha.

Harvest: manual harvesting in boxes. A part of the grapes, about 20%, is harvested late in order to ensure the bunches a higher sugar and aromatic concentration, reached naturally on the plants with the temperatures of late autumn.

Production: soft crushing and equally soft pressing. The fermentation, started after static clarification of the must, is carried out at a controlled temperature of about 16°C for a period of about one month. After fermentation, the part obtained from overripe grapes matures for about twelve months in French oak barriques of second and third passage, the rest is aged in steel. The wine is then blended in tanks, bottling follows.

Alcoholic content: 13% vol.

Serving temperature: 6-8°C

Suggested food pairings: raw fish dishes, first courses with light vegetable and fish sauces, second courses with white meat and baked fish.

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