Cod with crusco peppers

Today’s recipe is a simple and quick fish plate served with crusco peppers and seasoned with extra-virgin olive oil, a typical Christmas dish but one served year-round. We pair it with a Sicilia Bianco Adènzia 2020 Baglio del Cristo di Campobello.

Crusco peppers, also known as Senise peppers, are a recognized PGI product from the region of Basilicata. Sweet and flavorful, they can be preserved all year and are used in many typical regional recipes or served simply with boiled potatoes and eggs.

Ingredients for 4 people:

1kg soft cod, 100g crusca peppers and a half glass of extra-virgin olive oil.

Directions:

Put the cod into a pan of cold water, bring it to a boil and cook the cod for around 15 minutes. Drain the fish and let it cool. Remove any bones using tweezers.

Clean the peppers with a damp rag, cut them into pieces and eliminate the seeds and inner stalk.

Put the EVOO into a pan with the peppers and heat slowly for a few minutes making sure the peppers do not fry nor burn but become crispy.

Remove the peppers from the heat and let them stand for a few minutes before spooning the oil and peppers over the cod. Let the fish stand for a few minutes to absorb the flavor.

Serve on flat plates.

Wine to pair:

(edited by Stefania Vinciguerra)

Sicilia Adènzia Bianco 2020 Baglio del Cristo di Campobello 

Straw yellow color. Fragrant and complex, with notes of wild flowers, flint, citron, medlar and yellow plum. Taste taut and agile, with the right acid-savory components, good structure and a persistent fruity note.

Production area: Campobello di Licata in the area of Agrigento, Sicily, at 8,000 meters from the coast. Hilly terrain, mainly calcareous soil, with dark patches, 260 meters above sea level. 

Grape varieties: Grillo and Inzolia in equal parts, with 4,000 plants per hectare and a yield of 100 q/ha. 

Harvest: Grillo grapes harvested between the third decade of August and the first decade of September, while Insolia grapes during the first decade of September. 

Vinification: fermentation in stainless steel tanks and aging on the lees for about 6 months.

Alcohol content: 13% vol.

Serving temperature: 8-10°C.

Trivia: the name Adènzia derives from a dialectal form: "dare adènzia" in Sicilian means giving audience.

Related Products