GORDON RAMSAY RECIPES

Grappa is a distillate that has been made in Italy since ancient times, and can also be used in the kitchen to prepare delicious dishes or to accompany tasty canapés. Seeing is believing!

If they told you to blend a rice with a white wine or to cook a braise in an important red, you would not find anything to say: in fact, wine has always been part of the kitchen. Instead, it is more difficult to think of including in the ingredients of a recipe a grappa. Perhaps because of its high alcohol content, or its taste, undoubtedly strong and, at least in appearance, unattainable. But experimenting is the key word and then try to include grappa in your shopping list (and not just for solipsistic meditations!).

What is grappa?

Grappa is a pomace distillate made from grapes vinified and then distilled only in Italy. It has a high alcohol content, which starts at a minimum of 37.5 ° (40 ° for grappas with a typical geographical indication). It is made throughout Italy, although the greatest production and the greatest consumption are concentrated in the north-eastern areas, in Veneto, Trentino and Friuli Venezia Giulia. Grappas are classified according to age, refinement, the type of grapes from which they derive and the essences used to flavor them. The best ones are generally those from varietal grapes, usually aromatic or semi-aromatic.

Grappa in the kitchen

The best way to taste a grappa is with del bitter chocolate, an ingredient capable of enhancing all its aromatic outfit. On the table then, grappas they go well with cheeses: the young ones are perfect if tasted with blue-veined cheeses, the aromatic ones, Moscato or Gewurztraminer, they are excellent to accompany the semi-mature cheeses, while the aged ones are best enjoyed with smoked cheeses.

Grappa in the kitchen: two recipes

Grappa Moscato Rice

Ingredients for 4 people
50 g butter, 320 g Carnaroli rice, half an onion, 16 red Sicilian prawns, 20 sage leaves, 5 cl Piemontese Moscato Grappa, frying oil, 20 g flour, 1.5 l vegetable broth

Method
First shell the prawns, remove the heads and set them aside. Put the clean shrimp tails on a sheet of baking paper, cover with a second sheet and then gently mash with a meat tenderizer. Brown the onion in a pan with a little butter, add the rice and toast it. Sprinkle with grappa, let it evaporate and then add the hot broth. Crush the shrimp heads and add the liquid that will come out of the stock. Wash, dry and then flour the sage leaves and fry them in hot oil, turning them two or three times, until they are golden brown. Remove them from the oil and leave them to dry on absorbent paper. Once the rice is ready, place it in the center of the plate, add the chopped prawns and finish with the golden sage. Complete with a handful of black pepper and a few drops of grappa to taste.

Pork fillet medallions with Grappa Stravecchia and pine nuts

Ingredients for 2 people
1 pork fillet of 400 g, 40 g shallots, 30 g butter, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 30 g pine nuts, Worcester sauce, mustard, vegetable broth, 5 cl Stravecchia Grappa

Method
Coarsely chop the pine nuts. Slice the shallot and sauté in a pan with the butter. When it is golden, add the cut meat into slices about 2 cm thick. Brown, then add a tablespoon of mustard, pine nuts, a few drops of Worcester sauce and continue cooking for about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with Grappa, add half a ladle of vegetable broth and let thicken. Place the meat medallions on a plate and finish with a spoonful of their seasoning.

Browse now the tutorial to discover some more ideas to accompany grappas

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how to use grappa in the kitchen for unusual recipes – Italian Cuisine