This week the Walkingwine 3-wheeler stopped in “The white city” Ostuni – Puglia at Ristorante Porta Nova and paired a Zin – Fiano Salento white wine with a “Black Trofie Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Cuttlefish” dish.
Porta Nova is set on a breathtaking view terrace inside a XV Century Aragonese donjon and it offers a lovely view on the olive trees valley and on the Ostuni shore.
“Passionate, territorial and feminine” is the definition Erika Ciaccia, the chef of this renowned and fine restaurant, gives her cuisine. She offers a cuisine with excellent and local ingredients with an international style.
The restaurant opening by Tonino Ciaccia is dated 1989, and since then Erika loves to spend time with her dad in the kitchen. Her passion grew over time and has been strengthened thanks to a master with Massimiliano Alajmo. the youngest chef to gain 3 Michelin stars. Beside that, Erika went to the finals of “Hell’s Kitchen”, in the Italian television. Since she was 18 years old, Erika is the chef of Porta Nova.
Today she has prepared for us a fish dish that perfectly blends different ingredients and flavours typical of Southern Italy. This dish is enhanced by the distinct personality and structure of Zin – Fiano, as recommended by Walkingwine.
The dish: Black Trofie Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Cuttlefish
INGREDIENTS for 4 servings
350 g cuttlefish ink black pasta trofie
400 g broccoli rabe
400 g cuttlefish, small, cleaned and cut into julienne
2 handfuls fried grated bread crumbs
extra vergine olive oil
1 garlic clove, remove the green bud if present
2-3 laurel leaves
2-3 anchovy fillets in oil or fresh
10 cherry tomatoes
1/2 glass white wine
Pour some water in a pot and bring to a boil. Clean the broccoli rabe, cutting off the hardest parts, then chop them roughly and place them, when the water is boiling, in the pot with salt.
In a large pan heat 2-3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, add the garlic, the anchovies and laurel and let cook for a few minutes while breaking the anchovies with a wooden spoon (until they sort of melt). Pour the wine in and let it evaporate for few minutes. Switch off the heat and set the sauce aside.
In another medium frying pan prepare the fried crumb bread. Preheat the pan on medium heat, pour a bit of oil to coat the entire pan. Add the bread and with a wooden spoon toss to absorb all of the oil. Keep mixing until the bread is deep golden and then switch off the heat.
When the broccoli rabe are soft drain them, keeping the water in the pot and cook (when it is boiling again) the pasta in it. Keep aside the broccoli rabe.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. As soon as the oil is hot, add the cuttlefish and sauté for 5 minutes.
Drain the pasta (check the cooking time on the box) and pour in the pan with the sauce, then add the cuttlefish and the broccoli rabe, gently mix all togheter. Finish the dish with the bread crumbs.
The wine: Zin white wine Fiano
Wine cellar: Produttori Vini di Manduria
Grape variety: Fiano 100%
Sensory characteristics: The aroma is intense and complex, with sweet white fruit (apple and pear), it expresses a delicate floral bouquet of orange flowers. On the palate the taste is dry, well-structured, fresh, sapid, full recalls the olfactory sensations.
Vinification: is done in white and part of the grape harvests in mid-September. After harvesting the fermentation is made at a controlled temperature.
mad and delicacy 
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