Gragnano paccheri pasta with a Nebrodi pork ragu sauce

This dish is complimented by a Sicilian-style mollicata (crumb) on a provola delle Madonie cheese and carrot fondue, according to a recipe from Giuseppe Costantino, the owner-chef of Ristorante Terrazza Costantino in Sclafani Bagni. We pair it with a Nizza Le Nicchie 2017 La Gironda.

Ingredients for 4 people:

16 Gragnano paccheri, 400g ground Nebrodi pork shoulder, 1 carrot, ½ onion, 1 celery stick, ½ glass red wine, 1 tablespoon tomato paste and Parmigiano Reggiano as needed.

For the mollicata: 100g durum wheat crumb, olive oil, 1 shallot, 4 dried tomatoes, 2 anchovies in oil, 1 garlic clove, 5 capers, 20g Sicilian pecorino sheep cheese, 1 tablespoon fresh tomatoes, parsley, basil and oregano as desired.

For the fondue: 150ml whole milk, 4 thin slices provola della Madonie cheese, 20g butter, 2 carrots, nutmeg, salt and black pepper.

Directions:

In a pan sauté the celery, carrot and onion and then add the ground pork. Brown the meat and then douse with the wine, add the tomato paste and continue to cook to obtain a rather thick ragu sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.

For the mollicata: Toast the crumb in an oven pre-heated to 180°C. In the meantime, sauté the shallot in a pan with olive oil. Add the crumb to the pan together with all the other ingredients with the exception of the parsley and basil which are added at the end.

Mix together and then blend in a mixer to make it finer.

For the fondue: Let the provola soak in the milk for a couple of hours then heat to dissolve the cheese together with the butter and add nutmeg, pepper and, eventually, salt.

Meanwhile, boil the carrots until they are soft and at the end add them to the fondue. Blend in order to obtain a smooth and homogenous composition.

Boil the paccheri in abundant salted water, drain when they are al dente (semi-cooked) and rinse in cold water to keep them from cooking further. Stuff the paccheri with the ragu and sprinkle over the mollicata and Parmigiano.

Broil for a couple of minutes.

Plate presentation: Spread some fondue on a flat plate, place four paccheri on top and garnish with the mollicata and a rosemary spring.

Wine to pair:

(edited by Stefania Vinciguerra)

Nizza Le Nicchie 2017 La Gironda

Dark and bright red color. Clear, intense and attractive aromas of dark flowers and fruits, then underbrush, bark and cinchona. Compact taste, almost powerful but never sickly due to the good tannins in the progression that sustain the drinkability and lead to the juicy and persistent finish.

Production area: the older and best-exposed hilly vineyards located in the municipality of Nizza Monferrato Località Bricco at an altitude of 260 metres a.s.l. Exposure: south-southwest, type of soil: sandy marls and clay.

Grape vatiery: Barbera, density 5,000 plants/ha and average yield 40 hl/ha.

Harvest: the completely ripe grapes were picked in the middle of October 2016 and placed in crates weighing 18 Kg each.

Vinification: Pied de cuve is done the day before harvest to activate the fermentation, using autochthonous yeasts produced from Barbera grapes. Destalking and soft pressing of grapes.  Fermentation in stainless-steel temperature-controlled vats at a temperature of 28-30°C for 10 days. The wine is drawn off and the first decanting occurs 15 days afterwards. After the second decanting, the wine is stored in stainless-steel vats, where the malolactic fermentation takes place. The wine stays in stainless-steel vats for a while and then it ages for 12 months in French barriques and tonneaux and partly in 15 hl casks for at least 12 months. After bottling the wine remains in the cellar for at least another 12 months. It is put on sale minimum 3 years after the harvest.

Alcohol content: 15.50% vol. 

Serving temperature: 16-18°C.

Suggested food pairings: rich and succulent first courses, important main courses of red meat roasts, pepper fillet, mixed boiled or braised meat, lamb, wild fowl and game. Well-matured cheese or more prestigious steaks, such as Fassona, a nice juicy T-Bone, or delicious braised “Bue Grasso” (fattened ox meat) typical of Nizza.

THIS RECIPE IS OFFERED BY LA GIRONDA

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