Saturday, April 7, 2018

Scallop Crudo #ItalianFTW

Our Italian Food, Travel and Wine group are celebrating Spring this month with Verdicchio wine.  This event is being hosted by my friend Cam, of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.  You can read her invitation post here.

I was pretty excited a few weeks ago when I discovered a wine store only 20-30 minutes from my home that carries a great selection and will order up anything that they don't have in stock.

This is certainly much better than the alternative of 1 hr. each way to the wine store I was using and, not being strictly wines but an International Marketplace, wasn't conducive to special orders.

They did not have any Verdicchio on the shelves but he wrote down the varietal I needed and said he would contact his provider and find the best bottle he could in the price range I wanted, less than $30.

He provided me with this bottle of 2014 Verdicchio dei Cestelli di Jesi by Marchetti Vineyards.  I paid less than $20 for this wine.  My new friend, Gassan, owner of Keg & Kone also ordered a bottle for himself so that he could try it.  I'm anxious for my next visit with him so that we can compare notes.


Verde means green and some Verdicchio have green undertones.  Mine was more golden but did have a "grassy" taste to it so I guess that could account for the "green".  This wine was wonderful.
Grass and citrus undertones and a crisp bright finish.  

The website linked above provides information that this is a small bottling, only 900 cases.  The grapes are grown in clay, limestone and sand.  It is 100% verdicchio grapes that are free run juice meaning no pressing is used for this wine that is aged in the bottle for 4 months before sale.

Further investigation as to food and wine pairings with the Verdicchio varietal showed many suggestions for seafood of all sorts, including Sashimi.  I decided that an Italian wine deserved to be paired with an Italian dish.  The Italian version of raw seafood is called Crudo.

However, the recipe I used came from Marcus Samuelsson.  You probably know Samuelsson from television and cookbooks.  I got to know him a little bit better when his memoirs, Yes Chef, was assigned reading for our Cook the Books Club.

While Samuelsson was born and orphaned in Ethiiopia and adopted and raised in Sweden his culinary training took place in Europe, including Italy.

The pairing was absolutely perfect, in my humble opinion.  The crispness of the wine played off the "buttery" texture of the scallops.  And the scallops themselves?  In 10 minutes time, I had an impressive and delicious first course for our Easter dinner.  I allowed one scallop, sliced into 3 pieces, for each person at the table.  

Not everyone chose to partake of the scallops and they were still all eaten and enjoyed by the time the soup course came to the table.


You will find links to the others pairings with this wonderful wine following my recipe.  We will also be getting together on Twitter to discuss our pairings at 11 AM ET today. You will find us by following #ItalianFTW.  See you then!!

Scallop Crudo
adapted from  Marcus Samuelsson

6 large Sea Scallops
Juice of one orange
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
pinch of salt
2 sprigs of dill
thinly sliced red bell pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Slice the scallops into 3 even pieces, crosswise.  Combine the orange juice, lemon juice  and salt in a small bowl.  Ladle a couple of tablespoons of the juice mixture onto a serving platter.  Arrange the scallops over the juice on the platter.  Top with remaining juice, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with the dill and pepper.  Serve immediately.  Print Recipe

Let's join the others and see what they are sharing


29 comments:

  1. Your crudo dish sounds yummy, Wendy, and a great match for the wine.I'm getting so many great ideas for spring dishes after reading all the posts this morning. Cheers!

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    1. I know, I had to stop reading and get something to eat LOL

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  2. Sounds perfect! I've made lots of ceviche, but never scallops crudo; we'll give this a try. Thanks Wendy!

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  3. Those scallops look delicious and it seems like a perfect combo!

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  4. I want it all - the wine, the scallops and the entire rest of everything suggested. Note: It's right before lunch and I'm hungry.

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  5. An event where everyone tries the same wine with various types of food is a great blogger idea! You all seem to have enjoyed your choices, too. We don't get scallops that I would trust as raw food, but if I could, I would love to eat them.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. You should join us next month Mae. We would love to have you.

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  6. If you left the scallops in the lemon juice for 5 minutes or so would they be like a ceviche? Cheers

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    1. Yes...I think the only difference is the amount of sauce and that it is served immediately.

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  7. I haven't ever cooked scallops! I think I am a bit worried about over cooking them!

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    1. This is the perfect recipe for you then Marg. No cooking involved.

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  8. Seafood and this wine are a hit, your scallops crudo is a great idea. A tried and true pairing!

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  9. I wasn't able to prepare a dish for my pairing, but I definitely would've done seafood, maybe a shrimp scampi. Seemed like Castelli di Jesi wines were a hit!

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    1. It certainly was a hit in this household Jennifer. Perfect for pairing with seafood.

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  10. The wine and scallop combo sounds delicious.

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  11. Wow! I will have to try this...and keep it all to myself since no one in my family really likes scallops. Yes, they are spoiled. They know! But thanks for joining and tracking down a bottle of Verdicchio.

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    1. Do like I and serve it as a first course when you have company. Frank will eat scallops but it's not high on his list.

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  12. I've never had this dish but you certainly have a lovely presentation. I do like scallops. And wine....a lot :-)

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  13. Another recipe to add to my file! Seafood and Verdicchio are the perfect pairing.
    By the way, I wish I could join your "Cook the Books Club" that is my kind of book club!

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    1. Jane, you are welcome to join in the fun. You have until the end of May to read the next selection. Here are the Guidelines to joining. http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/p/guidelines.html and here is the invitation post. http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/2018/04/our-aprilmay-selection-sharks-fin-and.html

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    2. Thanks Wendy! Not sure if I can join in for the next selection but will for sure in the future. So glad you mentioned the book club in your post.

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  14. Great that you have found a store closer to you that order the wines that you need. :-) Sounds like a perfect pairing.

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