Alberico Appia Antica 400 Rosso 2016 paired with Stracci di antrodoco #ItalianFWT

Oh my word! This was not just a fantastic dinner.  This was not just an amazing wine.  Combined this was pure bliss!!!

The Italian Food Wine and Travel group are visiting Lazio today.......

Katarina of Grapevine Adventure is hosting this month.  You can learn more and find out how to join in on the fun in her invitation post.  

When you think of Italy you naturally think of wine however when you think of Rome you think more about history, Vatican City, museums, the Coloseum, Trevi Fountain and many other historic landmarks.  What you don't think about, or at least what I didn't think about was vineyards and wineries.

So I went onto wine.com and I found this bottle of Alberico Appia Antica 400.  A blend of Bordeaux grapes from the estate of the Prince of Vernosa located at the gates of Rome in Lazio.  The Prince planted the Bordeaux grapes on the advice of a renowned enologist.  

The grapes were planted in the 1940's and carried on with his dream until 1995 when, suffering from ill health he ripped out most of his vines and retired.  Upon his death in 2005 the estate was divided between his heirs. Three of his granddaughters took on the vineyards as their personal project.  They found 4 rows each of old vine Merlot and Cabernet as well as 3 rows of Semillon that had survived.  They make about bottles of rosso (red) wine and about a thousand of Semillon. Bother are named Alberico after their grandfather.  (Source:Wine.Com)

Having chosen a wine, I now turned to finding a food with which to pair it.  My search lead me to Great Italian Chefs website where I searched for traditional foods of Lazio.  I spied this Stracci di antrodoco with the following description:

This dish, hailing from the small Lazian town of Antrodoco, consists of thin crepes being stuffed with a simple beef ragù before being topped with tomato sauce and grated Parmesan. They are then baked in a dish (similar to Mexican enchiladas) and finished with basil leaves.

I was sold.  I printed out the recipe and followed it almost exactly.  I used my home canned tomatoes instead of the San Marzano canned tomatoes.  And I wasn't completely sure of the exchange ratio for metrics and standard USA measurements so I winged it.  I think I must have done okay because this dish was amazing.  I know that you are reading this in April but this was the best meal I made in March in my humble opinion.  

My husband opened the wine while I was preparing the ragu.  The ragu simmers for an hour so we had time to sip and enjoy this wine without any food pairing.  It is a Cab/Merlot blend so, of course, I LOVED it.  We had our second glass with our dinner and it was evident that it was a Roman pairing because it was a match made in heaven...probably something to do with the Vatican LOL.

We will be gathering together tomorrow morning to talk about the wines and pairings the others tried.  Some of our group has actually had the pleasure of visiting the area and will be sharing those memories with us as well.  You will find us on Twitter chat at 11 AM ET following #ItalianFWT.  Here are the topics we will be discussing......

• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Lazio in California: The Quintessential Roman Pasta + 2017 Big Sur Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm: Alberico Appia Antica 400 Rosso 2016 paired with Stracci di antrodoco
• Terri at Our Good Life: Pietro Est! Est!! Est!!! with Crab Dip Crostinis Our Good Life
• Susannah at Avvinare: Cesanese del Piglio, Classic Wines From Lazio
• Gwendolyn at Wine Predator: "If You See Kay" -- Lazio in Paso Robles? #ItalianFWT
• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles: Lazio – Exploring low intervention wines inspired by tradition and nature #Italian FWT
• Katarina at Grapevine Adventures: How Wine in Lazio is Reimagining its Past Greatness

 

Pasta, Ragu, Sauce, Beef, Casserole, Italian

Pasta, Beef, Entrees

Italian

Yield: 4 servings

Author: Wendy Klik

Stracci di antrodoco

This traditional Roman dish is like cannelloni but instead of pasta you make thin crepe like frittatas that wrap around the filling and are topped with sauce and cheese before being baked.

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 2 HourTotal time: 2 H & 15 M

Ingredients

Tomato Sauce

• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 qt. tomatoes
• olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Filling

• 1 lb. ground beef (or veal)
• 1 shallot, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 T. tomato paste
• olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 8 oz. fresh Mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Frittatas

• 4 eggs
• 1 T. flour
• dash of milk
• olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Tomato Sauce

1. Heat a splash of olive oil in a sauce pan over med high heat. Add the onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and saute for a couple of minutes until soft.  Add the tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.
2. Transfer to a food processor and puree until smooth.  Set aside.

Filling

1. In the same saucepan saute the shallots, garlic and celery in some olive oil for a few minutes.  Add the ground beef, season with salt and pepper and cook until browned and crumbled.  Drain if necessary.
2. Add the tomato paste and cook for about a minute.  Add 2/3 of the reserved tomato sauce.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to the lowest setting, cover and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Frittatas

1. Place a large, non stick skillet, over medium high heat.  
2. Whisk together one of the eggs with the flour until completely smooth.  Whisk in the other eggs with the milk and some salt and pepper.
3. Add a splash of oil to the skillet and ladle 1/4 of the egg mixture into the pan, swirling as you would when making crepes.  Cook for a minute, flip and cook a minute longer.  Turn out onto a piece of parchment and cover with another piece parchment.  Repeat until you have 4 large, thin frittatas.

Assembly

1. Ladle a fourth of the filling onto one of the frittatas, tear and crumble a fourth of the fresh mozzarella over the filling and roll up as you would a crepe.  Place seam side down in a 9x13" baking pan.  Repeat until all 4 frittatas are filled.
2. Pour the remaining 1/3 tomato sauce over the frittatas and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.  
3. Bake in a preheated 350* oven for half an hour.  Garnish with fresh basil, if desired.

Notes:

Adapted from a recipe found at The Kitchen with Great Italian Chefs

Calories

701.90

Fat (grams)

49.34

Sat. Fat (grams)

19.75

Carbs (grams)

12.12

Fiber (grams)

1.52

Net carbs

10.60

Sugar (grams)

4.09

Protein (grams)

51.06

Sodium (milligrams)

887.64

Cholesterol (grams)

208.84

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