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Scrippelle 'mbusse + Ferzo Passerina #ItalianFWT #Sponsored

 This is a sponsored post written by me in conjunction with the October #ItalianFWT event.
Wine samples were provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links

This month, the Italian Food Wine Travel bloggers are turning their eyes towards Abruzzo. David of Cooking Chat is hosting and that lucky duck traveled to Abruzzo last year for a press trip. You can read his event invitation and some more information about Abruzzo: here.

If you are reading this early enough, feel free to join in the live Twitter chat on Saturday, 5 October 2019 at 8 o'clock, Pacific time. Search for #ItalianFWT to follow along and add that to your tweets so we can see your comments. Cin cin. In the meantime, here are the Abruzzo posts...these will go live between Friday, October 4th and Satuday, October 5th.

In My Glass

Back in 2015, I paired Polpi in Purgatorio with 2012 La Valentina Montepulciano d'Abruzzo; and in 2016, I matched Pizza con Patate {Gluten-free} + Cantina Zaccagnini Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo Rosé. This time around, Gwendolyn of Wine Predator arranged for several of us in the group to receive wine samples. Grazie mille, Gwen.

I received Citra Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOP 2017, Caldora Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2016, and Passerina IGP Terre di Chieti 2017* as samples. It's the latter that I'm pouring, pairing, and sharing today. I was completely captivated by getting to sample the Passerina grape, a native of Abruzzo.


Ferzo, in Italian, refers to a patch of fabric that is stitched together with others to create a sail...for a boat. The vineyard "patches" of indigenous grapes in Abruzzo are said to be affected, just like a sail, by a constant breeze that's called brezza di terra.

One of those indigenous grapes - Passerina - makes up the single varietal wine I poured and paired for this post. The Passerina grape is an ancient one that has been used in the white wines of the Marche for centuries though there is some disagreement about its origins as there is a wide disparity in different regions using this grape. The Marche Passerina lean toward intense minerality while the Passerina made in Lazio tend to be almost creamy.

This one, from Terre di Chieti in Abruzzo, seems to have more of the Marche ilk. It underwent a 6-hour cold soak before being fermented in stainless steel. To the eye, it was a medium yellow wine with bright aromas of citrus, grass, and wet rocks. On the palate, it was also bright with a lively finish.

On My Plate

I had read that Passerina worked well with seafood,  particularly, the traditional brodetto all'abruzzese, a light, tomato-based fish stew, but I wanted to try a different recipe from Abruzzo.

On the night we were going to serve this, I ended up having two of D's friends over for dinner after their Saturday robotics workday. One of them excitedly announced that she reads my blog everyday and was finally going to make it into a post. The other friend agreed though he has been in a few posts before since he's been friends with my kid since elementary school. I was actually a little bit stunned that these teenagers read my kitchen blog, but I was also more than a little proud.


Known as Scrippelle 'mbusse in the local Abruzzese dialect, crespelle in brodo are crêpes doused with brodo (broth) and dusted with plenty of grated cheese. It sounded like the perfect match to the wine. You can make the stock ahead of time; but I used the chicken carcasses from our previous night's dinner and simmered it all day during robotics before serving this!

Ingredients makes 20 crêpes

Brodo (Chicken Stock)

  • chicken bones or chicken carcass
  • 1 organic carrot, cut into large chunks
  • 2 to 3 stalks organic celery, cut into large chunks
  • 1 organic onion, peeled and quartered
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme

Scrippelle (Crêpes)
  • 3 C flour
  • 6 eggs
  • 4 C organic whole milk
  • also needed: butter for cooking

Serving
  • Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated (I used the latter)

Procedure

Brodo (Chicken Stock)
Put all the ingredients for the stock into a large pot. Pour in enough water to cover the ingredients by, at least 3". Bring to the boil. Cover and simmer very gently for at least 4 hours; you can simmer for longer if needed. Before serving, strain the stock and keep warm.

Scrippelle (Crêpes)
Whisk all of the ingredients together until lump-free. Let sit for at least 20 minutes. Heat a large flat-bottom pan and rub the bottom with butter. Pour the batter in the middle of the pan and quickly make a tilting motion to distribute the batter all over the pan. The goal: have as thin a batter layer as possible.

Cook until the crêpes is a bit stiff and flip over, cooking for another minute The pancake should be lightly browned on both sides. Repeat till all the batter is used; I made 20 crêpes with the quantities listed.


Serving
Place crêpe in a shallow bowl.


Dust each crepe with a generous sprinkling of grated cheese, then roll it up. Pour the brodo over the top.


Grate more cheese over the top!


And enjoy. Pronto al tavolo!

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*Disclosure: I received sample wines for recipe development, pairing, and generating social media traction. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the organizer and sponsors of this event.

Comments

  1. I love this simple and delicious recipe. Can't wait to make it. What a stunning first course for a dinner party.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How cool and flattering to find you have such young fans!
    I have a pot of pork stock going right now -- you've given me ideas!

    ReplyDelete

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