When it comes to wine and food, no one can argue that the Italians know how to do it right. If you’ve ever traveled to Italy, you know that the culture, the ingredients and the celebrations uplift the spirit and promote positive energy to everyone it touches.
Like Romeo and Juliet, peanut butter and jelly, or two peas in a pod, nothing goes better together than great food and fantastic wine. Today we’ve pulled together a unique, gourmet wine and food experience that you can recreate in your own home, for friends and family without a lot of work! Both the wine and the food are vegan (with one recipe offering Tuna) so if you’re a vegan or cook for a vegan, this pairing is one you can love and enjoy at home.
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Chef Valérie Azinge (founder of @MyDigitalKitchen) and I have come together to design an immersive, easy, Italian inspired tasting meal perfect for lunch or dinner, that will pair perfectly with Brave Italian Growers white wine. The Brave Italian Growers white is organic, vegan and sustainable! This wine is also vintage free, which means grapes from various years have been blended together to design a delicious taste profile – wonderfully designed for food. It’s crisp, lightly textured, fresh and aromatic – a perfect companion to food.
This wine is also made with chardonnay and Fiano grapes. A partial appassimento technique is used also to add a little excitement and distinctiveness to the wine. Appassimento is the technique of the drying of grapes before they are pressed – this is typically used in red wine production in classical Amarone wines to help give wines body, structure, texture and a more complex flavour profile. This winemaking style is now being used on white wines to add depth of taste and interesting aromas as well.
When Chef Valerie Azinge tried this wine she said with it’s “savoury & tropical hints this wine with its many wonderful flavours will make your palette dance! Indulging in this tomato galette or tuna salad and sipping on this wine is the perfect way to take your palate to Italy!” Her recipe for this is below!
About Cielo e Terra
Cielo e Terra, founded in 1908 stretches south of Vicenza town, surrounded by gentle hills, towards the borders with the neighbouring provinces of Padua and Verona. Fields and woods alternate with olive groves and vineyards, in a succession of valleys, hills, small plateaus, streams and canals. A beautiful place, producing really beautiful wines.
A Wine that Gives Back
Cielo e Terra also supports water projects around the world. And they have decided to give back water where most needed. In the past, they have built 35 water wells in Sierra Leone and we have supported Amref Health Africa.They are now partnering with Wine to Water – a non-profit organization working towards the country’s unique needs.
Cielo e Terra has also obtained the B Corp certification, entering a global movement that aims to spread a new and more evolved business model. These companies grant the achievement of stricter ethical standards, earning profit as well as creating social and environmental benefits.
The words “Ethical” and “Sustainability” are not just about the environment. This certification promotes 360° ethical behaviours, facing issues like poverty, people’s dignity, economy, the company’s impact on the local communities, transparency, and so on.
With the hashtag #UnlockTheChange, the large Italian B Corp community suggests a brand new model to meet business and sustainability. Cielo e Terra has found three areas, here following: economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and social sustainability.
Recipes & Wine Pairings
Pull together a fabulous Italian Gourmet Experience with these two wonderful recipes and pair with the Brave Italian Growers Organic and Vegan white wine now available at wine stores near your. Serve this wine chilled in tumblers and enjoy yourself!
Chef Valérie Azinge Recipe
Valerie Azinge is a cookbook author and the founder of My Digital Kitchen, a food blog and dessert catering company with the mission to cater to multiple diets and happier, healthier lives. She has been featured on TV and several publications like BuzzFeed, Food Network, The Huffington Post, CTV and many more.
Tuna Antipasto Salad:
- 150g baby arugula
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup pitted black olives
- 2 cans tuna in olive oil (Rio Mare)
- Shaved parmigiano reggiano
Place all ingredients in a large serving plate or salad bowl.
Tomato & Basil Galette
For Crust:
- 1¼ cups light spelt flour, chilled
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup cold vegan butter (or coconut oil)
- ¼ cup plain coconut yogurt
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup ice water
- Aquafaba, for “egg” wash
Filling:
- 3 large San Marzano tomatoes (or roma), sliced
- Flakey Sea salt
- Chopped fresh basil, for topping
For the crust, add flour and salt to a large bowl and mix. Cut in the butter into the bowl and combine with a pastry blender until a coarse meal forms. In another small bowl, whisk together coconut yogurt, lemon juice and ice water and add to the flour mixture. Using your fingers, mix in the wet ingredients until large lumps form before patting it into a ball. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
Slice tomatoes and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
On a floured countertop, roll out the dough into a 12-14-inch round. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Arrange the tomatoes in the dough, leaving a 2-inch gap around the borders of the dough. Fold the borders over the tomato filling, pleating the edges to hold it together. Brush the dough with the aquafaba wash.Bake for about 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Top with sea salt and basil.
