Trump card

polenta pecorino cheese and peach.

“Good morning to you my lovely wife” he said  “should I wait in the bed ?”  ” No it’s my turn,” I said “Come on I really don`t  fancy doing it today, if you bring the cappuccino up  this morning, I will do it for three consecutive morning ” … … he said.  I thought  thats too  good an offer to turn down… but somehow I didn`t feel like a winner.

 During the afternoon we went to visit the wine Estate of Decugnano dei Barbi, 20 minutes from Orvieto, located on top of beautiful green hills. We had a lovely  tour of the estate, the enologist explained to us some of the techniques  used in the vineyards.

Decugnano dei Barbi Estate

Decugnano dei Barbi Estate

The enologist and Mr Catamurro

Mr. Barbi as a perfect landlord told us the history and origins of the Decugnano name dating back to early 1200. My friend Rita who works there  told us that during those early years a group of monks lived in the little church on the estate and  they used to produce the wine for the Bishop of the Orvieto cathedral. So much history, it was very very interesting. The part of the Estate that most appealed to me were the caves. It`s there  they  produce the beautiful Spumante wine, which I personally love.

The caves

Wine tasting at Santa Maria di Decugnano

  The tour ended with the Barrels room that is also located in the caves, absolutely amazing. We tasted the different types of wine and the Chardonnay was  a revelation for me, it was so good!!!. Infact, I couldn`t  resist and  bought a bottle to take home. Back home I could n`t stop thinking about  the right combination of food to match that nice bottle……and of course  drinking it as our Aperitif  !!!!!!!

Getting over excited at the sight of so much wine

I decided to only use the ingredients I had at home, so  I made a base of polenta cooked with aromatic herbs , then on top a semi mature pecorino cheese and finished  with a fruit gently cooked in wine and black pepper. I had two options for the fruit: pear or peach. And it was exactly at this moment , my cheeky husband played his trump card and betted  the three days of cappuccino making ,  on the peach being tastier than the pear ….I cooked both to try and…..I lost three days of cappuccino served in bed !!!!!….but I still don`t know how I let myself fall for it !!

Ingredients for 10 finger food.

1 cup water

½ cup polenta (quick cooking)

A handful of finely chopped aromatic herbs: lemongrass, chives, thyme, pineapple sage

Three slices of pecorino cheese semi mature

1 white peach

1 teaspoon sugar

1 / 3 cup chardonnay wine

Black pepper and salt

A dash of lemon juice

Three teaspoons of chopped hazelnuts.

Here’s how: Boil the water with the aromatic herbs and a pinch of salt, add the polenta and cook for 1 minute, stirring over low heat. Spread the polenta in a layer of 1 or 2 cm. Allow to cool, and cut into squares. Heat a nonstick pan and cook the polenta squares on both sides until crispy,then set them aside. Cut the peach into pieces and cook for 5 minutes with the sugar, wine, a dash of lemon and pepper. Blend to a thick jam and set aside. Cut the cheese the same size as polenta squares. Grill the polenta for one  or two minutes with the cheese on top. Serve at room temperature with the jam on top and finish with a sprinkling of the  chopped hazelnuts.