Slow Wine

Mantis Shrimp on chestnuts and Porcini cream

On Saturday afternoon Orvieto was celebrating  SLOW WINE   . A wonderful movement,  which seeks to find wines that are not mass produced and that are healthier , tastier and better for the environment. The event  hosted 40 different wineries from all over  Umbria  .  With the prospect of tasting over 300 different wines, I of course could not miss this opportunity !

 So , I set off to meet my friend Rita and together we hatched a plan.  Start with the sparkling wines before moving onto the whites  , then the  rosé’s  , followed by the red’s and If we could fit them in, dessert  wines to finish……… So much wine to taste and so little time to do it. But never mind we would do our best.

Moving through the  Palazzo del Gusto it was a pleasure to  see so  many people participating in an event dedicated to the enjoyment of good wine. Weather an expert or a beginner like me , there was something for everyone.  Plus the opportunity to try  wines that I had never heard of and some that I couldn’t possibly afford was fantastic!

After only 20 minutes Rita and me decided to abandon our ambitious plan and settled for a more tranquil pace, after all this was the slow wine movement.

Back home I was in high spirits ( if not a little tipsy) and decided to make this finger food in an attempted to convince Nick to come with me next year…… He didn’t need to be asked twice!!

 Ingredients for 8 finger food
8 Mantis shrimp fresh
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
1 branch of thyme
a dash of white wine
a drop of Evo oil
For  the cream:
3 boiled chestnuts
a small handful of dried Porcini mushrooms
Parsley
1 walnut
Evo oil
Salt and pepper

How it work:

In a small saucepan boil some water and then turn off the heat , put the porcini mushrooms in and leave for 10 minutes. In a blender put the chestnut, walnut, porcini mushrooms, parsley, a dash of Evo oil, salt and pepper. Create a cream and if necessary add a little water from the mushrooms  . Set aside.
In a pan heat Evo oil with garlic , when  golden, add the mantis shrimp, bay leaf, thyme and wine. Cook 2 minutes on each side. In a plate leave to cool the mantis shrimp and clean it. Serve the cream by adding a drop of the cooking liquid from the shrimp and put a shrimp on top with a parsley leave for garnish .