From the Italian Riviera: Animated Sea Monsters, Linguine Al Pesto, and Mataòssu #ItalianFWT

This month the Italian Food Wine Travel writers are looking at Emilia-Romagna and Liguria.

This month Jen of Vino Travels is hosting and we are pairing wines from either Emilia-Romagna or Liguria. Here's the line-up of articles from the group...

• 2 Treats from Emilia-Romagna: Gnocco Frito and Celita Sangiovese by A Day in the Life on the Farm

• A Lambrusco Love Affair by The Quirky Cork

• A Visit to Bologna After Devastating Floods plus 2 Emilia Romagna Red Pet Nats by Women Winemakers Paired with Pasta Bolognese #Recipe and Fennel Flower Salad by Wine Predator...Gwendolyn Alley

• Celebrating Summer with Ligurian Gems by Avvinare

• From the Italian Riviera: Animated Sea Monsters, Linguine Al Pesto, and Mataòssu by Culinary Cam (you're here)

• Ligurian Vermentino and Pesto by Vino Travels

• Meditating on the Magic of Cinque Terre with a Sciacchetrà by Crushed Grape Chronicles

From the Italian Riviera...

For this event, I opted to travel to Liguria, but - for the second region - I will also share how I am a Lambrusco convert after our #ItalianFWT May 2019 exploration.

Liguria is a thin, crescent-shaped coastal region of northwest Italy that is generally known for its white wines. The most common is Vermentino which is known locally as Pigato for the spots (pighe) that show on the mature grapes. I decided to share a few things from the Italian Riviera. First up: a movie.

The Fictional Portorosso in 'Luca'

amazon.com

Luca, the animated Pixar movie, is set in Portorosso, Italy. Though that is a fictional town, it is based on many of the actual small towns on the Italian Riviera such as Apricale and Manarola. Think of the colorful houses that run from the water to the ridge.

Luca is a coming-of-age tale for eponymous Luca Pagura and his friend Alberto Scorfano. Both are sea monsters - underwater - but become human as long as they are out of the water and stay dry.

Portorosso had steep, winding roads like many of the Riviera towns. And the boys and their newfound friend Giulia Marcovaldo train on those streets for the Portorosso Cup, a triathlon of sorts that includes a swim, a pasta-eating portion, and a bike ride.

Punta Crena Colline Savonesi Mataòssu Vigneto Reine 2021

The last time the #ItalianFWT group looked at Liguria, I ran out of time to find a wine. This time, I was determined and planned much better. I got my hands on a the 2021 Punta Crena Colline Savonesi Mataòssu Vigneto Reine.

Mataòssu is a completely new-to-me grape, so I was doubly excited to try a Ligurian wine and a mysterious variety. When I dug a little deeper, it appears this is only example that is commercially available. Even luckier! The Ruffino family have been making wine for more than half a millennium, passing their wisdom and skills from one generation to the next. Today the estate is run by four siblings: Tommaso, the eldest, is the winemaker; Paolo is the salesman; Anna handles logistics; and Nicola helps out in the vineyards and winery.

Punta Crena is a large promontory that juts into the sea at the edge of the Varigotti village. All of the vines are within half a mile of the water; the Ruffino family says that sea breezes keep the grapes happy and healthy. Punta Crena’s Mataòssu vines are nearly a century old and are organically farmed.

This wine has a surprisingly spicy nose. When I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, I noted 'garrigue', that aroma that embodies those coastal notes of lavender, juniper, thyme, rosemary, and sage. Underlying that is the salinity of the ocean and the sweetness of ripe pear. The wine was tangy and taut. I imagined pouring this with a platter of fritto misto. Instead, I opted for a Ligurian classic: pesto.

Linguine Al Pesto

Pesto is a sauce that originated in the Ligurian region of northern Italy. Pesto Genovese, from Genoa, traditionally consists of crushed garlic, basil, and pine nuts blended with olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano The name derives from the Italian verb pestare which means to pound or to crush, referring to the original way of preparing it - with a mortar and pestle. The ingredients in a traditional pesto are ground with a circular motion of the pestle in the mortar. Now I use a blender. It's much easier!

Note that I don't usually use pine nuts in my pesto - Jake and I had a terrible experience with pine nuts - but feel free.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch organic fresh basil

• 1 Tablespoon crushed garlic

• 1/2 cup ground almonds

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

• olive oil

• freshly ground pepper

• fleur de sel

• Needed to serving: cooked linguine

Procedure

Place all of the ingredients into the blender. Pulse a few times, drizzle in olive oil, and resume pulsing. Pulse. Oil. Pulse. Oil.

If you want a smoother, sauce-like pesto, add more olive oil and blend longer; if you want a chunkier pesto, use less oil and blend for less time. So simple. So fresh. So fragrant.

Toss the pesto into freshly cooked pasta. I used linguine for this dinner.

From Emilia-Romagna

As promised, I am sharing a bit about wines from Emilia-Romagna as well. Back in May 2019, I became a Lambruso-convert. I shared Every Wine Deserves a Second Look: Warmed Brie with Mulberry Chutney + Cleto Chiarli Lambrusco di Sorbara Vecchia Modena 2018. Before that I previously found Lambrusco cheerfully fizzy yet cloyingly sweet. There is so much more to that variety than that bubblegum-colored froth! I hope to explore more Lambrusco soon.

That's a wrap for my August #ItalianFWT offering. The group will be back in September exploring Friuli and Trentino-Alto Adige Cindy of Grape Experiences leading the discussion.