BRESAOLA E PARMIGIANO
♡ This simple recipe can be used for any meal whether that's antipasto or main course with a salad ♡ Different colours can evoke different moods and emotions. Love this red, black, white, and yellow combo!
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| Bresaola and Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese - a delicious antipasto |
BRESAOLA
When I first came to the Valtellina valley (many years ago), I tasted a great Bresaola. Valtellina is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland, so famous for one of Italy's most famous cured meats: Bresaola.
Bresaola is obtained from fine beef leg cuts (top sirloin coulotte, silverside and eye of round); cured lean meat, bright red, with a delicate fragrance and a unique flavor, slightly salty, aged and preserved in the dry and favorable climate of Valtellina.
PARMIGIANO REGGIANO is such a basic ingredient in Italian cuisine.
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is made in and around Parma, Modena, and Reggio Emilia in big wheels. Each wheel is imprinted with two numbers, one representing the place it was made, the other its date. The cheese is made in the winter, and at the end of July it is considered one year old. I like Parmigiano aged at least two years.
It is very good to eat, but it’s no substitute for Parmigiano Reggiamo in cooking.
Good Parmigiano Reggiano is very delicate, and you must handle it with care.
When a piece is cut off the big wheel, you should immediately wrap the part that isn’t being used— air makes it deteriorate very rapidly.
So when you buy a chunk of Parmigiano, wrap it very well in special fridge cheese paper (in Italy we have a very good brand CUKI carta-frigo. The Fridge Cheese Paper allows you to store and protect your cheese, for longer in the fridge. Thanks to its particular structure made of pure cellulose paper, it leaves food to "breathe", keeping its freshness longer) and keep it in the refrigerator.
Never buy Parmigiano reggiano cheese already grated; the grated Parmigiano you buy tastes awful — state and dried out. Grate or shave the cheese not more than an hour before you use it!
INGREDIENTS (serves 6)
6 tablespoons shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, two years aged
250 g Bresaola, thinly sliced
1/4 organic lemon
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt
to taste black pepper, freshly ground
HOW TO MAKE IT
First, combine the juice of 1/4 organic lemon with the extra virgin olive oil.
Lay the slices of Bresaola on a large dish, spreading the lemon-evoo mixture on the meat. Add a pinch of salt and pour the shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano on the bresaola. Complete the dish spreading a dash of black pepper coarsely grounded over the bresaola salad. Serve immediately.
WINE NOTES
Italian: DOC COLLI EUGANEI ROSSO CA' LUSTRA- (grape varietes: Merlot, Carménère, Cabernet Sauvignon; Alcohol
13,5 % vol.; Service and pairing
Uncork a little bit before, and serve at 16-18 °C. Great between the 3rd and 5th years of age.