The dessert is focused on the search for scents, balance, freshness and persistence, matching giuncata (a fresh cheese typical of Southern Italy) and ricotta with Birra Moretti La Rossa. I’m looking for a bitter flavour, yet one that is supported by the sweetness of cheese together with the aroma of cardamom and the acid touch of redcurrants.
La Rossa, giuncata, ricotta and pine nuts
Recipe for 6 people
INGREDIENTS
for the cheese and pine nuts purée
75 g sheep’s milk ricotta
75 cow’s milk ricotta
150 g giuncata cheese
60 g pine nuts soaked overnight in cold water and then blended
Birra Moretti La Rossa reduction to taste
icing sugar to taste
For the beer gelatine
330 ml Birra Moretti La Rossa
10 g gelatine sheet
As a match and as an ingredient: Birra Moretti La Rossa
For the redcurrant sauce
150 gr redcurrants
water
xantana gum to taste
10 cardamom pods crushed in a mortar
For the meringue in the mortar
300 g icing sugar
redcurrant purée to taste
100 g egg white
For the Birra Moretti La Rossa reduction
1 x 33 cl bottle Birra Moretti La Rossa reduced to one third
For the pine nut brittle with beer
300 g pine nuts
60 g Birra Moretti La Rossa
70 g sugar
1 g salt
METHOD
For the redcurrant sauce
Blend the redcurrants with a little water and icing sugar. Strain the mixture to obtain the sauce.
For the pine nut brittle
Mix the sugar and Birra Moretti La Rossa. Bring these to 120°C and pour the pine nuts inside: mix energetically then spread the mixture on the silpat and place it in the oven at 160°C for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
For the redcurrant meringue
Whisk the egg whites with the redcurrant purée. Then, while still whisking, gradually add the syrup (at 120°C). Once you reach the right texture, form the meringues and cook them in the oven at 180°C for 6 hours.
Federico Delmonte, already a chef at Il Vicolo del Curato in Fano (Ancona), he'll be back soon with a restaurant in Rome (photo by Moscheni)
Soak the pine nuts in cold water for 12 hours. The following day, remove the pine nuts from the water and blend them. Add this purée to the Birra Moretti La Rossa reduction. Gradually reduce it until the texture becomes that of a syrup. Process the giuncata and ricotta in the Pacojet in order to obtain a creamy sauce. Add the pine nuts and the reduction and finally the icing sugar. Carefully mix all these ingredients together and leave to a side overnight.
For the beer gelatine
Heat the Birra Moretti La Rossa until it reaches 80°C then add the gelatine sheets – previously soaked in water and drained.
Complete the dish with 6 stripes of cheese cream, the drops of redcurrant sauce, the pine nut and beer brittle, the beer gelatine, a meringue placed on top with cardamom and edible flowers.
