Already run out of menu options while working through your list of “dishes to cook while in solitary confinement”? Don’t worry, we have you covered. Working with Trentino we wanted to bring you a taste of the region into homes this Easter with a simple recipe and video tutorial by a local chef. Prepare for your tastebuds to go nuts.
With the arrival of the sunshine in the UK, Spring has finally sprung but as Brits are encouraged to stay at home, one of the best ways to virtually travel and experience other destinations is through our taste buds. The region of Trentino in northern Italy has therefore invited local chef, Elena Vian, to provide a virtual demonstration on how to prepare a traditional springtime Italian dish in your own kitchen from her home in Val di Fassa.
The region of Trentino is one of Europe’s natural frontiers, stretching from the northern shores of Lake Garda up into the Dolomite mountains. Its rich mix of traditions, terrain and microclimates lend themselves to a diverse food culture where organic fruits and vegetables, fine wines, craft beer, olive oil, pasta, fresh fish, venison, beef and several kinds of cheese are all harvested and produced locally.
Chef Elena Vian is a private chef living in Val di Fassa near the region’s capital city of Trento who has worked in catering and restaurants since the age of 15. Her culinary career has taken her across the globe, working on private yachts as well as cooking for celebrities including singer, Mika and actress, Lèa Seydoux before becoming the first private chef for Eataly Milan. In this short 2-minute video she explains how to prepare a fresh and flavoursome Italian dish called Easter White Asparagus with “Trentino” sauce and crispy speck’ whose ingredients can all be sourced from local supermarkets across the UK.
The core ingredients of the dish are asparagi bianchi di Zambana (‘white Asparagus’ from the Zambana area), a typical vegetable of the region, crispy speck (a type of uncooked, salted and smoked pork) and chives, accompanied by a “Trentino” sauce – a twist on ‘Boznersauce’, a recipe from the mountains of northern Italy – which is a springtime specialty. As she prepares the dish, Elena tells the story of a game called “pechenar” which is an Easter tradition involving a boiled egg fight that she remembers fondly from her childhood spent in Trentino.
This simple yet delicious Easter recipe takes just minutes to prepare and is the perfect dish to treat your household this bank holiday weekend by bringing the rich flavours of the Trentino region to your home. Simply follow the list of ingredients and steps to make this dish below:
Easter White Asparagus with “Trentino” sauce and crispy speck
Ingredients (based on x 4 people):
- 2kg White Asparagus
- 10g Butter
- Pinch of Salt
For the sauce:
- 2 eggs (for the gourmet version use goose eggs if available!)
- 250g sunflower oil
- 1 tablespoon of mustard
- 2 tablespoons of white vinegar
- Pinch of salt
- Handful of chives
- 400g of Speck
How to prepare:
- Hard boil the eggs
- Trim and peel the asparagus with a potato peeler, making sure you remove the hard part of the stems
- Bring salted water in a saucepan to the boil, add the asparagus together with a small knob of butter and cook with the lid on for five minutes at medium heat
- In the meantime, peel the eggs and separate the egg white from the yolk. Blend the yolk in the mixer with mustard, vinegar and oil
- Chop the egg white and mix it in with the chives. Combine the egg white mixture with the yolk mixture
- Fry the speck in a pan to make it crispy
Plating up:
Spread the crispy speck out as a base in the centre of the plate, place the asparagus in a row on top of the speck then add the chives next to the asparagus and spoon the Trentino sauce to the side.
Best served:
With a glass of chilled Trentodoc sparkling wine from Trentino, preferably Ferrari Perlé which is available to buy in UK supermarkets.
From our homes in Trentino to yours, Trentino Marketing would like to wish you a Buona Pasqua! (‘Happy Easter!’), good health and happiness and we look forward to welcoming you back to our beautiful region when you are able to visit.
For the full recipe and Elena’s video see: www.visittrentino.info/en/press/press-releases/easter-white-asparagus-with-trentino-sauce-and-crispy-speck_pd_16634607
To learn more about Trentino’s gastronomy, go to www.visittrentino.info/en/taste/food-wine
