Recipes for la vendemmia and the long days around it.
Buona Vendemmia
The Menu Begins Below ↓Cook the harvest,
stay at the table.
Buona Vendemmia
The Tuscan harvest bread: the season's last sweet grapes, rosemary, good olive oil, and a Lambrusco glaze. Sweet, savory, and gone before it cools.
The harvest bread
In Italy, focaccia follows the seasons, and by late summer that means grapes. This is our take on schiacciata con l'uva, the Tuscan harvest bread: the last sweet clusters of the season pressed into dimpled dough with rosemary, good olive oil, and a Lambrusco glaze.
Sweet, savory, and gone before it cools. Bake it for week one of the harvest table, then keep the dough mix on hand for the rest of the month.
Prepare the focaccia dough according to the directions, adding the chopped rosemary just before mixing. Coat a half sheet pan generously with the olive oil, or line with parchment and brush with the oil, and turn the proofed dough out onto the pan.
With oiled hands, gently press and stretch the dough from the center outward toward the edges of the pan. Cover loosely with a clean towel and let it proof a second time until puffy and nearly doubled, about 35 minutes.
While the dough proofs, combine the sugar and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Toss the reduced liquid with the grapes and set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Dimple the proofed dough with your fingers and spread the grape mixture evenly over the top. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until cooked through in the center.
Cool slightly, then slice into squares or serve on a large antique wood board.
Figs grilled until soft and jam-like, haloumi wrapped in grape leaves with a spoonful of Olivada, everything warm off the fire.
The harvest antipasto
Haloumi is a delightfully salty cheese that wants the fire: crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside. Here it grills inside grape leaves, the vendemmia's own wrapping paper, with a spoonful of Olivada in the middle.
The figs go on first, cut side down, just until they turn soft and jammy. Open the leaves at the table, scatter the almonds, and let everyone tear the flatbread.
Gently toss the figs with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place cut side down on the grill over a low flame and cook just until soft and almost jam-like, about 3 minutes. Move to a platter and drizzle with honey.
Place the cheese in the center of two overlapping fig or grape leaves. Spoon a tablespoon or two of Olivada onto the middle of the cheese. Wrap the leaves around it like a blanket and secure with two soaked skewers in a criss-cross.
Grill the wrapped cheese over indirect heat or a low flame, about a minute per side, until the leaves are crisp and the cheese begins to soften. Finish with a squeeze of half a lemon.
On a large platter, set the figs to one side. Open the leaves to expose the cheese. Mound the almonds in between and serve with Pane Rustico.
A simple dinner that takes no time to cook and brings all the beauty and flavor worthy of your most worthy guests.
Dinner in no time
A simple dinner that takes no time to cook brings all the beauty and flavor worthy of your most worthy guests. The rose salt seasons the fish; the Olivada finishes it.
The salad does the September work: bitter radicchio, sweet apple, orange zest, and, if you have them, the roasted grapes from this menu's condiment. Dress it lightly and serve beside the fish.
Season the halibut with the rose salt. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a nonstick pan. Cook over medium heat on one side, about 2 to 3 minutes, then turn and cook the other side.
Cut the radicchio into quarters and remove the core. Slice into fine ribbons. Place in a bowl with the apple, orange zest, salt, and grapes.
Add the vinegar and orange juice to a small bowl and whisk in the olive oil. Pour just enough dressing over the salad to coat, and toss. Refrigerate any extra.
Serve the salad beside the halibut with a dollop of Olivada on the fish.
Gently poached chicken, celery, basil pesto mayonnaise, and burst roasted grapes folded through.
The secret is roasted
Simple, yet sophisticated: roasted grapes are the secret ingredient to the most deliciously flavorful chicken salad you will ever eat. They roast until they burst, then fold through like little pockets of jam.
Poach the chicken gently with celery, keep the broth for soup, and finish everything with a spoonful of basil pesto stirred into the mayonnaise.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Remove the grapes from the stem and place on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and roast just until the grapes start to burst and give up their juices, about 20 minutes. Cool.
Heat 4 cups of water with the kosher salt over medium-low heat and add the halved celery base. Add the chicken and cook over low heat just until done, about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove and cool. (Keep simmering the water another 30 minutes for a flavorful stock.)
Coarsely chop the cooled chicken into half-inch pieces. Add 1 cup chopped celery, the Wild Oregano salt, mayonnaise, and pesto; stir until well coated. Add 1 cup of the cooled roasted grapes and toss just until incorporated.
Plated, in a lettuce wrap, or on top of salad greens. Variations: roast the celery the same way as the grapes, or add toasted pecans.
Roasted until they burst and caramelize, seasoned with Tuscan rose and pink peppercorn salt. The little recipe the rest of the menu leans on.
Keep a jar all month
Grapes, when roasted, become caramelized and sweet: a delicious savory or sweet condiment for salads, morning porridge, and a satisfying no-sugar snack. Use red flame, black candy, seedless concord, or green grapes if you like them tart.
This is the little recipe the rest of the menu leans on. Spoon them over the chicken salad, tuck them into the halibut's radicchio salad, and keep the jar within reach.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. De-stem the grapes and place on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with the salt. Roast 15 to 20 minutes, just until they start to soften and you see juices on the pan.
Cool and refrigerate until ready to use, then use all month. Variation: any Bella Cucina Savory Salt works to steer the flavor.
A new recipe each Tuesday, the occasional pantry secret, first word on classes and gatherings at the Store x Studio, and an unsolicited opinion on what to pour.
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