My neighbors went to Sicily for 10 days and I agreed to dog-sit while they were away. As a thank you, they brought back a nice little assortment of edible goodies including olive pate, pesto, honey and a most peculiar jelly.
“Gelatina di vino”: wine jelly. Indeed, a spoonful of the stuff tastes much like a gelatinous, gloopy port wine. And like port, it is said to go very well with cheese (Stilton, I suspect), but also with fruit salad.
Fruit salad? How? What? Why? This made little sense to me. And then…
… a couple days ago I roasted a butternut squash with garlic and sumac and have been enjoying it with various salads tossed with balsamic and pomegranate. But today I tried it with some of the wine jelly and it was sooooo tasty.
The jelly had the tartness of a good balsamic with a touch of sweetness that was so perfect with the pomegranate. I can see it with other tart fruits like raspberries or blackberries. It all balanced very nicely with the savoury roasted garlic, squash and peppery rocket leaves. I reckon a few toasted walnuts or pecans would bring this dish to a whole new level.
I see a winter salad trend in my future.
I did a Google Search for “con gelatina di vino” and found a few more ideas including, interestingly, some kind of stuffed squash with gruyere. But I’m still curious as to other uses for wine jelly. I don’t eat meat, and I eat very little cheese, so would love to hear more ideas for putting this stuff to good use. Any Sicilians in the audience care to educate me?
We’re having even more esp-ness, apparently, since I’m sitting at my desk desperately trying to get my work mojo on and all I can think about is what to do with my butternut squash–sumac & garlic sounds **amazing**. I’m going to play with that tonight or tomorrow! Mmm. And the wine jelly sounds really good, actually. I think I’d do what you did with it though, pair with salads, maybe cheese–I bet it’d be delicious on any veggie-filled sandwich, actually. Kind of like the “Thanksgiving Day” sandwiches people make with turkey & cranberry sauce & stuffing and whatever–it’d be like the cranberry sauce element, maybe?
As for the get-back-on-track, be 100% all the time, it’s really such a struggle. I don’t really know how to tackle it (I’d like to do more freelance work outside of the 8-5..but I’m so tired every night, just want to chill), but I’m hoping that when the house renovations are done, I might get more of a balance.
Anyway, well, that was long too 🙂 Here’s to Tuesday!
Hey Jes – sumac + garlic with b’nut squash is a total win, wine jelly or not. I think your cranberry sauce idea is pretty spot on. Now I’m thinking something with walnuts, wild rice, celery… wheels are turning.
I know what you mean about being tired at night. The only time I didn’t “suffer” that terribly was when I was off caffeine. Here’s to Tuesday indeed. 🙂