Campo delle Rose is a soft, fresh and lively Bardolino Chiaretto. We pair it off with a colourful spring dish: roasted courgettes with an almond-flavoured cous cous filling served on a red pepper sauce, a recipe from Chef Vanessa Lorenzetti La Sanamente Cucina Naturale.
Ingredients for the courgettes:
• 4 medium-sized courgettes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
Ingredients for the almond-flavoured cous cours:
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 slice of ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 130 g cooked whole cous cous
• 75 g almonds
• 375 g red pepper sauce
Ingredients for the red pepper sauce:
• 2 red peppers cut in half and seeded
• 50 g olive oil
• 1 garlic head with 0.5 cm removed
• from the tip
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried chilli pepper
Let’s start with the pepper sauce. Place the peppers downwards on an oven tray. Season with a tablespoon of oil and bake under the grill in the top part of the oven for 10 minutes until the skin is dark and puffed. Take them out, place them in a bowl and cover them with a tea towel. Set aside and leave to cool. Put the garlic with the cut upwards on the tray seasoned with a tablespoon of olive oil, lower the temperature to 200°C. Bake in the middle section of the oven for 40 minutes or until brown with a tender flesh when pierced with a knife. Take it out and leave to cool. When the peppers are cold enough to be handled, remove the dark peel, cut them up and toss them in a blender. Also squeeze the garlic flesh. Add the paprika, chilli pepper and oil and blend until you obtain a smooth homogeneous mix.
Cook the courgettes in a pan with boiling water for 7 minutes, then put them in cold water until they cool and drain. Cut them in half lengthwise, remove the flesh leaving 0.5 cm on the sides, cut up the flesh, set it aside, brush the inside and outside of the courgettes. Place them facing upwards on a tray and set them aside.
In the meantime, heat the oil in a pan on a medium heat, add the onion and cook stirring occasionally for 5 minutes until lightly fried, add the garlic, ginger and cumin and leave to cook for two minutes stirring frequently until the onion softens. Remove from the heat and add the courgette flesh, the cooked cous cous and the chopped almonds.
Divide the mixture in 8 portions and press it into the courgette boats. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 12 minutes until the filling is golden and it bubbles lightly and the courgettes are soft if you try to poke them with a knife. Pour the red pepper sauce on the plates and serve the courgettes on top of it.