To celebrate A Little Bit of Italy in Broke in the Hunter Valley region next weekend, the founder of Greenway Wines, Anne Greenway, has put together an amazing Italian-inspired Merlot Pizza recipe with some unique taste sensations.
She has also included her 'secret' Merlot Paste and homemade Verjuice recipes as part of this truly flavoursome pizza.
Pizza base
Either one you have lovingly made yourself or something bought. Just ensure you have a perforated pizza tray that can heat from the bottom.
Filling
- Merlot paste: thinly applied (see below)
- Parmesan: just a sprinkling over the Merlot paste
- Lamb: previously cooked and thinly sliced
- Mushrooms in verjuice: Cut into approx 5mm slices cook in nut brown butter, once browned, throw in a generous dash of Verjuice to finish (see below for Verjuice)
- Ricotta: just a few strategic dollops
- 4 cheese mix: generous but not to smother
Method
1. Pop in the oven and once the cheese is golden – it is ready
2. Top with rocket after resting from the over
Secret ingredients and how to make them
Merlot paste
Ingredients
- 1kg of Merlot grapes – stems removed, washed
- 1-2 x 500gm bags of jam setting sugar (depending on consistency)
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Method
1. Using typical jam making process, heat to boil a large saucepan of merlot grapes – boil them until they are soft and the skins almost falling away.
2. Here’s the labour intensive part:
- Strain the juice and then sieve the pulp – the more pulp the better.
- Discard the seeds and the skins
- Bring to the boil the juice and pulp, and add in the Jam setting sugar and lemon juice
- Simmer until setting or almost setting
- Meanwhile sterilise around 6-8 jars
- And decant jam/paste mixture.
Verjuice
Verjuice (is the juice of unripe grapes that have been thinned from a vine in order to concentrate the flavours in the remaining bunches which are harvested later for wine making.
In cooking terms it is know as an acidulant – as is lemon juice or vinegar – and it heightens the flavours of foods, without dominating them. And of all the acidulants Verjuice is the most gentle. Because verjuice shares the same acid base as wine, it will not distort the essence of wine, the way vinegar or lemon juice would and thus it is the perfect alternative to use in cooking when wines are being served with a meal.
Verjuice heightens the flavours of any fish, chicken, game, red meat, vegetable and fruit dish. It is ideal for deglazing pans for a deliciously rich, reduced, syrupy “jus” – which is then diluted with a little stock or water. it adds flavourful complexity to your, dressings, sauces, gravies and reductions and a zesty balance to mayonnaise, marinades, pesto, pot-roasts, preserves and even pickling juices for fish, ceviche, onions, veggies, etc.
Verjuice is also delicious as a healthy, non-alcoholic cordial, diluted with still or sparkling water, neat as an aperitif sloshed over crushed ice or, as a mixer for cocktails.
Making your own Verjuice
1. If you have a grapevine in your garden you have all you need to make your own verjuice.
2. Just pick the grapes when they are beginning to swell a little, strip them of the stems, discard any that are spoiled and wash them. The grapes should be ‘tart’ enough to make you pull a face when you taste them.
3. Pure the grapes in a blender and take off the resulting juice – it should be clear with a tinge of green.
4. The simplest way to store your verjuice is to fill an ice cube tray and put them in the freezer till you need them. Or alternatively decant it and store it in the fridge once opened it will last 1 – 3 months.
You can also pick up some when you are next in the vineyards of the Hunter Valley!
To find out more about A Little Bit of Italy in Broke, visit the website.
The Broke Fordwich Wine region in the Hunter Valley.
__small.png)
