Hello lovelies, I don't know about you, but lately we've been getting a serious case of wanderlust. So I'm delighted to share **2 great recipes from South Tyrol *** with you today. And these recipes don't come from me — they come straight from the heart of South Tyrol, from the chef of Italy's first 100% vegan hotel, "La Vimea", and you're in for a treat, because these are 2 seriously delicious dishes.
Even though we're not allowed to travel outside Switzerland just yet, we can at least go on a culinary journey together, bring a little holiday feeling onto our plates, and quiet that wanderlust a bit. Beautiful South Tyrol has of course also been hit by these exceptional times, and the people there miss being able to share their passion for good food, lovely wine and their regional delicacies with visitors. Hospitality is an important part of the South Tyrolean spirit, and they can hardly wait to enjoy everything they love again and to spoil their guests.
Anyone who has traveled to South Tyrol knows that the landscape and nature there aren't just beautiful, they're also wonderfully fertile. The region enjoys many hours of sunshine a year and is known for its high-quality regional products and its excellent wine. We'll be using some of these regional products in both dishes — asparagus, strawberries, the South Tyrolean specialty Schüttelbrot and, of course, apples — rounded off with a matching regional wine.
Both recipes were created by Luca Sordi, the chef at "La Vimea". Naturally I was especially thrilled to get to recreate 2 of his dishes, because "LA VIMEA" — as a 100% vegan hotel — has been on my list of places I'd love to visit for a long time. The hotel sits in beautiful Naturns and is not only Italy's first purely vegan hotel, it also places great value on sustainability and living in harmony with nature.
In our video below, Luca tells you even more about himself and the hotel. But now, on to both wonderful dishes he created for us:
Panzanella is the classic Italian bread salad. In Luca's version it's made with regional, seasonal South Tyrolean products like green asparagus, Schüttelbrot, strawberries, fresh peas and elderflowers — and oh-so-delicious!
Schüttelbrot is a hard, crunchy flatbread made with very special spices, traditionally baked in South Tyrol and known for its long shelf life.
Strawberry growing in the Martell Valley has a long tradition, and the strawberries are known all across Europe for their high quality and environmentally gentle cultivation. Green and white asparagus have also been grown in South Tyrol for a very long time.
We pickled the elderflowers in vinegar, which creates a wonderful aroma — you absolutely have to try this!
A delicious bread salad with asparagus, strawberries and Schüttelbrot.
- 1/3 bunch green asparagus
- 5-10 fresh pea pods
- 10-15 strawberries
- 2 pieces Schüttelbrot
- elderflowers
- 40 ml asparagus juice (optional (otherwise more water/vinegar))
- 5 ml elderflower vinegar
- 30 ml water
- 10 ml olive oil
- salt & pepper
In a jar, combine the flowers and the vinegar. The flowers need to be covered by the liquid.
Let the mixture infuse in the fridge for about 24 hours, then filter the vinegar.
Cut off the woody lower part of the asparagus. Keep it and run it through a juicer - pass it through a fine sieve and add a few drops of lemon juice to keep it green.
Using a vegetable peeler, shave the asparagus into fine ribbons. Toss with a little oil and season with salt & pepper
Pop the fresh peas out of their pods. Toss with a little oil and season with salt & pepper
Slice the strawberries.
Combine all the ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously
Break 2 pieces of Schüttelbrot into rough chunks with your hands, toss them in a bowl with the marinade, and stir now and then so the bread softens (it doesn't need to be completely soaked, it can still have some bite)
Spread the soaked, seasoned bread over a plate — this will be your canvas.
Arrange the asparagus ribbons over the bread in waves. Scatter the peas on top.
Now add the strawberries and, last of all, the fresh elderflowers.
Season to taste with the elderflower vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
The second recipe features what is probably South Tyrol's most famous ingredient: APPLES. Inspired by a classic South Tyrolean specialty, Luca created the following:
APPLE STRUDEL PRALINES
Apple strudel is of course a specialty known the world over, and Luca gave it a whole new form. Using the classic ingredients like dried fruit and nuts, he turned it into these delicious pralines. They're rolled in different fruit powders and presented in the "apple box." Such a cool idea of his — it was so much fun to make, and as luck would have it I had the perfect old wooden box at home.
Apple growing has a long tradition in South Tyrol — more than 7,000 farms are devoted to it, and it's a firm part of family life there. 13 South Tyrolean apple varieties carry the European "Protected Geographical Indication" (PGI) seal of quality, which requires precise, strict growing methods and production rules. On top of that, the region is a real pioneer in organic farming. Around a quarter of all European organic apples come from South Tyrol.
And now, here's the recipe for the apple strudel pralines:
Delicious pralines made from fine apples, nuts and spices.
- 4 apples (approx. 600 g )
- 150 g rolled oats
- 60 g dried apricots
- 60 g raisins
- 60 g walnuts
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 20 g vegan butter
- 1/2 lemon (juice & zest)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- salt
- fresh thyme
- 100 g apple chips
- 50 g desiccated coconut
- 45 g rolled oats
- beetroot powder
- matcha
- turmeric
Toast the rolled oats in a pan until golden brown - let them cool.
Peel the half lemon with a vegetable peeler - keep the zest and juice the lemon.
Cut the apples into roughly 1 cm cubes and add the lemon juice.
Put the apples in a pan with the butter and a pinch of salt. Cook them soft with the lid closed.
Roughly chop the raisins, apricots and walnuts.
Take off the lid and add the maple syrup, dried fruit, walnuts, cinnamon and fresh thyme. Keep cooking without the lid until all the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is sticky and soft.
All together this takes about 30 minutes.
Remove the lemon zest and thyme.
First put the apple mixture into a food processor and blend briefly to make it a little creamier.
Now add the rolled oats and blend until the mixture holds together and looks even.
The texture should be such that you can roll balls. But keep in mind that the mixture still needs to rest, and the oats will absorb some of the moisture.
If it is too dry or too wet, add a little more liquid (water or apple juice) or more rolled oats.
Let it rest for at least 30 minutes - ideally in the fridge
Yellow powder: blend apple chips, oats and turmeric powder in a powerful blender
Red powder: blend apple chips, oats and beetroot powder in a powerful blender
Green powder: blend desiccated coconut, oats and matcha powder in a powerful blender
Alternatives to these powders could be: cacao powder, cacao nibs, nuts, seeds - or simply leave them uncoated
Take 25-30 grams of the apple mixture and roll it into balls in your hand. Roll them in the fruit powders and serve in the box.
Both dishes were so delicious — and not difficult to make at all. I promised you we'd go on a culinary journey together, so I'm taking you along into my kitchen. I didn't just cook the dishes, I filmed the whole thing too. You can watch the preparation steps, as well as Luca's explanation of why he chose these ingredients and lots more about him and "La Vimea," in our video:
Of course we also got to enjoy the perfect wine to go with the dishes. A Chardonnay Ateyon from the **organic Loacker winery. **Since 1979 the family has been a pioneer of biodynamic winemaking in Italy and across Europe. On their estate they cultivate typical South Tyrolean grape varieties like Vernatsch and Lagrein, but also international ones, like this Chardonnay with its fine apple note, which pairs wonderfully with both dishes.
I don't know about you, but I found this culinary trip to South Tyrol so lovely. Exchanging messages with Luca — even if only over Skype and email — was so exciting, and it's wonderful to see how much passion he and the owners of the "LA VIMEA" have for the region, and how much they're looking forward to sharing their beautiful corner of the world, its nature and its varied products with us again. We're also planning a trip to South Tyrol this summer, and I'm sure it will be possible — I can hardly wait to relax, savor and discover there!
Until then, I really hope you'll give the 2 great recipes from South Tyrol a try and let yourself be whisked away to the south a little in advance! By the way, in Switzerland you can find Schüttelbrot and the wine here.
You can also find our travel report from our last visit to South Tyrol in 2017 here.
Love, Verena
If you're on Pinterest, you can find me here and feel free to pin one of these pictures:
**This blog post was created in collaboration with **South Tyrol Tourism but reflects my own opinion. ***
