Winter slows down the work and rhythm of life in the countryside… at La Vialla we prune grapevines and olive trees, and fertilise the fields with manure “strengthened” by biodynamic preparations. The soil rests and the plants gradually seem to fall asleep. In the vegetable patch, however, winter vegetables are ready. During the coldest months of the year, cabbage, broccoli, fennel, carrots, winter greens and Tuscan kale - once impossible to find outside Tuscany - have always been grown in our area. At the Fattoria, these cold-loving treasures - they‘re healthy, full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and flavonoids - have been used to prepare a new recipe, the "Winter Giardiniera“: the vegetables are blanched quickly, so as not to lose their valuable qualities, and then put in a brine of water, vinegar and, at La Vialla, concentrated grape must… or sugar. This "life-extending“ method has been handed down from olden times, when housewives in the countryside used it to preserve vegetables for longer… prepared in this way they‘re light and tasty, with just a touch of sweet and sour.
The Giardiniera is excellent to "nibble“ with aperitifs, it makes pleasant company with a board of cheeses and cold cuts, and it‘s perfect with boiled meats, to mix into rice or spelt salads, or on top of crostini of toasted bread (preferably with a drizzle of olive oil).
Ingredients: Fennel, Carrots, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Balsamico Bianco, Swiss chard, Tuscan kale, Salt of Trapani I.G.P., White grape must, Black pepper.