Come on, I’ll take you to Italy, in the heart of the European mountains, to make your taste buds travel with this buddha bowl full of flavors. I like the principle of this slightly graphic mixed salad, where the elements are not mixed, I find it very appetizing. It was thanks to a partnership for PDO and IGP Valtellina products that I wanted to prepare it.
La Valtellina is a territory that stretches for 200 km in the center of the Alps in the north of Lombardy, between Italy and Switzerland. It produces wine, apples, cheese, cold meats, among other things, and it is also a land of buckwheat. The products benefit from IGP labels (Protected Geographical Indication and AOP (Protected Designation of Origin), which guarantee the consumer against counterfeiting. The PDO label certifies that all the manufacturing phases of a food product take place in a specific geographical area. in specifications, but also that it respects recognized know-how, using ingredients from the territory whose characteristics are linked to the geographical origin. The IGP label identifies a product whose quality or reputation are linked to a place or a region where at least one of the phases of its manufacture (production, transformation or elaboration takes place).
In this recipe, I have chosen to use bresaola della Valtellina IGP, a Mela di Valtellina IGP apple and Valtellina Casera PDO cheese, all from the region.
The Bresaola de la Valteline is renowned for its finesse. It is made from the finest pieces of beef thigh. Rich in proteins, vitamins and salt, fairly low in fat, it is very tasty. The Consortium for the Protection of the Bresaola della Valtellina was founded in 1998. I simply rolled the Bresaola into cones and put them in my Buddha bowl.
I added some Golden Delicious apple cubes to it. The Mela di Valtellina IGP comes in two other varieties: the Red Delicious with a brilliant red color, which has a very fragrant flesh and the Gala, which is a summer apple. This one is ripe around August 15th and is very juicy. The Consortium, created in 1961, which protects and regulates the production of mela di Valtellina IGP represents 364 producers.
Finally, I slipped in cubes of Valtellina Casera AOP. This semi-fatty dairy cheese is produced exclusively with Valtellina milk, it is soft and delicate. The Consortium which protects Bitto and Valtellina Casera cheeses was founded in 1995. It ensures quality through very strict controls, but also promotion. All cheeses are screened one by one before they are branded and marketed as PDO.
I also added fresh market-bought pepper artichokes that I sliced thinly with a mandolin, a mixture of arugula and basil leaves, small sautéed potatoes and chopped cherry tomatoes. The result is a complete dish, very tasty and not very complicated to cook!
INGREDIENTS
- 100 g of Bresaola della Valtellina IGP
- 1 apple Mela di Valtellina IGP Golden Delicious
- 80 g of Valtellina Casera PDO cheese
- 100 g cherry tomatoes
- 300 g of new potatoes
- 2 handfuls of arugula
- 1 handful of basil leaves
- 4 pepper artichokes
- juice of half a lemon
- olive oil
- flower of salt
- freshly ground pepper
- balsamic vinegar
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare the ingredients:
- Wash the potatoes and cut them into halves or quarters depending on their size.
- Put olive oil in the bottom of a casserole dish and brown the potatoes.
- Let them brown and then cook over medium heat, covered, until tender. Book.
- Cut the Valtellina Casera PDO cheese into small cubes and set aside.
- Remove the leaves and the stems of the pepper artichokes, then turn them with a knife.
- Cut them in half and remove the hay if necessary.
- Slice the artichoke heads thinly with a mandolin or knife. Lemon them and set aside.
- Wash the apple and wipe it dry. Cut it into four quarters and remove the core, then cut it into cubes.
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half or in quarters.
Compose the buddha bowl:
- Harmoniously arrange the ingredients separately, one next to the other.
- Roll the slices of Bresaola della Valtellina IGP into cones and place them in your container.
- Place the mixed arugula and basil leaves next to them, then the apple cubes, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, thin slices of
- artichoke and cubes of Valtellina Casera PDO cheese.
- Drizzle generously with olive oil. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and give a good turn of the mill.
- Serve with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar on hand.
