Savory Radicchio and Prosciutto Crostini Topped with Sweet Syrupy Sapa
By: Ashley & Jason ...
Published: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - 10:31am

Ingredients




Head of radicchio
clove of garlic
2-3 slices of pancetta, prosciutto, bacon, speck - whatever fatty component you want.
spoonful of sapa - grape must or if unavailable, you can you balsamic vinegar with a tiny bit of honey
toasty bread
salt & pepper
1-2 glugs of olive oil
optional - few slices of soft cheese - we use sheep's milk (pecorino)

Preparation

1 In a pan, heat the olive oil on low heat, add in the clove of garlic. Cook until lightly brown on all sides. 2 Turn up the heat, rough chop your head of radicchio, removing the core and cook down for a couple of minutes until the radicchio wilts. 3 Turn the heat down, chop up your prosciutto or bacon and add to the pan. You want to render the fat of this slowly - if you have the heat too high, the pork will crisp up & become chewy - you don’t want this with the soft radicchio. 4 Allow to cook until most of the moisture in the pan has cooked out. The radicchio & pork should still be soft. Season with salt & pepper. Remove the clove of garlic and drizzle over the sapa or balsamic & honey mixture. Check your seasonings. 5 Toast the bread, top with a slice of pecorino then a spoonful of the mixture and serve immediately. Goes great with a glass of red wine.

About

Wine Harvest Recipes: A fall favorite is the savory radicchio and prosciutto crostini topped with sweet syrupy sapa. This is a great example of balancing flavors: the fat of the prosciutto will cut the bitterness of the radicchio, while the sweet component, sapa will round out the flavor. To achieve a balanced result - all three ingredients should be in balance not tasting one single ingredient but a rich flavorful bite. Sapa is a has been used since Ancient Roman cuisine and is made by slowly reducing grape must in large kettles until it had been reduced by one-third. Sapa is common used in Italy, especially in Le Marche, Emilia Romagna and Sardinia, where it's considered among the traditional flavors of fall. 
Our friend Marco has a vineyard and make his own wine (lacrima). He recently gave us a bottle of his homemade sapa - its dark syrupy sweetness is topping everything from crositini to fish, fruit and gelato!