Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Normans and Spaniards alike all have left their mark in the Sicilian cuisine.

Its most important aspect is the selection of quality and seasonal ingredients to achieve fragrant and tasty results from its recipes.

CAPONATA di MELANZANE

An authentic Sicilian caponata bears no resemblance to any commercial product. The secret is to prepare the vegetables separately so that they retain their own individual taste. Simple instructions and the result is exceptional.

Best with a D’istinto Merlot or D’istinto Sangiovese/Merlot

Ingredients for 4 people:
3 large eggplants
1 1/2 cups olive oil
1 head celery, tough outer stalks removed, finely sliced
1 large onion, sliced
1/3 cup tomato paste, diluted with 2 tablespoons water
1 - 2 tablespoons capers
1 anchovy, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup fine quality red wine vinegar
1/4 cup green olives, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup sultana raisins
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method: Without peeling the eggplants, cube into 1/2 inch pieces. Sprinkle with salt and let drain in a colander. Place a weight on top for one to three hours; the longer, the sweeter. Dry well and set aside. Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Fry the eggplant until brown. Drain on paper towels. Save the oil. Boil celery in a saucepan of water for 3 minutes. Sautè the onion in the oil remaining from the eggplant just until it begins to change colour. Stir in the tomato paste. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir and combine together the capers, anchovy, sugar, vinegar and olives. Add the eggplant, celery and raisins, stirring together. Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes. Let cool before serving.

The Chef recommends garnishing with toasted bread and chopped almonds.

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PANELLE
(Sicilian Chickpea Fritters)

Panelle are fritters made from chick-pea flour that may be of Arab origin. They are a favorite snack food to the Sicilians, found in friggitoria or fryshops. Best with D’istinto Catarratto/Chardonnay

Ingredients for 30 panelle:
2 1/2 cups chickpea flour
3 cups water
3 tablespoons finely minced fresh parsley or oregano
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 to 6 cups vegetable oil for deep frying
Method: Put the flour in a saucepan. Using a whisk, stir the water whisking to break up any lumps. Add the parsley or oregano, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 15 minutes.
Turn the mixture onto an oiled surface (pizza tins work well for this, as does a marble or wooden board) and flatten with a spatula into a thin sheet. Let cool. Cut into rectangles each about 2 inches by 3 inches.
Heat oil to 375°F and fry in batches, being careful to not put in too many at one time which would lower the heat of the oil. Fry until each panella is golden brown. You may need to turn once.
Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

Yield: About 30 panelle

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PIZZA ai POMODORINI di PACHINO
(Pizza with Cherry Tomatoes)

Ingredients for 4 people:
¼ lukewarm water cup
25g of leaven of beer
½ cup of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
¼ cup of olive oil
A pinch of sugar
250g of mozzarella
½ kg of little tomatoes, oregano, basil

Method: Mix the lukewarm water and leaven of beer and rest for 2 minutes. Add a pinch of sugar and you cover the soup dish. Put in warm place for 5-6 minutes until that the leaven begins to make one light foam. Put salt and flour in a great soup dish, mix this and leaven. Begin to paste and add slowly the lukewarm water until obtaining an elastic consistency. Make a paste ball and leaves it to rest for two hours covered, in one soup dish with a little quantity of flour on the bottom, in warm place. Divide the paste in two parts, spread it with the rolling pin and put on the surface with the flour.
Cut the little tomatoes of Pachino in quarters. Spread on the paste the mozzarella cut to slices and the little tomatoes. Add salt, pepper and oil of olive. To fine add to the pizza origanum and basil.

Calatrasi Suggest
Best with Allora Primitivo.

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SARDE a BECCAFICO
(Sardine Roulades)

Ingredients for 4 people:
600g. Sardines
150g crumb of bread
1 lemon
50g sugar
1/5vinegar
1 onion
150g olive oil
50g parsley
50 g grapes pass, salt and pepper laurel

Method: Clean the sardines, removing fish bone and head, open leaving them stuck on the back. Make her marinate whit juice of lemon, oil and pepper. Brown in olive oil the chopped onion. When it will be gilt to add the bread crumb, grapes pass, the minced parsley and the sugar. With the obtained mixture stuffing the sardines folding them up was. Arrange them on a baking-tin, add laurel, oil of olive and bake for 10 minuts. Serve at room temperature.

Best with D’Istinto Catarrato/Chardonnay

This is a classic Sicilian dish from Palermo,created when the Saracens ruled Sicily. Sicilians would use the fennel that grows wild in the lava-rich soil which has a more intense flavour than the cultivated. Best with Terre di Ginestra Catarratto or D’istinto Chardonnay.

Ingredients for 4 - 6 people:
2 pounds fresh sardines
1 1/2 pounds bulb fennel, thickly sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 onions, finely sliced
4 anchovy filets
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 tsp saffron
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound bucatini
1 cup breadcrumbs

Method: Preheat oven to 350°F.
Remove heads and tails from half the sardines. Cut in 1 inch pieces. Leave second half intact.Wash and trim fennel. Put into pan with about 8 cups cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 5- 8 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon, drain in colander, then gently squeeze out water. Chop roughly. Reserve cooking water.Heat 1/4 cup oil in a frying pan. Sauté onions over medium heat until golden. Add chopped sardines and anchovies. As they cook, crush sardines with back of spoon to make a thick paste. Add pine nuts, raisins, saffron, salt and pepper.In a separate pan, heat remaining oil and lightly sauté the fennel, removing to a separate bowl. Sauté the remaining whole sardines. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes, turning once gently to not break up the sardines.Using the fennel water, boil the pasta until al dente, about 10 - 12 minutes. Drain. Put in bowl and dress with half the sardine sauce. Put a layer of the dressed pasta in an ovenproof casserole. On top of that, put a layer of fennel, then a layer of whole sardines with additional sauce. Continue until all the ingredients are used up, ending with a layer of bucatini. Cover with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over top. Cover and bake in preheated 350°F oven 15 - 20 minutes.

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COUS COUS di PESCE
(Cous Cous with fish)

Ingredients for 4 people:
800gm cous cous pre-cooked
1kg of red and yellow peppers, courgettes, aubergines, potatoes and peas
2 spoonfuls of tomato
hot chilli
olive oil
salt and pepper
2 onions big
3 garlic
1kg fish for soup
1 spring of parsley
Method: Clean the fish, laying aside the remains, and lightly fry it in olive oil. Preserve by. Prepare a chopped and sautéed vegetables with a minced onion and the garlic, add the tomato concentrate and the hot chilli at pleasure. Poured 2 litres and 12 of water on the chopped and sautéed vegetables and add the fried fish, leaving everything to boil 30 minutes, add peas. Cut the vegetables and fry in plenty of oil.
Moisten the pre-cooked cous cous with the fish soup stock. Add the fish and vegetables. Let everything rest 30 minutes and served taken by a prepared sauce with the soup rest and the plenty of chilli addition.

Calatrasi Suggest
Best with Selian Carignan

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CALAMARI IMBOTTITI
(Stuffed Squid)

Squid shrinks considerably in the cooking. It is important to buy ones that are uniform in size. The body should be no smaller than four inches and no larger than six inches . (Do not include the tentacles in this measurement.) Buying cleaned squid costs a few extra pennies, but saves a messy and tedious job. Best with a D’istinto Nero d’Avola or Terre di Ginestra Nero d’Avola.

Ingredients for 4 - 6 people:
10 squid as noted above
5 large Sicilian green olives
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 clove garlic, finely minced
3/4 cup fine bread crumbs
1 tablespoon grated parmigiano cheese
1 tablespoon grated romano cheese
1 egg
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (16 ounce) can plum tomatoes, chopped

Method: Clean squid if not purchased clean. Finely chop the tentacles and set aside. Pit the olives and slice into thin slivers. Set aside. Sauté the onions in the butter. When the onions begin to soften, add the finely minced garlic and cook until onions are translucent. Let cool.
Mix together the bread crumbs, cheeses, chopped tentacles and olives. Add cooled onion/garlic combination.
Break up the egg with a fork, and mix lightly into the bread mixture. Stuff the calamari half full with the mixture. Do not overfill; the stuffing will swell as it cooks and will fill the calamari completely. Close the open end with a toothpick.
Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Brown squid on both sides over medium/ high heat. Add the tomatoes, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

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CASSATA SICILIANA

There are many recipes for cassata. Some use a round bowl which is later turned over and unmolded. Some recipes use a rectangular pan. We like the ease of a springform pan with removable sides. Best with D’istinto Magnifico or Terre di Ginestra 651.

Ingredients for 8 - 10 people:
1 sponge cake or plain pound cake
3 - 4 tablespoons rum or Marsala wine
1 1/2 pounds Ricotta
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated dark chocolate
2 ounces finely chopped candied mixed peel
2 ounces finely chopped candied orange peel
1/2 cup pistachios, chopped
Whole pieces of mixed glacè fruit or candied peel(for decoration)

3 cups confectioner's sugar
green food color (optional)

Method: Cut the sponge cake into rectangular slices. Line bottom and sides of a springform baking tin with cake, reserving some pieces for the top. Sprinkle with rum or Marsala. Mix together ricotta, sugar, and vanilla. Blend well (a blender is good for this step). When creamy, add chocolate, chopped candied peels, and pistachios. Pour mixture onto the sponge slices. Smooth top. Cover with another layer of cake slices, dust with powdered sugar and garnish with candied fruit.

Or use the following as icing in place of plain powdered sugar:

Melt the powdered sugar in a double boiler with 1 or two drops of green food coloring and a few tablespoons of water. Spread over top of cake. Chill in refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Remove sides of springform pan and serve in small slices.