Slow Travel – The Beauty of Standing Still
Travel expert Amanda Hyde, who has written for Condé Nast Traveller and The Telegraph, explores the art of slow travel across southern Italy.
For chef Fulvio Pierangelini, autumn is one of most exciting times of the year. The season that sees Verdura estate’s magnificent produce harvested, including the sun-drenched olive groves that produce the hotel’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil, autumn offers a delicious bounty. Picked by hand, Verdura’s olives are cold-pressed within hours of being harvested in order to retain their superlative flavour and health-boosting properties. The result is a wonderfully grassy green olive oil with a complex bouquet of aromas such as artichoke, mint, basil and orange blossom.
Simple and easy to assemble, bruschetta is the perfect way to enjoy exceptional organic extra virgin olive oil. Here, chef Pierangelini shares his recipe for a traditional bruschetta snack that allows the taste of the olive oil to shine through whilst incorporating a few other local Sicilian ingredients. Rest assured that if you don’t have access to your own Sicilian olive groves, this works just as well with best quality store-bought olive oil.
Ingredients
(serves 1)
3 slices of good quality bread, preferably homemade
Olive oil
Sea salt, to taste
Dried oregano
1 ripe tomato
Handful of fresh basil
100g Broccoli
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
Half a chilli pepper, chopped
Method
Clean and cut the broccoli into small florets. Once prepared, stir fry with olive oil, garlic and chilli pepper and set aside.
Cut three slices of bread and toast them on both sides.
Top the first slice with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and a pinch of dried oregano.
For the second slice, cut the tomato in half and rub it generously on the toasted bread. Follow this with a good pinch of sea salt, pepper, fresh basil leaves torn by hand and a good glug of olive oil.
Top the third slice with the broccoli stir-fried with oil, garlic and chili pepper
Taste more of Verdura’s homegrown produce and Fulvio Pierangelini’s farm-to-table dishes when you visit the resort.
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