With its jewel like fruits and sweet, spicy jam Mostarda is another wonderful creation arising from Venetian history that we, at Olive and Rosy, think everybody should try!
Mostarda is a condiment made with candied fruit and a mustard essential oil syrup originating from North Eastern Italy. Traditionally it was served with boiled meats but now it is more commonly used as an accompaniment to cheese.
Its discovery was purely by chance when, in a medieval apothecary a piece of melon fell into a barrel of honey. Later when found, the fruit was still as fresh and fragrant as if it had just been picked and even more delicious.
One of our suppliers tell us this story of their origins as producers of the delicacy:
''It is only in the first years of the 20th century that the story of Lazzaris and his mostarda begins.
Mixing sugar with quinces, candied fruit and mustard oil, Luigi Lazzaris, the daring pastry chef of Conegliano Veneto, created a sauce with perfumed notes that won over all of his customers.
His fame quickly spread to the great international exhibitions of the culinary arts. Like a modern day celebrity, the spicy and sweet compote was awarded 6 gold medals, spreading word of the quality of the Lazzaris brand throughout the world''
Holding true to their values of: nature, sustainability, health, tradition, quality and taste for more than 100 years, we love being able to offer the delightful creations of Lazzaris to Wellington, Somerset.
A little dish of mostarda is a common feature on an Olive and Rosy tasting board, it is just beautiful served with a smooth Asiago or salty pecorino. It also adds just a touch of piquancy to a range of dishes, for example added to pumpkin for a ravioli filling, in a dressing or served over roast salmon or pork. On the producers website you can discover a variety of interesting ways to use mostarda. I gave a couple of them a whirl last weekend.
Stradivari agnolotti pasts with fruit mostarda
Ingredients
Serves 4 people 2 egg yolks
12 squares of fresh egg pasta (10×10 cm)
500 g of ricotta
2 tablespoons of Lazzaris fruit mostarda chopped into small pieces
nutmeg,
butter,
salt, pepper, to taste
Method
1. Prepare the filling. Add the egg yolks to the ricotta and aromatize with nutmeg, salt and pepper; add the pieces of fruit mostarda, mixing them well into the mixture.
Mostarda fruits ready to be chopped.
2. Roll out the fresh pasta and cut 12 squares of approx. 10×10 cm.
3. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each square, Fold into a triangle and work into the traditional agnolotti shape.
4. Cook the agnolotti pasta for a few minutes in a large saucepan of salted water; remove them from the water with a skimmer and place them on a plate.
5.Serve hot with melted butter, and a sprinkling of fresh Parmesan cheese slivers.
I adapted the recipe to make a cannelloni, if doing this you could use fresh lasagne sheets as a shortcut instead of making your own pasta. Here is a good agnolotti recipe though for the more adventurous.
Holiday tartlets with mostarda veneta
Ingredients
Per 3 tartelle Focaccia or panettone;
3 tablespoons of mascarpone;
3 tablespoons of Mostarda Veneta
Bitter cocoa or soluble coffee powder;
Icing sugar to taste
Method
1. Cut a thick slice (about 1 cm) of focaccia or panettone. 2. Cut out 3 shapes as desired. 3. Blend the mascarpone with the mostarda, cutting the whole fruits into small pieces and cover the tartlets with the resulting mixture. 4. In another bowl mix a little mascarpone with the cocoa or, for adults, with instant coffee. 5. Decorate the edges of the tartlets using an icing bag, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.
This is a great recipe for a novel way of serving up your Panettone at Christmas. You could also keep the panettone slice whole rather than cutting the shapes to make a larger cake. I omitted the cholcolate and coffee icing and used a mini Panettone for this one below, cut into discs, which was a good size for creating our Italian style take on a cream tea!
I enjoyed these recipes and they really illustrate the versatility of the product. Mostarda was delicious mixed with mascarpone in particular, a really beautiful blend of flavours. However, our favourite serving suggestion has still got to be pure Mostarda with a piece of asiago cheese!
See some of our mostarda available online here or pop into the shop to try some.
Book a tasting evening here.
Read more about Mostarda here
Find some more recipe ideas on the Lazzaris website