Cherries stewed in red wine (Ciliege al vino rosso)

Poached fruit in red wine is quite common; the most common variation being pears braised in red wine, a very similar recipe.

The wine flavour is concentrated and very pronounced. The cherry-producing regions of Italy, Piedmont, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna have had this recipe for centuries as a way to preserve cherries. From this process came digestivos with cherries that became popular.

The fruit and syrup have a deep flavour from the red wine, so use a good quality robust wine like a merlot or cabernet, or Italian varietals like Lambrusco or Barbera. The ice cream should also be good quality, rich and creamy, like Häagen-Dazs or NIC, so as not to spoil the dessert. This is a lovely dessert, the rich sauce tempered by the ice cream, very boozy and delicious.

This was an early vegetarian cookbook that I added to my library. Tuscany-born Paola Scaravelli and her husband, Jon Cohen, have presented a lovely book with 300+ recipes. The book covers all the courses, with wonderful, innovative recipes. The recipes are all vegetarian, but excellent, bringing out the flavours of the vegetables well.

For more recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

2 pints cherries, pitted

12/ bottle good quality red wine

3/4 cup sugar

2 bay leaves

3 sprigs thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Good quality vanilla ice cream

Add the wine, sugar, bay leaves, and thyme to a pot and bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Add the cherries and cook for 7-8 minutes, until they are soft but still retain some structure. Using a slotted spoon, remove from the wine and set aside.

Simmer the wine until it thickens and becomes syrupy. Cool down and pour over the cherries.

To serve, add a scoop of vanilla to a bowl, then top with 3 cherries and 2 tablespoons of syrup.

Serve immediately.