Langhe e Roero: Il Moscato d’Asti e il Dolce
Week 4 Challenge: Moscato d’Asti in the Dessert
Week 4 is our final week in this year’s food blogging/photography challenge from the Tourist Union of the Langhe and Roero (details here, in Italian). Our week 4 challenge is the the dessert course, and our secret ingredient is Moscato d’Asti. My entry this week is Moscato Camicia Pera Galette (Moscato Poached Pear Galette).
Galette of pears poached in Moscato d’Asti, with Moscato flavored whipped cream
Moscato d’Asti
Moscato d’Asti is a white wine from the area around the city of Asti in the Piemonte region of Italy. This lovely wine is lightly sweet, delicate and frizzante (slightly sparkling) and is made from the Moscato grape. It is only slightly sparkling, so it can be sealed by a normal cork, unlike Champagne or Prosecco. It can be served as a light apertif, and is especially nice with the dolci (sweet) course at the end of the meal. One of my favorite things about Moscato d’Asti is that it tastes like the Moscato grape, which is surprisingly rare.
Moscato d’Asti is a DOCG wine, meaning it has strict regulations for where the grapes are from, how they are grown and how the wine is made. Sparkling Moscato is very popular, but it isn’t the same as Moscato d’Asti, so make sure you get the real thing! You can tell by the name “Moscato d’Asti” on the label and the DOCG sticker on the bottle (somewhere near the cork).
Make sure the label reads: “Moscato d’Asti” and has a DOCG sticker
Marchesi dei Gresy Moscato d’Asti “La Serra” 2013 ($17 France 44)
Eye: Clear, barely off white with very fine frizzante bubbles
Nose: Fresh, floral with sweet overtones. Smells like fresh Moscato grapes!
Mouth: Sweet, with mouthwatering acidity. Very fine bubbles, not fully sparkling, just frizzante.
The wine pairs perfectly with the flavors in the dessert, it should!
Moscato Poached Pear Galette
In the Langhe & Roero, we would use a local variety, the Maternassa pear in our recipe. Here in Minnesota, our best baking pear is the Bosc pear. We poach the pears in Moscato d’Asti and a bit of honey, wrap them in a simple crust, top them with some crushed hazelnuts, and bake. Top with Moscato flavored whipping cream. Of course, we’ll serve a nice glass of Moscato d’Asti to complete the dessert.
Making the Galette
(click on any photo to start slideshow)
Moscato Camicia Pera Galette
Moscato Poached Pear Galette
Serve with a nice glass of Moscato d’Asti DOCG wine!
Galette Ingredients
- 4 Maternassa pears (Italy) or Bosc pears (US)
- 1 750ml bottle of Moscato d’Asti DOCG
- 60 grams (1/4 cup) honey
- 225 gr. (1 1/2 cups) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 stick plus 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 75 grams (1/3 cup) ice water
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 35 grams toasted hazelnuts, roughly crushed with the side of a chef’s knife
- 1 egg + 1 Tbsp water, beaten for an egg wash
Instructions
1 day ahead of serving
- Peel, half and core 4 pears
- Pour 1 bottle of Moscato d’Asti into a large saucepan
- Add the honey
- Add the pears
- Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes
- Put the pan in the refrigerator overnight to allow the pears to soak up the moscato
- In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and butter and process for 5 seconds
- Add the ice water and process for about 10 more seconds, until it barely starts to form
- Remove the dough and form into a disk by hand
- Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate
Day of serving
- Preheat oven to 200° C (400° F)Remove the pears from the liquid, and slice into 5mm (1/4 inch) slices
- Place the liquid in the saucepan over a medium flame and reduce until it is a thin syrup
- Let the syrup cool fully in the refrigerator
- Roll out the dough into a large circle or into two medium size circles and place onto a sheet pan
- Arrange the pears in the center of the dough in a circle, leaving about 2.5 cm (1 inch) space all around
- Sprinkle the hazelnuts over top the pears
- Fold up the dough around the outside edge of the circle of pears
- Drizzle some of the reduced Moscato syrup over the pears, reserving 2 Tbsp of the syrup for later use
- Brush the egg wash over the outside edge of the dough wrapped over the pears
- Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes
- Remove and let cool briefly
- Serve with Moscato Whipped cream (below)
Moscato Whipped Cream Ingredients
- 250 ml (1 cup) heavy whipping cream
- 1 Tbsp reduced Moscato syrup
Instructions
- Chill the mixing bowl and whisk from mixer
- After the galette is in the oven, remove ingredients and bowl from the refrigerator
- Add the cream and the Moscato syrup
- Beat mixture until firm peaks form, refrigerate until ready to serve
- At serving time, add a dollop of whipping cream and drizzle a final bit of Moscato syrup over the whipping cream
Share this:
Comments
4 Responses to “Langhe e Roero: Il Moscato d’Asti e il Dolce”Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying...-
[…] is no shortage of wonderful, highly regarded sweet wines from Italy: Moscato d’Asti, Brachetto, and of course, rich wines from dried grapes such as Montefalco Sagrantino Passito. This […]
foodwineclick 
Thank you for another great recipe! I recently paired Moscato d’Asti with ricotta and cinnamon apple pancakes; it was the perfect wine for the sweet dish. I can taste it with your Galette! YUM!
Thanks, Michelle! Ricotta with cinnamon apple pancakes sounds good too!
That Moscato whipped cream sounds heavenly. I’d probably make two batches of that, one for eating directly and another for topping the galette 🙂