Recipe: Snow in a Glass

At Sale e Pepe (a perfect trattoria in the tiny end-of-the-road village of Stregna), we feasted on traditional dishes like buckwheat polenta with ricotta, horseradish and Seuca apples, bean and barley soup, sausage, white polenta, mushrooms and chestnuts, and a tasty dessert called snow in a glass, featuring persimmons. I got the recipe.

Serves 4

    • 2 apples
    • 3 tablespoons sugar
    • 2 cloves
    • pinch of cinnamon
    • 2 persimmons
    • 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
    • 4 small pears
    • 1 cup red wine
    • 4 scoops vanilla ice cream
    • 2 tablespoons dried apples, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Peel and core apples, cut into bite-sized pieces, and cook with two tablespoons sugar, clove, and cinnamon until completely soft. Then puree.

Peel persimmons, remove seeds, and puree with one tablespoon sugar and lemon juice.

Bake the pears with the red wine for 20 to 25 minutes and then cool.

To assemble: Put a spoonful of apple puree in a glass, top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, top with a spoonful of persimmon puree, garnish with a pear, dried apple pieces, and a few drops of the wine from the pears.

To read about Faith's visits to northeastern Italy's restaurants and wineries, click here.