Cutrera Pesto & Bruschetta With Wild Fennel

About

Wild fennel grows all over the Iblei Mountains around Frantoi Cutrera’s groves, and this pesto is built around it. It is a red pesto of tomato sauce and dried tomato with wild fennel, almonds, oregano and a little chilli, bound with Cutrera’s own extra virgin olive oil – aniseedy, savoury and sweet from the tomatoes, with some texture from the nuts. A 190g jar.

Frantoi Cutrera is a family olive oil producer in Chiaramonte Gulfi, in the Iblei Mountains of south-eastern Sicily. The Cutrera family were already tending olive groves there by 1906, and Giovanni Cutrera and his wife Maria opened their first mill in 1979. Today their three children, Maria, Giuseppina and Salvatore, run the business with the third generation now joining, and their oils have won more than 700 awards in the last 20 years.

Spread it thickly on toasted bread for bruschetta or crostini (with an anchovy on top is very good), stir it through pasta, or use it on pizza and savoury tarts. It also works well alongside chicken, pork and other white meats.