The 5 best recipes with bergamot

Known since the time of Louis XIV for its antiseptic and disinfectant properties, bergamot is a great citrus fruit to use in the kitchen for the preparation of tasty dishes to which you want to give a boost or to enrich desserts, extracts and centrifuged.

We have already seen in our blog the countless benefits of the bergamot of Reggio Calabria and its uses in cosmetics and perfumery.

Today we will also discover how you can use bergamot in the kitchen, and we will suggest some original recipes with this particular citrus fruit.

Added to marinades for meat or fish, used as a condiment for salads or to give the right boost to a risotto: there are many recipes with bergamot, the most important thing is to find the right balance to ensure that its scent and intense flavour do not prevail over the other ingredients.

There is no need to be a star chef: here are the 5 best recipes with bergamot that you can easily replicate at home!

1. Risotto with bergamot

For bergamot risotto we can use both the zest and the juice, always being careful to balance the strong acidity of this fruit. Our advice is to add juice and zest gradually, trying to find the flavour that most satisfies us, and to cook risotto without too many aromas, so as not to have too many contrasting flavours.

In this recipe for bergamot risotto, for example, we avoided sautéing or using broth, cooking the rice with only hot water, and mixing it with butter, Parmesan and a little bit of pepper.

Here is the procedure (deliberately we have not included quantities of ingredients because as this depends on how many people the dish is for)

1. Heat a little oil in a pan and add the rice (Carnaroli rice is preferable), stirring it for a few minutes so that it toasted properly.
2. Add some bergamot juice (as we said, the amount is very subjective: start slowly and then add more according to taste) and let it evaporate. Then add the hot salted water to cover all the rice and cook for about ten minutes with the lid on, stirring and checking if the rice is done.
3. When almost cooked, you can decide whether to add more bergamot juice, diluting it with more hot water and continue to cook the risotto.
4. If necessary, season with salt and stir in a knob of butter, black pepper, Parmesan, and a little bergamot zest.
5. Serve after a few minutes and enjoy the scent of bergamot that will have certainly pervaded the whole kitchen in the meantime!

2. Marinated fish with bergamot

The combination of fish and citrus is not new in the kitchen and even bergamot can be used in seafood recipes to enrich and perfume them.

Remember, however, that the taste of bergamot is more bitter than that of a normal lemon so we recommend moderation!

Here is a quick and easy recipe to make a bergamot marinade for fish.

We can use various types of fish: stockfish, swordfish, anchovies, salmon, depending on whether you want to make an appetiser or a main course.

In any case, to make the marinade you have to combine the juice of Calabrian bergamot with EVO oil, salt, pepper and maybe a little orange juice to moderate the bitterness. If you want, you can also add some zest. Once the fish has been marinated for about 15 minutes, you can serve it with raw vegetables cut into julienne (celery, fennel and/or carrots).

3. Bergamot Jam

The essence of bergamot is often used for desserts but with fresh fruit we can prepare a tasty homemade jam.

Here are the ingredients for making about 4 jars of bergamot jam:

• 1 kg of bergamots
• Juice of a lemon
• Water
• 600 g of sugar

Preparation:

1. Wash the bergamots and remove the outer skin and pith with a sharp knife or a potato peeler.
2. Put the peel in a pan with cold water and bring to a boil. From this moment, cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Cut the pulp into small pieces, put it in a pot with the sugar and lemon juice, cover with plenty of water and bring to a boil over moderate heat.
4. In the last 10 minutes of cooking add the peel cut into thin strips.
5. Put the jam in sterilised jars and close them, turning them upside down for 10 minutes and then letting them cool to store in the pantry in the dark. You can store your bergamot jam for 3 months!

4. Bergamot liqueur recipe

Excellent as a digestive at the end of a meal, the bergamot liqueur is made by leaving the peel infused in alcohol for a week to 10 days, with a preparation similar to that of limoncello.

Here are the ingredients to make this liqueur with such a particular aroma:

• 4 bergamots
• 0,5 l of ethyl alcohol
• 0,5 l of water
• 300 grams of sugar

Procedure:

1. Wash, dry and peel the bergamots, avoiding the pith.
2. Put the skins in a glass container with hermetic closure and cover them with the alcohol. Leave to macerate for 10 days in the dark, shaking the container once a day.
3. After the period of maceration, you can dedicate yourself to the preparation of the syrup by combining sugar with water and bringing everything to a boil. Add the alcohol to the syrup and filter everything.

Let it rest at least 20 days et voilà: here is your bergamot liqueur, to serve cold.

5. Bergamot biscuits: our recipe

Finally, we want to give you a gift, sharing with you the recipe of our almond and bergamot shortbread, the same you find in our bakery.

With a little care in the dosage of the aroma of bergamot, it will be easy to replicate them even in the ovens of your homes! Here’s everything you need for these fragrant bergamot biscuits, ideal to accompany tea or a tasty snack during the day.

Procedure:

1. Mix the soft butter into small pieces, the icing sugar and honey in a planetary mixer at low speed, until the butter is absorbed with the sugar. Then add the eggs (mix first with the salt).
2. It’s time for the aromas: grate the rind of half bergamot and half an orange and pour them into the planetary mixer (if you do not find fresh bergamot you can use the natural aroma of bergamot). Consider that the aroma of bergamot is one of the strongest and most penetrating natural aromas that exist and should therefore be dosed with a care. Its presence enhances and harmonises the aroma of other citrus fruits in the dough but must not be used excessively (in this case just 2g).                                             
3. Add the flour to the dough with the sifted baking powder and knead briefly until they are completely incorporated. It is good at this point to make a test taking a piece of dough and handling it a few seconds to establish its consistency.
4. Then pour the dough on the countertop slightly sprinkled with flour, shape it and place it in a bowl covered with film in the refrigerator for a few hours.
5. To form the biscuits, flour the countertop and the surface of the dough again a little and roll out with a rolling pin, to a thickness of about 2 mm.Then make your cookies with a cookie cutter of your choice (the shape of the cookies of our bakery is different because we do not roll out the dough with a rolling pin but form strings and close them in a figure of eight). Spread them on a baking tray lined with baking paper, spaced evenly: this will ensure a uniform cooking.
6. Cookies are ready to be baked. For a soft consistency bake at 200 degree for 6/7 minutes, while if you want crunchier bake at 160 degree for about 12-14 minutes. A small tip for home ovens: the ideal would be to bake cookies by placing a ball of foil between the entrance of the oven and the door, to leave a gap.

Let us know if you have tried to make one of these recipes and, if you do not have time to prepare bergamot biscuits, remember that you can come to our artisan bakery to buy them ready-made!