Blood Orange Sangria Recipe & Types Of Blood Oranges

February 10, 2022 at 8:37 am · Filed under Cocktails & Spirits, Recipes, The Nibble, Wine

[1] A delicious winter sangria made with the season’s blood oranges (photo © Salt And Wind).

[2] There are three varieties of blood orange. This is the rosiest, the Moro (photo © Gelson’s Markets).

[3] The Tarocco variety is less rosy, but just as delicious (photos #2 and #3 © Good Eggs).

[4] Blood oranges also create beautiful upside-down cake. Here’s the recipe.

Blood oranges lovers: It’s high season for the luscious, rosy orbs. Blood oranges are available between October and May, with their prime season right now: February and early March. Select those that are firm to the touch. They’ll keep in the fridge for two weeks.

The red color comes from the presence of the antioxidant anthocyanin, which creates a red, blue, or purple color, depending on a variety of factors from climate to soil. The darker the color, the more anthocyanin in the fruit or vegetable.

These are the compounds that are thought to help prevent cancer and heart disease. (Here’s more about antioxidants.)

Blood orangeslook exactly like regular oranges on the outside, but their inside flesh is a deep rosy red color, and the flavor is a cross between orange and raspberry—some people call them “raspberry oranges.”

There are three main varieties:

Moro, the rosiest (shown in the photos), originated in history.

Tarocco, native to Italy, tends to have a partial raspberry flesh rather than the full-raspberry-hued Moro.

Sanguinello, discovered in Spain in 1929, has a reddish skin, few seeds, and a sweet and tender flesh.

The Tarocco and Moro varieties are now grown in California. Buy them up and go bloody crazy.

Eat them for breakfast instead of grapefruit (or squeeze them for heavenly juice).

Add them to fruit salads, green salads, and seafood and chicken salads for beautiful color and flavor.

Use sections to garnish grilled fish or to create a concasse, a chopped garnish.

Enjoy them for dessert and snacks.

Make a memorable blood orange sorbet (Ciao Bella Gelato has one available year-round for sale, and we buy plenty of it).

RECIPE: BLOOD ORANGE SANGRIA

This recipe is from Chef Aida Mollencamp. Prep time is just 5 minutes, plus at least 4 hours to chill.

You can squeeze blood oranges, and many markets also sell ready-to-drink blood orange juice.

Ingredients

1 bottle (750 ml) dry white wine

3/4 cup blood orange juice

1/2 cup Cointreau or other orange liqueur

1/2 cup Domaine de Canton liqueur (or another ginger liqueur)

1 pint fresh raspberries plus more for garnish

1 pint small strawberries plus more for garnish

Dash Peychaud bitters

Garnish: 6 kumquats, sliced

Garnish: 2 blood oranges, sliced, for garnish

Preparation

1. PREPARE the fruit, washing and slicing as indicated.

2. STIR together in a large pitcher or bowl the wine, blood orange juice, ginger liqueur, orange liqueur, a pint of raspberries, and a pint of strawberries. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 and up to 24 hours.

3. TO SERVE: Strain the sangria into a pitcher and discard the soaked berries. Add a few fresh raspberries, strawberries, and all the sliced kumquats and blood oranges. Serve sangria poured over ice with a few slices of orange in each glass.

> TYPES OF BLOOD ORANGES

> THE HISTORY OF ORANGES

> THE HISTORY OF BLOOD ORANGES

>THE HISTORY OF SANGRIA