DENTON (UNT), Texas --  University of North Texas Executive Chef Pierre Monticolombi has created five new dishes as part of a California Raisin Board and Food Service Director magazine challenge to incorporate raisins as a healthy sweetener in university dining menus.

The UNT community can taste test Monticolombi’s new dishes from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on April 30 (Tuesday) in Kerr Hall’s cafeteria, and vote for their favorites. The dishes are:

• Pepper crusted roulade of pork with a stuffing of apples, raisins, cranberries, sage and onion
• Pizza with raisin paste, goat cheese, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and pears
• Quinoa with raisins, kale, pistachios, pecans and cashews
• Chocolate spaghetti with a pancetta raisin cream sauce
• A new flavor of Scrappy’s Homemade Ice Cream: golden raisin ricotta, created by Sous Chef Jake Gravely

Monticolombi drew on his extensive culinary experience to create the menu items.

“It was a simple process that started with thinking about what ingredients would pair well with raisins, and building the recipes from there,” he said.

The dishes were created as part of the California Raisin Board’s Chef Assistance Program. The program brings Chef Todd Downs to university campuses across the U.S. to work with culinary teams on developing dishes featuring California Raisin products.

“In the past three years, California Raisins has partnered with many of America’s most prestigious universities to bring healthy eating ideas to their dining halls,” said Larry Blagg, senior vice president of marketing for the California Raisin board. “We look forward to working with the University of North Texas in creating recipes that are unique to North Texas and fit a healthy, active lifestyle.”

Universities participating in the program will be featured in an upcoming issue of Food Service Director.

Editor’s note: A photo of Monticolombi can be found online.