With my mind full of Rome, I bring you this latest post. Yesterday marked my one-month anniversary of being back in America! And while I love sane drivers and the fact that we all speak the same language, there are things I dearly miss about bella Italia.
Especially the food!
Even though my roommates last fall thought of me as a master chef, believe me when I say I'm a far cry from one. I'm actually just a natural at reading the English language and performing actions, like carrying out a recipe, based on words.
Despite lacking chef-like qualities, I was determined to prepare the perfect Italian dinner for my family using the skills I acquired during my Umbrian cooking excursion in February!
In the wee hours of the morning (just kidding, more like 10am), I began the process of making homemade pasta. It's actually not a ton of work, but it would have been a thousand times easier with one of those KitchenAid pasta rolling things. Alas, I was stuck with my rolling pin for an hour.
Anyways, the rest of the afternoon proceeded as I prepared all four dishes I would serve to my loving family.
Finally, 6 o'clock rolled around and it was time for dinner (I know that is actually unacceptably early to eat by Italian standards, but my family was not going to wait any longer). Plus, our lovely neighbor dropped by, so the timing was impeccable.
The appetizer, or antipasti, was bruschetta (properly pronounced bru-sketta). My family sampled multiple different types just like I did on my study trip to Orvieto. One had olive oil spread over the top, another had olive oil and balsamic, and the last was spread with olive oil and topped with freshly cut tomatoes. And, of course, the bread was fire-roasted, the sign of true Italian bruschetta.
For primo, the first course, I served fiocchetti alle pere, or pear-stuffed pasta, based on Nealey Dozier's fabulous recipe. While the work was tedious, the end result could not have tasted any better! Basically, if you like pasta and pears, you need to try this stuff.
Secondo featured cotolette alla Palermitana. These thin Sicilian cutlets turned out so much better than I imagined. I was used to eating Italian meats with little substance, so the flavor of this dish surprised me (yet somehow reminded me of the ever-present arista in the JFRC mensa...). The ease with which these cutlets can be made is incredible; I have a feeling this will become a staple in my diet when school starts back up again.
Ricotta makes a popular appearance in Italian dolce, or dessert, so I decided to prepare budino di ricotta. The recipe was extremely easy to follow, although you may not have caster sugar readily available, and yielded a scrumptious dessert. Additionally, my mother had the perfect dessert wine similar enough to prosecco to pair with the dish.
After four courses of what my sister described as an Italian feast, all bellies were filled to their maximum capacity and the flowing of vino rosso and acqua frizzante ended. And after looking at the clock, I realized the meal had lasted a full two and a half hours! Talk about eating like Italians! Brava mia familia!
It's back to the work-grind for me, but I'd love for someone else to try these recipes out. Please let me know if you do and how the end results are!
Gina
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