DellaCiliegia: maggio 2008

all in a weekend...

we spent the weekend in the delightful company of the Ambrosini's in the remote country town of Pratolungo near the port of La Spezia. Lunch consisted of farcaciotti...a peculiar stacking of disks heated first on the coals of the fire, then stacked with a mix of flour, water and salt poured in between....the table was set with plates of fresh cut meats, a soft milky cheese resembling taleggio, turnip and sausage. Between the food, the homemade wine, and conversation, lunch lasted until it was time to take a nap or start dinner...

the next day after recovering from farcaciotti coma, Giuseppe proudly showed us his vineyard and 20 free roaming chickens....some for laying eggs, and others grown for his sunday lunch. From the vineyard, we got a tour of the cantina, which led to 6 bottles of wine for us to take home in exchange for help during harvest time in October....

erin discovers her new passion, corking wine.....

with 6 bottles clinking in the trunk, we headed to beautiful Portovenere, just south of the cinque terre....
mark and the church and old fortress of portovenere...

we zipped over to monterosso in the cinque terre in time to enjoy fresh seafood with cousin Alison (4 months preggers!) and her husband Dustin after they had hiked in from Vernazza...so great to have family in town!

signs of summer?

the cherries are ripening in pecetto as we prepare for our annual Festa della Ciliegia, literally the big cherry party! other signs of summer include....

first outdoor apertivo with catherine...a favorite torinese tradition that includes one drink of choice and an extravagant selection of food for around 7 euros....mark missed it because he was stuck in traffic on his way from work, poor guy...

inaugaration of our new grill! everything tastes good on a grill...including cauliflower...

first guests of new grill in honor of anna's birthday party...notice many happy faces...

unfortunately, the weather hasn't change much yet, considering it's been hard to see the church tower lately, but mark tells me, better this than 85 degree humid heat and mosquitoes terrorizing you at night....

melanzane alla parmigiana....

a day in the kitchen with margherita provided unique insight into la cucina italiana....here is one of my favorite dishes that we prepared melanzane alla parmigiana or eggplant parmigian.....

ingredients (measurements are estimates as italians figure you should know)
1 large eggplant
tomato sauce, homemade is best (18oz bottle)
fresh mozzarella, like buffala, cut into thin slices (about 1 lb)
freshly grated parmigian cheese
breadcrumbs (seasoned with pesto, if available)
2 to 3 eggs beaten
serves 6-8 people as a first course

1. Prepare eggplant by peeling skin, then cut into quarter inch slices. Pass each slice through the bowl of beaten eggs, and then through breadcrumbs. Prepare all in this way and set aside while heating a pan of oil (preferably peanut oil or good frying oil on hand).

2. Fry eggplant slices, as shown then place on paper towel and sprinkle lightly with salt....prepare all slices in this manner. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius (about 300 F)

3. Take a casserole dish and start by spreading a little tomato sauce along the bottom of dish, now add a layer of fried eggplant slices, and then cover with a few spoons of sauce (as shown). Spread tomato sauce over your first layer of eggplant, now lay several pieces of mozzarella slices over and sprinkle an abundant amount of grated parmigian cheese. Continue this order for 3 more layers (eggplant, sauce, mozzarella, parmigiano).

4. On final layer of parmigiana pour 1 to 2 spoons of olive oil over the top....now place in oven for 30 to 40 minutes until dish has a hard crust like top, turn on your broiler at the end if necessary).

5. Best if not served straight, and sometimes even better the next day. For a slight variation add some thin sliced prociutto cotto (cooked ham) as a layer before the mozzarella. Buon Appetito!