For Christmas, I gave Bob this Italian Street Food cookbook and promised to make one dish every month. He’s been like a kid with the Sears catalog reading every page and choosing what he wants me to make.
So far, this is our favorite dish we’ve tried — Polpettine di Melanzane, or in English . . . fried eggplant balls. Mmm. Sounds better in Italian, right? They were actually very good.
This is a torta layered with pastry, fresh spinach, ricotta, eggs, and smoked salmon. I added fresh herbs from my “orto cucina,” or “kitchen garden.” (almost fluent- only 10 million more Italian words to go!) It was good, my family liked it (Joe is home from college – yippee!) but next time I think I’ll make it with ham or pepperoni in the center instead of the salmon. Just something about a “fish pie” — as someone referred to it, that wasn’t so appetizing.
“But at school they . . .”
“I know all about Samford’s Cafeteria spoiling boys like you. Now eat your fish pie and enjoy it.”
The best thing was it eventually led me to this amazing dish: Timpano
One last thing I’ve found is a fun story you may want to read if you love books and traveling, is 10 Bookstores Worth Traveling For, written by Jessica Scott and posted on The Discovery Blog. I’ve visited one of the ten — Shakespeare and Company in Paris (above), and am excited that I’ll get to visit a second on the list in a few weeks (hint-hint stay tuned!).
What new recipes have you tried lately?