Fettuccine Fungi Casa

Maybe because we were very hungry tonight, but this made our tummies very happy.

fresh egg pasta (3.5 cups 00 flour, 4 eggs, 1 egg yolk)

couple handfuls wild mushrooms

Italian butter

garlic

white wine

rosemary, minced (1 tsp)

handful of minced chives

organic chicken stock tube

parmesan

ground black pepper

maldon sea salt

EVOO

truffle oil (optional)

1. make fettuccine with egg pasta (use organic Italian eggs with orange yolk)
2. cut mushrooms, saute in butter with rosemary in a large non-stick pan
3. grate garlic into pan with mushrooms (to taste)
4. crumble about a third of chicken stock tube, mix further into butter
5. add 1 drop of truffle oil, if you like (just a hint of truffle preferred, to give dish a more rounded flavor than to actually taste the truffle)
6. once mushrooms look relatively cooked, add dash of white wine & turn up heat a bit
7. boil pasta in salted water for 2 minutes max, then with some thongs transfer directly into saute pan with mushrooms
8. add a bit more butter, pepper, salt, chives
9. serve, drizzle tiny bit of EVOO, grate some parmesan, maybe a bit more pepper

Tonight's Dinner

A multi-course dinner with the Etroys and Jenny tonight:

• bresaola bombs
• san daniele and apple salad wraps
• grilled polenta & brandade de morue
• curry moules mousclade & mouillettes
• squid tonnato
• radish, celeriac, pecorino & pomegranate salad
• cotechino, lentils, mostarda
• speck & fontina ravioli with wild mushrooms
• herb salad
• caerphilly, red pepper chutney, michelle's oatcakes
• tiramisu trattoria felice style

Lardo & Rosemary Crostini

One of my favorite Italian canapes hands down.

lardo di Colonnata

best quality EVOO

maldon sea salt

best quality peasant bread

rosemary, chopped very finely

1. grill bread
2. place slices of lardo on bread immediately after grilling (will melt)
3. sprinkle salt and rosemary, eat asap while still warm!

Scallops, Citrus & Parmesan

A recipe from Olivier Bellin's Alsacian resto Auberge des Glazicks in Plomodiern. Swiped from my Gault Millau magazine.

4 scallops

25 cl orange juice

1/2 cauliflower

10 gr fresh almonds

20 gr parmesan

25 cl carrot juice

1 pinch of good quality curry powder

5 cl EVOO

1 tsp piment d'Espelette

10 gr of salted butter

Maldon sea salt

1. reduce orange juice with curry until just about dry, add 4 cl EVOO
2. emulsify in a mixer while adding the carrot juice
3. crumble the cauliflower into uneven bits, saute in butter with almonds for ten minutes
4. add a nice pinch of parmesan
5. season the scallops with salt, pepper, piment and saute in a separate pan 1-2 minutes each side depending on size
6. in the middle of each plate, put a tblsp of the orange reduction; sprinkle cauliflower over before topping off with a scallop; spoon the carrot emulsion on top, finishing off with some drops of EVOO

Wish List (Updated Regularly)

Things I want.....

• mushroom picking & eating, with a portable hot plate, garlic, parsley, butter, salt & pepper, some good bread and bottle of red, a nice little rock to sit on with hills to gaze over
• calabrian chillies
• Pierre Gagnaire cookbook (recipes from 1960s-present)
• borough market on a monday morning
• Tasty Easy Italian (innovative recipes)
• serve several espressos in shot glasses on stainless steel platter, napkins to the side, with spoons
• Moi Chef d'Un Soir, Table de Claire (Parisian chef invites amateurs to take over her restaurant kitchen on given nights)

Rome Trattoria Picks

Current top Roman trattoria picks, in order of preference.

1. Trattoria Felice (Testaccio): the best cacio e pepe I've had (with fresh tonarelli), a gricia that rivals or surpasses that of Macceroni, the best ever tiramisu (well, more of a zabaione with coffee-drenched butter cookies and chocolate sauce). Luckily for us artichokes were in full season, and I've never had better. It's been well covered but I think week day lunch does the trick, still managing to feel local. Testaccio is Les Halles/Smithfields equivalent for Rome, so plenty of food-related things going on ie genuine local food market, and many other local trattorie that we have yet to discover.
2. La Campagna (Centro Storico): one of my first trattoria discoveries many years ago, and still a favorite; the best antipasti bar I know, especially because of the cornucopia of local greens i.e., chicoria, garlic shoots, broccoli romano, etc etc.
3. Trattoria Monti (Monti): higher endish Marche rather than Roman trattoria; very well known but still managing to feel no-frills and local. Highlight was a Marche take on a gricia, ie pecorino di Fossa Sogliano al Rubicone instead of Romano; and local Marche crumbled sausage as opposed to guanciale. Michelle also had a ravioli (more of a bonbon) of buttery silky potato mash with tiny dice of guanciale, sauteed in butter & sprinkled with chives. Also as appetizer had a sensational ciauscolo, a softer Marche salami. Asking the owner post meal what his favorite dish of the moment was, he replied: make a traditional spinach, ricotta tortelle but add an egg yolk before you seal the pasta. Boil tortelle, saute in a pan with butter, then shave truffles over them. Mama, mama.
4. Hostaria da Pietro (Centro Storico): near via Babuino, yet so far. Classic Roman, especially good charcuterie. Although we were there in the evening, feels like it could be a popular place for local business people.
5. Primo (Pigneto): more a resto than trattoria, borderline creative but doesn't seem to break any rules! A classy joint in a bohemian hood, and does the trick if you want to wander off the gricia path a bit.

Fig & Fromage Frais

Not worth it unless the figs are tip top.

best quality, sweet figs

fromage frais

vanilla bean

sugar

1. slice figs up into quarters
2. mix together seeds from vanilla bean, sugar to taste and fromage frais
3. put figs on platter, spoon fromage frais over figs