Today In The Kitchen

  Today was a pretty dreary day here in Umbria...It's not all rainbows and unicorns, as I like to say. 

  I think the 'fantasy' of Italian life has way too much to do with the Hollywood version. It can be wicked cold and wet and gray, just like anyplace in real life. We have gotten used to the erratic weather in March over the years, but this year is taking the cake on worst March weather yet for us.

  Up side...I am having big fun staying warm by spending time in our lovely little kitchen, here at The Nut.

  We managed to get in a good morning walk today, then back home to do a bit of cleaning. Afterwards, Johnny went to work in the studio, and I went to work in the kitchen.

  I had bought some leeks ('porri', here in Italy) and thought I'd make a leek and potato soup. We popped down the road to buy some potatoes, and then back to work.

  I chopped all the bad bits off the leeks, cleaned them well and put them in a pot of water with some shells of peas, herbs, and a few bits and pieces of carrots, celery, etc. This would be my broth.

  I chopped the better parts of the leeks up fine, then slowly sautéed them in butter and a little olive oil. I put some garlic in there, too.

Potatoes, skinned and chopped, went in next.

  Once the veg were sort of blended together, I added several cups of the broth.

  Here's the thing, though...I thought the original broth was a little bland, so I added some organic vegetable bouillon, just to zing it up. It was a mistake. The broth was too salty now, and had a 'fake' taste. Sigh.

  Live and learn. Next time, no bouillon. 

  It was still good, but it could have been great. Oh, well.

Stock was then added to cook all the veg down.

  While the soup was doing it's thing, we took a much needed 'Cheese Break'. Wallace and Grommit would approve! The world is always just a little better with cheese!

  This was pecorino, aged in ash. Oh, yum. We nibbled it with fave beans, of course.
  And wine. Always wine.

We so enjoyed our Cheese Break.
I think it will become a daily ritual.

  Next, I whizzed up the soup with my hand whizzer thingy, and soup was on, baby.
  Despite the mistake of the powdered bouillon, the soup was pretty damn good. Of course, a drizzle of the best olive oil in the world helped.
  I made a big batch, so now I have a lunch or dinner waiting in the freezer.
  This is what crappy wintery days are for, right?

Silky leek and potato soup. It was good!

  So, for dinner...Wait... Am I getting too food-centric with my blog?
  What can I say? This year we are homebound a lot, so this is what I am doing here in Umbria. Cooking, eating, reading, walking when possible...waiting for the sun to come out!!!!

  Anyway, dinner was great...A red sauce I made about three days ago finally had it's chance on pasta tonight. The days in 'holding' made this sauce even better.
  We topped it with more of the fantastic ricotta salata I bought earlier in the week, when we bought the afore mentioned 'aged in ash pecorino'.
  I used wide egg noodles for the pasta, and it was a real match made in red sauce heaven.

Yes.

  Now it's 10:40, I'm listening to the howling wind, and wondering...What am I going to make tomorrow?

Buona Notte, Friends.