Time To Eat!

We've been here at The Nut (what we call our little apartment) for a little over a month, so I figured it's time to do some food posts. 

I do love to cook when we're here, and since the weather has been cold and windy and wet, we've been enjoying some home meals in front of the fire, as well as going out. This post is more about what I'm making at home...

We'd bought some special baked ricotta in Rome right before we left to come here to Umbria. I toasted bread, chopped some wonderful small tomatoes from the local market, made an easy green salad, and yum.

We always have a first market run for the essentials..
Bread and wine.

We try and get to an open market at least once a week so we have choices for lunches and dinners.

I love to roast and grill veggies, so that's what is on the menu these days...

So much to choose from, and so pretty!

A typical meal on a cold evening...Romanesco cauliflower roasted with garlic, herbs, and sliced red onion.

Our olive oil from autumn 2022 is coming in handy.

I made some really good, very rustic polenta to go with the veg and simple greens. This polenta was slow cooking, with a nice knob of butter and grated parmesan stirred in at the end.

A tasty and comforting meal!

Nothing fancy here...yet. I do plan on making home made pasta soon, though!

Another favorite roasted combo ...just carrots, good yellow potatoes and onions with rosemary, sage and garlic. Some dried thyme, I think, too.

We just love a nice handful of arugula to serve with the warm veggies.

 

We were gifted a wonderful loaf of bread, so we've had several meals like this one:

Really tasty egg salad on really tasty grilled bread...with extra tasty tomatoes.
This is a 'go to' lunch or dinner.
The tomatoes come from the south and these little ones are sweet.

The radicchio here is so good and so inexpensive. I like to quarter a head, slather on some olive oil, salt and pepper and get a good char on both sides.

Radicchio "Rosa di Treviso".

It's all about that char!

We like it with a drizzle of balsamic reduction and a bit of grated pecorino.
Of course, some tomatoes on the side.

I keep all the cleaned bits and pieces of veggies that don't make to the pan. There is always a bag in the freezer I add to...carrot skins, onion ends, green bean ends...whatever is good to keep for vegetable stock.

When the bag is good and full, time to make stock!

I always start my stock by cooking up some onion, garlic and herbs in olive oil.

Add the frozen bits, water to cover, and let it cook for an hour or two.

I started it on the stovetop, but let it simmer for quite some time on 
the wood burning stove.

We had the stock last night with eggs whipped in...sort of an egg drop soup. It was remarkable! Sorry I didn't take a photo!

Next, I'll do a post on some wonderful meals we've had out...