Getting Back Into The Food!

Those of you who have followed my blog for years know that Johnny & I are vegetarians (not vegans), and that I do love to cook, as well as eat at the many wonderful places available here in our area.

It's taken a little while to get into the groove, but I'm getting back to my little kitchen, with all it's quirks and size restrictions! I'm actually pretty proud of what I can produce in a small space, and I feel like a real Italian doing so. We've witnessed the sizes of many home kitchens here, and they are often like closets, tucked away in a corner!

Anyway...

While we were house sitting a couple of weeks ago, we were taking advantage of collecting fresh tomatoes from the garden there. I love roasting tomatoes with garlic, thyme and a good glug of Umbrian olive oil.

I brought some tomatoes home and did just that...Oh...salt, too!

After roasting the tomatoes, I cut them up into smaller pieces and warmed them in a pan to make a chunky sauce for some farfalle pasta...

 

I'm a big fan of ricotta salata, which is a dried, salted ricotta cheese that is wonderful and grates well. It's a nice change from parmesan. It's also snow white, so it's pretty.

We enjoyed this as dinner with a view from our terrace at The Nut. Like always, as long as the weather permits, we'll dine on the terrace! Small, but mighty!

Another day, for lunch, I did fresh ricotta and cherry tomatoes on grilled bread.

We are so lucky to have good sources for ricotta cheese here. It is nothing like what we get back home. Not even close. 

Often, I'll go for a sheep's milk ricotta, which has a bit of the barnyard taste. Really good with honey or fig jam (our housemate makes the best!), but I like ricotta used in savory ways most.

Fresh from the weekly farmer's market

Also a market score this week.

So, we toast our bread old school style, on this contraption that goes right on the gas burner. It gives the bread a nice char, and is way more fun than a toaster!

The bread is locally made and full of seeds and wholesome goodness. Thanks, Lia....

A simple toss of tomatoes, basil olive oil and salt...then I rub the warm bread with some fresh garlic...

Yum. 

Grilled toast with ricotta and tomatoes.

That's a lunch that will keep you going all day...after a nap, that is.

And speaking of the weekly market, what usually happens is that I buy way too much, and get myself into all sorts of trouble!

But...who can resist??

What am I going to do with all this?

Well, I've already used a bunch of tomatoes and the ricotta, grilled up the eggplant and zucchini, and am looking at roasting the potatoes with onions and bell peppers. The winter squash? Can't decide whether to roast it or braise it in a pan...

The giant garlic is called aglione, and it's used in pasta sauce with tomato puree. I also like to roast it. It gets soft and sweet.

I'm going to shuck the borlotti beans today and cook them up to make a bean 'stew' sometime soon.

Yeah, I'm getting pretty excited about being back. Finally.

It took some time to get over the stress of the past year, especially the past 4 months, but I think I'm getting my act together.

Thanks for sticking around.

Pasta For Two

  Last spring when we were here in Umbria, I bought a pasta making board and a nice long pasta rolling pin, called a 'matterello' in Italian. I weenied out and never used them....

  This year, Johnny threatened to leave me FOREVER...if I didn't try them out, so  finally did, and the results were pretty damn awesome.

  My first try at tagliatelle here at The Nut with said instruments were a solid B+... Maybe even an A!

Just enough ingredients for two portions...2 eggs and 200 grams of flour.

Flour ready for eggs on my wooden pasta board.

Two farm fresh eggs from just down the way...

Mix it all up with fork...then start kneading by hand.

  I learned the hard way last year...don't knead the dough too long! I tried to make cavatelli, and it ended up like little rocks, once cooked. 

  This time, I just kneaded the dough for about five minutes, then let it rest for only another 5-10 minutes. Also, I didn't put it in the fridge to rest, just on the counter.

Good to let rest.

  I rolled the dough out really thin with my rolling pin. Thin enough to "flutter' when  lifted a corner and blew under it. This is a secret I learned watching a zillion episodes of 'Pasta Grannies' on You Tube...A must watch!

Me in my small but mighty Umbrian kitchen.
Pasta just about ready to cut. See my cool pasta board?

  Next, I floured the dough so it wouldn't stick, then I rolled one side towards the other side, then rolled the other side. 

  Get it?

  Next, I cut it in strips...

  Then you 'fluff' the strips out and dust them with more flour so they don't stick...

Pasta!!!

  I made four little pasta nests, and set them on a clean dish towel to dry out a bit.

Tagliatelle!

  Ta-Da! Perfect with a nice sauce. In this case, a store bought red pepper and parmesan sauce that was so perfect with this pasta.

  I have to say, the pasta took way less than an hour to make, start to finish, including clean-up. In fact, I made an even better second batch this evening. I'm thrilled to finally be doing this again!
  A perfect way to kill an hour while waiting for a storm to pass over! Plus, Johnny was so happy.
  Yay!

A Visit To Lago di Bolsena

  Last week we took an overnight road trip to south western Tuscany to visit some small villages I'd always wanted to see...

  My last post is about our first day in the area, and on day two we got up and out early to drive back home. We went a different route home in order to visit Lago di Bolsena, a large lake in the area...another place I've wanted to see for years.

  This gorgeous lake did not disappoint...On first view, I could tell it was very different from our nearby Lago Trasimeno...

First glimpse of Lago di Bolsena...

  This lake is very deep and clear, with black 'volcanic' sand along the bottom and shoreline.

  We stopped at several places along the shore. I imagine this place is a zoo when it's hot. During the summer I'm certain people are all around, swimming, soaking up the sun, etc.

  It's beautiful, blue and cold!

  There are two uninhabited, private islands on the lake, as well as some lovely little villages. We really enjoyed our slow drive around...

One of the islands...

...the other island.

  Of course we stopped for some late morning proseco!

  We took time to stroll into Marta, one of the villages right on the lake.

Really pretty town, with a nice harbor.

  We wound way up the hill, the best way to get back home, and enjoyed the view from the top.

Here, you can really see how far up we went. It was so cool to see the lake from this angle!

  The whole area is well known for hiking...

  Before heading on our way, I had to stop for this last photo...a few gnomes for my photo collection.

I just can't help myself sometimes...

  All in all, a wonderful trip. Perfect weather really made it special.

Exploring Random Villages

  We popped over to Deruta about a week ago to buy some art supplies for Johnny.
  We took a little stroll around the historic center, and enjoyed a few sights...
  In the main piazza there is a civic building, sort of a city hall, where I saw these fragments that I thought I would like to steal and put in my California garden. They would look very nice in my garden...Don't you agree???

Sadly, I didn't swipe any of them.

  We just looked around for a bit, enjoying this and that...

A really lovely building facade...

  Though not a huge fan of the classic ceramics here, I did get a kick out of seeing this kitty soaking up the sun...

Dude, I totally relate!
It's been cold!

This terra cotta angel caught my eye...

Someone had a baby boy...

A beautiful scene with wisteria.

The way back to our car.
 Yikes.

Wild violet seed pods were gorgeous to me...

   

  After heading home from Deruta, we decided to take some back roads. We like to find new villages to explore. You never know what you will see, or who you will meet and chat with...it's all about the adventure, as far as we are concerned.

  We came across this place, and thought we should stop and have a look around.

I don't remember the name of this village, but it had a friendly bar,
and that goes a very long way for us.

  We hiked on up to the old part of town-

There we found the town greeter, who is also the Mayor, I think.

  When I see a window like this in an old building, I can't help but peek inside...

Classic! I wonder when the last time was that someone came in here?

We also spied this scene through a garden fence.
LOVE!

  Back down below, we checked out the local war memorial. Every town has one, of course. There is usually a listing of names of fallen local soldiers for both the first and second world wars.
  This was no exception...

  We headed out, picked a road to take, and came across this tiny village, which we had to explore on this wisteria alone!

How could we not stop???
The perfume of this filled the entire area.

  The town itself was quiet.

  Really, really quiet.

  I did get some pretty good shots, none the less...

Stairs. Always stairs.

A well kept, but super sleepy village.

  They do have some damn nice wisteria here, though...

  Hey, please note the two gigantic black bumble bees I didn't know I captured in this photo!!! Awesome, or what?!?

I'm thinking this will be a photo for my upcoming coffee table book.
Available soon at a store near you.
Or not.

  The thing I dig about exploring these off the road villages is the details...I like to really look and see what I can find.

  Then, time for a photo.

Nice visiting you!

  We will always take the road less traveled...because we love what might be around the next corner.
  And...we are way too scared to drive the A1.