La tavola
Antipasto consisted of squares of fried polenta topped with a mixture of goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes and a bit of roasted red pepper. There were also three varieties of olives.
Primi consisted of a pasta with peas, ham, eggs, and parmigiano reggiano. I was going to make home-made egg noodles but with everything else going on I just used packaged farfalle. They were lovely nonetheless. I've made egg noodles and they fall in the category of something I know I can do, so it was not a problem to give that up on this round.
Segondi had thin-sliced chicken breasts briefly sauteed in butter with lemon juice and parsley, accompanied by sauteed haricots verts and grape tomatoes that were halved, sauteed in butter and some balsamic vinegar. The tomatoes were heavenly and the rest was pretty damn good.I forgot to take a photo of the Insalata. Mixed spring greens with minced green onion, gorgonzola, oil, white balsamic, salt, and pepper.
And Dolci! Fresh raspberry gelato with Meyer Lemon cookies.
Every course was a success and I am very pleased. Kathy kept commenting that it was such a light meal and she expected something heavy. I told her Italian cooking takes many forms and this was intended to be a light summer meal, in spite of having five courses. I don't feel stuffed at all. Can y'all see the smile stretched from ear to ear.
God bless Kathy; the dishes are all done.
I look forward to more adventures in Italian cooking and will try to take you along with me (well, in photos at least).
--the BB
