(Italiano) Tortellini…rigorosamente in brodo!

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.

New Year’s Eve menù: lenticchie e cotechino

Every New Year’s Eve dinner is different depending on how and where you are celebrating. One item that is never missing from any Italian New Year’s Eve menu is Lentils. Lentils are considered good luck and the more you eat of them, the better luck you will have. Lentils are supposed to bring prosperity (they look like coins) and this current recession has got everyone looking for help

Together with lentils we eat either Zampone or Cotechino. Zampone is really a stuffed pig’s trotter. It is stuffed with ground pork, pork rinds, and spices. Cotechino  is made using a meat mixture similar to that of zampone but then stuffed into a pig intestine skin. To cook them you have just to boil in water for 2 or 3 hours and then slice into thick round

Ingredients:

• 350grams of lentils
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 chili pepper
• 200ml of tomato puree or ripe fresh tomatoes
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper

In a saucepan sauté with olive oil the onion with garlic, hot chili pepper and the finely chopped celery. When they are golden add the tomatoes with bay leaves and cook for a few minutes. Add the lentils and a liter of boiling water; cover and let it cook on medium heat for about one hour. Remove the garlic and season with salt and serve warm

Buon Appetito and Happy New Year !!!

OPENING of the New Florence Opera House

On 21 December 2011 the New Florence Opera House will open with an extraordinary concert by Zubin Mehta. It will be fundamental moment in the history of not only the city, but also of the nation. From 21 to 31 December the New Florence Opera House will open with a series of great concerts that will bring to town some of the world’s most celebrated conductors and soloists together with the artists of the Maggio: Zubin Mehta, Stefano Bollani, Claudio Abbado, András Schiff, Radu Lupu, … The inaugural events will conclude on New Year’s Eve with a sparkling festival starting with a concert of Italian operatic repertory with Mehta conducting.

Nice review in a Dutch blog

Saskia Balmaekers has written a nice review in her Dutch blog; have a look  at http://ciaotutti.nl/inviaggio/slapen-in-de-kamers-van-de-santa-croce/

(Italiano) deGustiBooks dal 25 al 27 novembre 2011

al Tepidario del Giardino dell’Orticoltura incontri con Autori, Degustazioni, Laboratori, Food Show. Guardate il programma su http://www.degustibooks.it/ e divertitevi ad assaggiare prodotti, conoscere scrittori e curiosare nei laboratori