Ciao!
I have been on another hiatus due to busy schedules at work aaaaaaaaand I just returned from a 3 week adventure in Italy with my best bud. Wow, I could write an entire blog about Italy. Oh wait, we did! (Private blog for family & friends...FYI, a great way to document travels). We began our travels in Venice and over to the Ligurian coast, down to Florence, through Tuscany & Umbrian and, down to the beautiful beach town of Positano and ended our adventures in Rome.
But today I want to give you a quick glimpse of my travels through the lens of food (and my iPhone). Aaah yes, the food. The way the cappuccinos became your first desire in the morning, the pizza each having its own distinguishing features, pastas with the most delightful combinations of flavors, wine going down so smooth and the gelato. Wow, the gelato. I tried 21 different flavors! I am no food photographer, so be forewarned about the amateur shots. But enough talking, let me show you how delicious Italy is.
Venezia: a style of its own, thin crust pizza, pasticcerias, the introduction of the "spritz" and cicchetti e apertif
un litro di vino & pizze diavola (spicy salame)
Giant cake/brownie like Venetian cookies: Pan dei dogi cioccolata
Prosecco apertif & cicchetti (small bites in Venice)
Aperol & Campari "Spritz"
Sandwiches a gratis? Sure!
Agnolotti alla Bolognese
(stuffed half moons with spinach & ricotta...mmm)
Cinque Terre: Ligurian pesto, fresh seafood, sunny day treats and a dessert wine that will warm you from your earlobes to your tippy toes
Cozze Ripiene
Linguine alla'Lampara: Swordfish Linguine
Sciacchetra & Biscotti
Ricotta e fichi (fig) & Bacio gelato
Green Olive Focaccia
And when exhausted from a day of travel,
we could count on a meal of local salami, pecorino and pane for under 10 euros.
Colazione tipica: a typical breakfast of cafe, cheese & a roll, jelly and yogurt
Pecorino on a rainy day
At least 1 macelleria (butcher shop) on every block
Always fresh ingredients...
We made that!
Stuffed pork panini followed by Noce e Cioccolata (Walnut & Chocolate)...delizioso!
Best panini of my life: Proscuitto, truffle spread, pecorino spread, arugula & fresh pane
ooh, yes..wine always accompanied eats
Tuscan & Umbrian hill towns: wild boar, cheese, lots of local wine and the best cappuccino stop ever
Cinghiale (boar salame), herb pecorino, mandorla (almonds) & a bottle of San Gimignano Vernaccia
Pillowy, billowy gnocchi
Calamari alla griglia (grilled squid)
Linguine alla Scampi
Pizze vegetale
Daily Positano breakfast with <squeal>...Fruit!
Roma: fresh mozzarella, greens and radicchio, meat & seafood cravings,
and everything under the roman sun
Proscuitto, radicchio fusilli, pomodoro e mozarella....and a few glasses of vino bianco
Bresaola e verde oliva panini
Beef shank ravioli...As American as that sounds, it was incredible!
Gelato al Caramello Salato (right)
Ultimo gelato: Pistacchio, Mandorola e Cardamom & Thumbelina
(Pistachio, Almonds with Cardamom and Rose Petals & Lavender with Walnuts)
Apertivo tipico: Spritz, mini bites, potato chips, pretzels & peanuts
The final meal: Bresaola & melt-in-your-mouth Mozzarella
Linguine pesce spada & Spaghetti all'amatriciana
E tutto! That's all folks!
Until next time Italy...
Cin cin,
Belle
