Tuesday, March 09, 2010

A COMFORTING SUNDAY LUNCH

On Sunday, suffering from a bad cold and in a dismal and rainy Sicily, I was delighted to be invited to lunch by my friends Marco and Giovanna.

To start, Giovanna had prepared riso al forno, which was just what I needed. [You'll find the recipe further down]:





Then there were cotolette di vitello



with polpette di patate and orange salad [not shown]:



For dessert, she had prepared crespelle di riso, flavoured with honey:



And, having felt too poorly to make a cake, I took along a tray of pastries from a local pasticceria:



Don't you like the "coffee cup" one? Even the tiny cup is made of chocolate:



Giovanna's recipe for Riso al forno
To serve 6 people generously, boil 1 kg rice until just al dente and drain it. Make a ragù using 1 kg minced veal or beef, olive oil, onion and celery. Fry the ingredients till browned and then add a little wine and let it evaporate. Add the contents of 2 bottles of passata and 250 gr grated grana padano or caciovavallo cheese. Season and mix well. Spread some ragù in a baking dish and spread half the rice on top. Then add some ricotta, mozzarella, salame and a little béchamel or, as Giovanna puts it, "egg, peas, whatever you have". Repeat the layers, finishing with a layer of rice. Cook for 30 mins at 200 C.

Buon appetito!

10 comments:

gtellwand said...

Enjoyed your Sicily blog. I am canadian but sicilian born. We are planning to visit this summer. Just out of curiousity where are you in sicily? Cheers toni ellwand

sally in norfolk said...

so lovely to go out for lunch and not dinner.... sad to say its something i seldom do as too busy doing other things .

Sally said...

what a delicious lunch, such comfort food, the riso al forno recipe is filed away for future reference! It was miserable here too, will spring ever come? There's barely a daffodil out and we're in the southwest. Sunday here was roast chicken with potatoes with garlic and rosemary, hot beetroot puree and watercress salad, made a warm apple cake for pudding, but could have murdered one of those crespelle............

Whispering Walls said...

Looks fab, WL - sorry to hear about the end of the limoncello

Jan Pag said...

Yum! Lunch here was pheasant pot roast with gin and juniper berries, but I would live to try the riso al forno - what type of rice would you use? long/short grain, basmatti or arborio? and how do you stay soooooo slim?

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Hi, gtellwand. I'm in Modica, Ragusa. I'm glad you enjoy my blog. Hi, Sally. I like lunch appointments best, I think. It's good that you're busy! Hi, the other Sally! Oh, and there I was imagining all the daffs over there last week. Your Sunday lunch sounds lovely. Hi, WW. Yes, shame about that. Hi, Nerys. Yes, much better, thanks. Hi, kitchen Queen. Your lunch sounds delicious, too. Arborio is what I'd use. I wasn't always so slim and it's not easy!

Liz Hinds said...

That looks lovely. I could have enjoyed that!

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

It was lovely, Liz. Maybe I'll make it for you one day!

Stan said...

I'm glad I had dinner not long ago, because these photos are a mouthwatering sight! I imagine they tasted as good as they look.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Hello, Stan and welcome. Yes,it was all delicious.

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