CONTORNO

I got the idea for serving fried courgette slices with mint and garlic from a TV programme but the other ingredients are my suggestions:

Fry courgette slices [not too thick, not too thin] in olive oil till golden on both sides. Drain on kitchen paper.

Put in a serving dish and sprinkle with plenty of chopped mint, a little parsley, a chopped garlic clove, chilli flakes to taste, salt [Himalayan pink salt works well] and the grated rind of a lemon.

A good side dish - buon appetito.

"OTTOBRATA" TOMATOES

Yes, I do know it's the beginning of April but I have named this recipe for the Ottobrata festival where I bought some "balsamic honey" in October.  The other day it occurred to me that I ought to use it up so I invented this tomato recipe:

Put a rack in a roasting tin and cover the rack with baking parchment. Halve some cherry or other small tomatoes and place, cut side up, on the rack. Sprinkle over some coarse seasalt and black pepper, then add the herbs of your choice - I used rosemary and oregano.  Drizzle over some balsamic honey - if you can't get this make up your own, using 2 tablesp runny honey and 2 tablesp balsamic vinegar.  Roast the tomatoes in an oven pre-heated to 170 C for about 20 mins.  You can serve them hot or cold, as an antipasto or as an accompaniment to roast meats.

LAMB CHOPS, SICILIAN STYLE!

Off out with Irma last night, for serious girl-chat and a lovely meal at the Caffè Consorzio. An autumn menu was in store and I felt I needed it, though it is still "warm" at 19 C in the daytime.

We partook of:
the usual dish of complimentary antipasti
cucuzza [a type of long, green, squash] soup
lamb chops - Irma was good and had roast pumpkin as a contorno, whereas I can never resist patate al forno!
beautifully presented dishes of fruit, with melting lemon ice cream beneath

The fruit and ice cream were offered "on the house" so the price of all these delights came to just €38.50 for the two of us, including drinks.

NOTHING BY HALVES

The little plate of complimentary snacks that most bars serve with an aperitivo here continues to be a delight and I must say that at the Altro Posto they have become very generous with this fare lately: as you see, spiedini of one kind or another seem to be in vogue and for the past week or so a fresh plate of these has been served with each drink. [If you're going to have one aperitvo, you might as well have two, especially on a sunny day just made for people-watching!]

Cosciotto [chicken thigh fillet] was on the main menu today, served with a contorno of spinaci. As you see, they didn't stint on the latter either!

UN CONTORNO

I've shown you the Altro Posto's veal escalopes with mushrooms before, but not, I think, with this delightful contorno [accompaniment] of peas, tiny cubes of ham, chopped onion and sweetcorn, gently sweated in olive oil. As I've mentioned, there is no issue around eating veal in Italy - if you eat meat, it is hard to avoid.