Monday 17 May 2010

Italian Dinner Party

I had a blast this weekend, preparing an enormous meal for friends on Saturday night. I planned this two weeks in advance using my amazing Food of Italy cookbook which is an authentic guide to Italian cooking, with gorgeous photography thrown in.

 I am also lucky to have a Waitrose supermarket nearby, which is committed to high-quality, fresh produce and unusual cooking ingredients. So I could arrive there knowing full-well they would have fennel bulbs, aubergine, a rack of pork, porcini mushrooms, fresh chorizo sausage, Parmiggiano Reggiano, etc.

This is the menu I planned:





Antipasti


Red Peppers stuffed with Mozarella
Chargrilled Fresh English Asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto
Scallops and Chorizo 
Grilled Marinaded Aubergine on Bruchetta
Cherry tomatoes with Basil and Balsamic Vinegar
Olives


Second Course


Wild Mushroom Risotto


Meat Course


Roast Rack of Pork with Fennel


Dessert


Italian Pear Tart with Marscapone Cream


Coffee with Chocolate Biscotti


Suffice to say, we were all stuffed full at the end of the meal. It was such fun to make, and even better to eat. Here are some photos during preparation. If you want to know what the end product looks like, you'll have to buy the cookbook!


Chargrilling the aubergines



Chocolate biscotti cooling by the window


Beautiful ciabatta ready for toasting


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