I felt a little like Heidi when I arrived at the lovely Hotel Village in Aosta. My friends Giuliana and Marco had invited me up to cook for a small party for their friends, presenting the renovations which they did on the hotel.
The hotel has a few rooms in the hotel itself, but also has several lovely little chalets. The mountain you see in the backround was what we saw from our bedroom.
I had never been to Aosta and was amazed at the rocky hillsides, quite impressive.
Stefano was my personal shopper, helping me to get everything for the party. It would have been impossible to have managed on my own. One of my greatest fears when cooking somewhere else, is accessing the ingredients. Planning menu’s without knowing what is actually available puts a special spin on catering.
The small little party for 20 grew into a larger evening for 50, so i recalculated and was ready to rock!
the boys unloading the goodies
The menu:
Smoked salmon on swedish dark bread with homemade sour cream and dill
Smoked swordfish cones : french laundry style
Ricotta and thyme sformata
Smoked herring with green apple and orange, crostini
Cheese table with Tuscan cheeses from Corzano e Paterno
served with spiced nuts, dried apple chips, red onion jam and spicy sicilian tomato jam
Followed by:
Pappa al Pomodoro with EVO
Spinach soup with a quail egg garnish
Chicken Kebab with a Savory dipping sauce
Sweets:
Cream cheese mousse
Mini crumble
Cremino served melted with Evo and sea salt
To go:
My cookbook and a apple crumble cooked in a jar.
More on our visit to Aosta later— can’t wait to return!
What a delightful repast!
Care to share that dessert to go in a jar?
Sounds wonderful, Judy. I’ve just started making sformati and am so impressed at how they can be adapted to work with any menu. They can be simple or complex, savory or sweet. Amazing. And so easy to whip up in a pinch.
Brava, Brava.
@rosaria- i made an american apple crumble— http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/applecrumble_2971 a version of this– we baked in the jar in the oven ( bormiolo jars, remove the rubber ring).
@chuck- I prefer sformati to frittata’s or souffles! mine was based on ricotta– with eggs, parmesan and EVO! a trick from Cibreo!
Wow! Very impressive…both the menu and the number of guests! How about a recipe for the spinach soup?
i use a basic trick for soup– saute onions in EVO- add the “flavor” here spinach- salt.. let cook down. Add peeled cubed potatoes, then cover with water– salt to taste ( instead of using broth) and seasonings if you like, such as a little nutmeg for the spinach soup)– cook until the potatoes are done– and then puree with an immersion blender- you want it to be thick!
Judy