NICO | GALOPPO || journal

Tonight, I prepared dinner for two friends, Lisa and Avneesh. I’ve had Lisa’s boyfriend, Brian over a couple of times, but for some reason I’d always picked dates that Lisa was out of town. With Brian being in Taiwan for two months, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to have her catch up.

Knowing that I was going to be late with dinner anyway, I prepared a little amuse-bouche or appetizer while people were waiting for me to finish the other courses. I opted for involtini di melanzane, or eggplant rolls, filled with a mixture of fresh tomatoes, black olives, freshly grated ricotta and breadcrumbs. I’d made it before, and people seem to like it. It’s an excellent alternative to my regular portabella with parmeggianno filling starter. It was an excellent companion to a nice and cold Duvel.

I knew we are both very much into fresh, homemade pasta, so I decided to make some tortellini. I tried a filling that I hadn’t before, swiss chard, arugula (rucola or rocket), basil and ricotta. It turned out very well, the swiss chard and arugula give the filling an extra kick, as compared to the classic spinach/ricotta mixture. As I usually don’t want the delicate taste of the fresh ravioli to be disguised by a complicated sauce, I chose to top them with a simple butter-sage sauce. My visitors seemed to enjoy it.

I finished the night with some European-style crepes, along with a choice of ice cream, cognac-scented apples, nutella and brown sugar. All in all, I think it was a successful dinner. Needless to say that the two Duvels I had made my night complete