True to our trip to Italy, we started journal club with an antipasti plate. Tom also included grilled eggplant and zucchini, which went in the middle slot... I just took the photo a bit early. There were two gigantic plates of this, and they both got demolished!
The first course was a soup that Tom recreated from Vernazza: a pesto minestrone. He made up the recipe, which basically consisted of: first, sauté garlic & onion in EVOO; then add: dried thyme, tomatoes (crushed plum tomatoes, canned), celery, carrots & peas; then add vegetable stock and pesto; simmer until vegetables are tender. It was AMAZING. Very hearty, especially for a vegetarian soup (that was also gluten free).
The next course was a white lasagna. Tom and I noticed that lasagnas in Italy did not have red sauce (we understand that in Southern Italy they use red sauce -- but our southern most destination was Rome). Tom recreated this here: he layered (home made, of course) pasta, ricotta, and an alfredo sauce with chunks of fresh mozzarella. He drizzled EVOO on the top, and baked it. Tom says he's done it both ways, and recommends that the pasta should be cooked first -- because they it will crunch up on the ends without drying out.
The main course was a Tuscan style braised pork. Although we were all pretty full at this point, we ate it anyways. Tom cooked this ALL DAY LONG -- and you could tell! Tom says the key to this course was the rub: juniper berries, cloves, salt & pepper. It was served with white cannellini beans with truffle oil (Tom could not find fresh truffle for the garnish, even at Whole Wallets).
Our dessert course was an attempt to recreate a dish from Montepulciano: pear carpaccio. I must admit, this was the only course that was much better in Italy than it was here. The idea was thin-sliced pears, served with some oil drizzled on top, with some candied ginger. Maybe it's just not the ideal season for pears: in Italy, they tasted more crisp to me... and had more "pear" taste. That's ok, I still cleaned my plate.
