Italy del Giorno

There is a small enoteca/restaurant on the main square in Montefalco.  We ate there for the first time in 2003, a couple of months after they opened, and it has become without a doubt one of our favorite places to eat — in the world.  The food is always unpretentious, full flavored and most important interesting.  The owners, who have since become friends, take a vacation each year in February.  This year they ended up on the Yucatan penninsula in Mexico.  The trip inspired this plate of maltagliata (literally poorly cut pasta) made with Roveja flour and dressed with a tomato sauce spiked with some dried ancho chiles they brought home.  Roveja flour is ground from a type of pea (”piselli selvatico” or wild pea) that is cultivated in the Valnerina region of Umbria.

From Great Plates

Maltagliata made from Roveja flour and spicy tomato sauce

This was the third time I’ve had this dish at l’osteria di magna’ e be’ (dialect for restaurant of eating and drinking) near Trevi in Umbria.  The mortadella is thickly sliced and grilled (it reminds me of a childhood favorite — fried bologna), topped with arugula, drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar and finished with a grating of summer black truffle.  The saltiness of the mortadella, smokiness of the grill, bitterness of the arugula, sweetness of the balsamic vinegar, and finally earthiness of the truffle combine to make an unforgettable flavor.  It was paired with the newly released first vintage of Sololoro Rosso di Montefalco.

From Great Plates

We got up early today and took a stroll/run along the Topino river in central Umbria.  On the way home, we stopped by the fruit stand and the butcher shop to pick up supplies for breakfast. 

From Great Plates

 Prosciutto di Norcia, fresh figs, saturnia peaches, fresh squeezed orange juice and espresso.

After Cantine Aperte ended, we all sat down for a family-style feast.  One of the meat courses was spit-roasted rabbit bathed in rosemary, garlic and white wine.  The cooks used a giant stalk of rosemary as the “mop” to baste the meat.

Fava beans with “barbotta” or “barbozza”.  Springtime is the right time to eat favas in Italy and these were prepared perfectly with a “healthy” dose of fried pig cheeks.  The pizza that came with them was soft inside and crisp outside and there was a hint of rosemary in the oil.  A truly great plate of food.

Plate of Rigatoni “alla carbonara” made with sausage and asparagus

This is a local early spring favorite of mine from Perugia.  It was a bit too early for wild asparagus but the cultivated ones are almost as good.  There was just a hint of pepperoncino and black pepper in the sausage.  Delicious.