Back to Italy (3) – Mickey Mouse’s courgettes

Relentless is the adjective that better fits the amusement I usually go through in Bologna. Bologna, somehow, is a nest for me: my friends on the whole – save some wonderful exceptions - live there. So when I return from the UK my hope is that of saying “hello” to all the good ones. The social networks - as Facebook, Google+, Twitter - do what they can, but aren’t able to substitute entirely the pleasure of seeing someone in person. I miss my people: this is for sure. The only problem is that I have to wedge - with a perfect schedule - the different dates with the well-deserved spells in my girlfriend’s company. Moreover, I noticed how female friends are deeply inclined toward coffee and I actually cannot drink more than two espresso per day! A sort of pleasant nightmare!!!

Indulging in coffee makes people shake

We friends actually all follow each other’s life from a distance: the bonds of comradeship are so fastened that we don’t receive only accounts or flat-mirrored experiences, but we are attentive and receptive of what’s on! So I was doubly exultant to notice how easy it was to pick up old conversations, jokes and memories and merge them with new happenings, secrets and proponents. The waving of friendship is still rooted and tightly connected: social networks then keep their true nature of means of communication, without becoming empty avatars.

A big bit of nonsensical talk is always welcome

I already mentioned the barbecue, which gave me the chance to see many friends at the same time. In this post I wish to attach my remembering on a surprise. Katie came to visit me from the eternal city, Rome, and she brought her usual high spirits. Considering she is half Italian and half American, I opted for a menu that was honouring (and mocking) her double inheritance. I think she took the best legacy from both the continents: in her person the Colombus’ dream - of curiosity and discovery - and the Italian attitude - of keeping and restoring - are perfectly melted:

Cristoforo Colombo (Genoa 1451 - Valladolid 1506)

This is an interesting article on the nowadays
reception of this modern myth:

http://theamericanscholar.org/what-columbus-day-really-means/

Let’s gloss over the conversations we had on our recent holidays and on remote respective futures. Because she was travelling toward the Alps and she requested me a light lunch, I had a cooking epiphany related to the Disney most famous mouse: 

First, I made a typical Italian appetizer, then we went on with a sort of main course based on courgettes and ricotta cheese, and obviously we couldn't skip the dessert. How we could? The appetizer was abundant and varied. Its aim is to open the stomach and titillate the appetite.

Parmigiano nuggets (up right), Taggiasche olive [from Liguria] (up left),
home made bread with salted butter and sun-dried tomato (down left),
Strolghino of Parma [salami] (down right)

Here is a clearer super-macro shot: colours, tastes, products
contribute with their extravagance and peculiarity
to embellish the table. And, of course, there are stories behind
them...

The main course was hilarious (and meant to be cute), pleasing for the eye, and required five simple moves: 1. Cut a courgette into three pieces. 2. Core within the vegetable flesh three little holes from top to bottom. 3. Then, fill the cavity with some ricotta, worked together with grated Parmigiano, home grown chives, a sprinckle of black pepper, and some salt. 4. Carve some toast bread with a coffee cup and put this disk under the courgette log: this will absorb the moist in excess. 5. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

The tool to core out cores...	The Mickey Mouse shape
Mouse and freshly scissored chives	The filled courgette and how to obtain the round disk with an old delicate English coffee cup

Put into a ventilated oven until they become brown (200°C-ish)

The final result, particularly tasty!

Finally the dessert came out almost by chance: I decided to combine mixed ricotta – obtained from cow and sheep milk – and a superlative fig preserve, prepared by my girlfriend’s mother. 

I found some in Tesco the other day in the reduced to clear,
4 for 85p, not too bad! I had them with Parma ham,
yet this is another story...

Below the picture, you can find the original recipe to avoid pectin and other non-natural additives that only speed up the jellification process, but they deprive the final product of its organic nature. Here is the iceberg of Ricotta with fig jam:

For a home made fig preserve:
1200 gr of figs (1000 gr after peeling);
450 gr brown or caster sugar;
1 lemon zest;
1 lemon juice.
LET the chopped figs MARINATE in a bowl
with the zest and the lemon
for 1/2 hour;
THEN put them in a pot with the sugar
and let it cook for about 50 min
at a middle-low flame.
PUT the preserve
into sterilized jars, cap them
and flip upside-down the jars
to create the void.