I absolutely adore the Italian tradition of a proper Sunday lunch, a multi-course wonderful meal in the sun dappled daylight of the afternoon, Prosecco, wine and Vin Santo early in the day. And enough time for a walk in the afternoon to work it all off. And Easter Lunch in Italy is even more special! Buona Pasqua!
(I had debated in my mind that perhaps it was too late to post about my Easter Lunch in Italy but I really wanted to share this time with you and make it permanent on the blog. I had posted some photos as an Instagram story, but they disappear after 24 hours, so here you go. And truth be told, I’ve been too busy cooking, eating and drinking here to do a proper post before this time!)
My Easter, Growing Up
My mom would always serve a big Easter dinner with a leg of lamb or ham or both if we had a huge crowd. I carried on that tradition with my own family, usually roasting a pancetta-wrapped leg of lamb with some additional traditional Polish dishes, including homemade bread and beets with horseradish.
Tiziana hosted this year’s Easter Lunch and it was utterly fantastic. Thirteen people were present, of all ages, and practically everyone pitched in with the food. Her sister-in-law, Marzia, outdid herself making 3 different kinds of bread, all of the tagliatelle noodles, the tiramisu and fruit salad. Marzia’s friend, Eleanor, made a super delicious lemon tart with an outstanding cookie crust.
Andrea, Tizi’s husband, made a spectacular sugo sauce with pork and sausage meat. And then of course we had Tizi’s amazing starters, plus her delicious roasted lamb with rosemary, potatoes and sautéed fresh spinach from the Farmer’s Market. I added a radicchio salad, made with the long leaves of radicchio, which are much less bitter than the round headed variety. Radicchio and thinly sliced celery were topped with gorgonzola, toasted walnuts and a fresh lemon juice olive oil vinaigrette.
The excitement and mirth before and during the meal were palpable. And Tiziana does not disappoint.
Here is the complete menu, but I am almost certain that I left something out.
STARTERS WITH PROSECCO
Crostini with homemade chicken liver pate
Dark bread crostini with salted butter and smoked salmon
Hard boiled eggs
Pollo in galantina
Various thinly sliced meats and sausages
FIRST COURSE: with a light red wine
Homemade tagliatelle with sugo sauce and grated parmigiana
MAIN COURSE: with my red wine – 2020 Bolgheri Bell’Aja
Roasted lamb with Rosemary and garlic
Roasted potatoes
Sautéed spinach
Radicchio salad with sliced celery, Gorgonzola, toasted walnuts and a lemon vinaigrette dressing
DESSERT: with a choice of Sauternes and/ or Vin Santo
Tiramisu
Lemon Tart
Fruit Salad
Meringue and cream cake with strawberries
Coffee
Our After-lunch Walk!
After eating (lunch is pranzo) we went for a beautiful walk in the hills of Arezzo, near the house I used to rent!
I hope your Easter or Passover were wonderful and filled with LOVE!!
