Italian Spring Dinner!
Old Town Nice
Spring is in the air!
I'm planning my summer trip to Europe and have been thinking about Nice. When I'm at my France studio, I need a vacation from the countryside. It's an easy drive to Nice in which I spend a lot of time. I love the markets on Cours Saleya and I love Old Town Nice!
Since Nice was a part of the House of Savoy (as was the Piedmont region in Italy), the architecture and cuisine has Italian roots. Beautiful linguini, ravioli, tortellini and gnocchi are displayed in pasta shops all over Old Town. I made beautiful dinners in my airbnb apartment in which I only added a good olive oil and some herbs to the pasta - lovely!
typical pasta display case in Old Town Nice
Nice gastronomic delights are also Mediterranean influenced. Fish and crustaceans are a huge part of the diet and high quality olive oil is widely used since this region is one of the main suppliers of olive oil in France. And of course, the extensive use of Provence herbs and garlic is a part of the culinary flavors. This is the inspiration for my Spring Dinner.
The Menu
To Start
Wild Mushroom Bisque
After arriving and having an apéritif with an amuse-bouche in the salon, you'll sit down and start with a wild mushroom bisque. I'll garnish it with seasonal fried wild mushrooms and crème fraîche and serve it with a brioche crouton.
Vegetable Course
I'll make these lovely little agnolotti for the vegetable course. I took a Master Class from Thomas Keller and will be using some of his techniques as well as his pea farce recipe to stuff the agnolotti. I'll serve it with a parmesan crisp.
Main Course
The main course will be crispy skin turbot, or something similar that is fresh from the fish monger. The cannellini beans will have lots of lovely flavors with parley, lemon zest, peperoncino and really good olive oil
Meringue
Meringue
The home made pasta uses 16 egg yokes, so meringue is the best use of those egg whites. This recipe is from Thomas Keller. I'll choose a fruit that looks good at the market.