Italian Delights

Well, Friday night is normally Champagne night for Fran as I am usually at work.  I had an unusual free Friday this week so some slight changes were needed.  Fran's friend had acquired a bottle of Prosecco so we decided on having an Italian themed night.

Personally I opted for some Peroni.

So after the alcohol was arranged we began developing the menu.

We weren't too adventurous but for starters we found a nice recipe in Jamie's Italy, further developed a little side dish of mine and for mains we made some gluten-free pizzas.

So in the end it looked like this:

Starters:
Funghi al Forno Ripieni Di Ricotta - Baked Mushrooms stuffed with Ricotta
Fried Courgette and Patty Pan Squash with Oregano

Mains:
Pizza with Parma Ham and Basil
Garlic Bread

Desert:
Tiramisu


Funghi al Forno Ripieni Di Ricotta: (for 3)

125g Ricotta Cheese
Zest of 1 Lemon
Salt & Pepper
Fresh Oregano
Parmesan Cheese
3 Large Flat Mushrooms
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

(I just realised while reviewing the ingredients that there should have also been chilli in it but I forgot.  It worked without but maybe would be better as Jamie intended)

Mix Riccotta with lemon zest and salt & pepper (plus chilli if you remember!).  Fold in the Parmesan and oregano.
Remove the mushroom stalks and toss in a little oil and season.  Then fill the caps with the Ricotta mix.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake in the oven at 220 deg for 15 mins.




The other starter was the fried courgettes and Patty Pan Squash with oregano:

Courgettes
Patty Pan Squash
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Dried Oregano
Grated Mozzarella

Slice the courgettes and squash and stir fry in olive oil.  Add pepper (but not salt yet) and oregano - cook for a few minutes more and place on kitchen roll. 

Lay the veg on a baking tray, add salt and grated mozzarella and cook on a high heat for 15 mins.







Pizzas and garlic bread were quite simple as we bought the gluten-free bases and built from there:

I made the tomato sauce by frying finely chopped onion with garlic in olive oil, adding tomato puree and fresh tomatoes and cooked it down for 30 mins till it thickened.

I spread this on the bases.

Finally I added grated mozzarella then topped with parma ham and fresh basil leaves.







Jenny's Tiramisu - adapted from a Gordon Ramsay recipe:

The tiramisu was supplied by our friend Jenny and was delish but can't really explain how she made it.  It definitely had chocolate chips in it and was gluten-free.  Thanks Jenny, you can come again :)






Was a great night of pleasant eatings but I must admit at this stage that I made a few errors in the mushroom dish.  I mentioned earlier that I forgot the chilli, well I also forgot to season the mushrooms before baking - so I didn't do a very good job of a very easy dish really.  It was, despite my ineptness, rather tasty.  I will certainly be trying it again but paying better attention to the instructions (hangs his head in shame).