The Sunny Kitchen - An Italian cook in Amsterdam

Eating with friends on a warm summer evening

A dinner with friends - Simona, Ruben, Marco and Gigi - at Gigi's place, the lovely old house in Amsterdam Noord with the beautiful kitchen I envy every time I'm there. :)
Gigi cooked and we ate in his garden, drinking cold Lugana wine.

Before dinner I made spritz (you can see the ingredients - prosecco, Campari, gin and orange - on the table) and discovered that my version of this aperitivo is too strong from my friends from Veneto (Simona and Marco, real veneti). They prefer to make it lighter with bubbly mineral water spritzed directly from a plastic bottle: make a hole in the plastic cap and then squeeze the bottle pressing the water through the hole so that it gets directly into the glass. Marco's tip, better than a seltzer siphon! :)

Gigi prepared a wonderful pasta with fresh artichoke, squid and little red mullets on top. After that, Marco and I were left to our own devices to cook the monkfish. Very simple, you would think: just extra virgin olive oil, white wine and flat-leaf parsley. To tell you the truth I had never prepared monkfish before and wasn't really satisfied with the result. I had the feeling it could have cooked longer but I was afraid of spoiling those beautiful little white "tails" by overcooking them.
One type of fish I definitely want to experiment more with.

Thank you Gigi for the always so warm hospitality and the always so wonderful food!

The chef at work while Marco is watching him to learn some of his secrets ;)


Pasta with artichoke, squid and mullet




Si mangia!

Spritz, one of the best Italian cocktails

Spritz is one of my favourite cocktails, especially when sipped with my friends on a terrace or in the garden. "Al fresco", as Americans call it, even if the expression is not used with the same meaning in Italian - we use "all'aria aperta", literally "in the open air". It's a fantastic drink, ideal with savory nibbles on warm evenings like the ones we're having here in Holland lately. Summer in May. Hopefully not ALL the summer we're going to get this year. ;)

One of my friends, Italian architect and artist  Claudio Varone, makes not only beautiful wall tapestries with colourful felt but also the best spritz ever. He uses Campari to give the spritz its bright, shiny colour and the typical, slightly bitter taste, but in some areas of Veneto (the Italian region where spritz comes from) this cocktail can be made with Aperol (a bit too sweet for my personal taste) or with the very bitter Cynar, made with artichokes.

Yesterday evening we enjoyed Claudio's spritz and I finally managed to "steal" (grazie Claudio!) its recipe after so much time that I wanted to publish it on this blog.

Because Claudio prepares spritz directly in the glasses and not in a big carafe, the listed ingredients are enough for one person.
If you don't have any Prosecco, use dry white wine and a bit of mineral water with gas for the necessary bubbles.

Ingredients:

1/4 Campari
3/4 Prosecco
a dash of gin
mineral water with gas
1 slice of orange
1 strawberry
1 fresh mint leave
some ice cubes

Mix Campari, Prosecco and a dash of gin. Add some mineral water if you want a lighter spritz and a couple of ice cubes.

Garnish with a slice of orange, one whole strawberry and a mint leave.
Salute!

Eating together: lamb legs in the oven with honey, rosemary and garlic

Cooking together and eating together are two of my favourite things in life. Lots of friends at a big table, bubbles, laughter, several appetizers and one "important" dish.
Two lamb legs of about 3 kg per piece, boneless and simply seasoned with finely chopped rosemary, whole garlic cloves, salt and black pepper on the inside, honey on the outside.
A recipe from Gigi, a friend who's a fantastic cook and a big meat expert. Unluckily for us, he could not attend this dinner.

Once you've rolled the meat up and bound it with kitchen string, massage it with some honey and lay it on a big roasting tin with grill rack (this one from Ikea is fantastic). Lay the meat on the rack so that it gets evenly cooked all around.
Sprinkle the meat with some extra vergine olive oil and put them in the pre-heated oven - 100-110°C - for about 2,5 hrs. From time to time measure the internal temperature. When it reaches 55°C the lamb legs are ready, nice and juicy and rosé inside.
Let the meat rest for 10 minutes inside the roasting tin covered with tin foil and then carve thin or thick slices according to your personal preference.

I don't have a picture of the meat once ready because we were eating and because we had to carve it before it got cold.

Everybody, look surprised! :)