Italian weekend

[wasgoingmadinthecountry]

Yes I know there's a pandemic on...

It's my birthday this weekend and I'm having a weekend in Italy.Well obviously not really just virtually!! But if you were recreating an Italian weekend at home, what would be your must haves food and drink wise? My 3 older dcs are all over the country so hoping we can have at least drinks "together".

Most important key point:

1. No savoury breakfast. If cappuccino and brioche is not an option, you could have one morning the typical breakfast cake "crostata" and the next day " a ciambella" a soft kind of plumcake
2. No spag bol. Spaghetti bolognese doesn't exist in Italy. It is the best way to identify a tourist trap when looking at a restaurant menu . Go for the very easy " amatriciana " sauce one day and a real "pesto " the next.
3. On the non - pasta meal of each day, you could have the "saltimbocca alla romana" one day and a caprese salad the next or the "impepata di cozze"
4. drinks, of course it has to be either a "negroni" or a "spritz" , for wine with the meals, try a Sangiovese.

Enjoy, have fun, remember that everyone has to talk at the same time with a loud voice, and that you have to talk with your hands as much as with your mouth

Taylors does a nice Italian blend ground coffee. It’s quite rich and perfect for after dinner. If you have a coffee machine, then fry the Italian blend pods by Costa.
Have antipasti before one of your evening meals. You can get a selection from Tesco with prosciutto, salami Ungherese and smoked provola. Add some olives, a jar of roasted peppers and crostini.
For the other evening meal, I’d start with arancini. You needn’t make them yourself; most supermarkets sell them but don’t get the mushroom ones from Tesco!
For birthday cake, you can do much better than this orange polenta cake www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/orange-polenta-cake or this rice cake www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/orange_rice_cake_29449

hmmm!
Massive Sunday lunch. Start with some nice light antipasti (bruschetta, olives, insalata, etc), a small and light pasta, a main ( a meat or a fish), lots of verdure. Fresh fruit. Desert (Tiramisu, Crostata...) and finish with with an Amaro (or three) and a cafe. Should last about two hours for the eating part, and another 30 mins to an hour for the cafe, Amari, and chat!
Sunday evening have pasta - aglio, olio, perperoncino. (garlic, oil and chilli).
Enjoy - lovely idea.
www.giallozafferano.it has great recipes - in Italian though! Google translates helps.

Spaghetti bolognese doesn't exist in Italy errr spaghetti alla Bolognese does exist but only in Bologna. Everywhere else in Italy it’s spaghetti all ragu.

Breakfast can be savoury - scrambled eggs in a simple tomato sauce or soft boiled egg, sliced meats and cheese.

Nice insalata caprese but that’s probably more of a summer dish. If you want simple buy a cooked chicken and eat it with crisps and unbuttered bread! Fast food Italian style

Do it in fancy dress. Some exsmples;
The Pope
A gondelier
Ceasar
Annoying 'Go Compare' singer
Pinocchio
Sophia Loren
A gladiator
Mussolini
Berlusconi
The leaning tower of Pisa
Mount Versuvius
etc.

I'd do lasagne as you can make in advance then reheat.
Tiramisu for dessert or ricotta cake of some kind.

A bottle of franciacorta to celebrate.

A proper meal: anti pasti, primi, secondi and dolce.

A wine tasting? 3 different reds from around Italy.

@LongPauseNoAnswer

Spaghetti bolognese doesn't exist in Italy errr spaghetti alla Bolognese does exist but only in Bologna. Everywhere else in Italy it’s spaghetti all ragu.

Breakfast can be savoury - scrambled eggs in a simple tomato sauce or soft boiled egg, sliced meats and cheese.

Nice insalata caprese but that’s probably more of a summer dish. If you want simple buy a cooked chicken and eat it with crisps and unbuttered bread! Fast food Italian style

Sorry, not even in Bologna. It is tagliatelle alla bolognese.

www.insider.com/spaghetti-bolognese-does-not-exist-says-mayor-of-bologna-italy-2019-3

www.thelocal.it/20160914/the-truth-about-spaghetti-bolognese-ragu-pasta

www.newsfood.com/spaghetti-bolognese-it-doesnt-exist-in-italy/

And nobody eats eggs for breakfast or crisps with meals.

And Limoncello! don't forget the limoncello @wasgoingmadinthecountry needs to be kept in freezer

Tbf, we eat whatever pasta we want with Bolognese. It's kind of like Yorkshire pudding being traditionally eaten with beef but if you want it with lamb it's fine. I don't like egg pasta in general, I find it too stodgy and pasta-y so we tend to eat spaghetti if me and DD are choosing, or short pasta if dh (who doesn't like long pasta) is.

Eat spag bol if you want!

Bardolino and Montepulciano (sp?) are nice, light red wines.

Aperol Spritz

Those really fat, meaty green olives

Definitely lasagne for one of the days. I

Gelato on tap!

It depends if you want to be really traditionally Italian or just eat all your favourite Italian foods. Personally I’d just pick my favourite dishes and do those. So if pizza or spaghetti Bolognese are your favourites have them.
If you want to make life easy there are several online Italian Deli’s which courier fresh filled pasta and all sorts of treats to your door.

FABULOUS ideas everyone - thank you! Hadn't even thought of Limoncello! Won't be quite the same as in the heat in Rome but fun nevertheless. DH and dd3 (the only one of my 4 children still at home) are well up for it, and I'm turning up to my regular weekly WhattsApp chat with a group of friends with us in sunglasses.

LOVE the idea of us dressing up! Sophia Loren it is!! Well, my version...

I stopped at our one decent food shop on the way home for cold meats, burrata, artichokes and the like. My adult children will all humour their mother too and join me for drinks etc Ihave a classic Pavoni coffee machine I rarely use but it's coming into its own this weekend!!

@Cormoran I’ve lived in Italy, I’ve had spaghetti, tagliatelle AND linguine all with ragu in Bologna and other parts of Emilia-Romagna.

You understand that in Italy food varies wildly from town to town let alone by region?

I’ll also tell my Italian DH that he imagined all the childhood meals eating pollo allo spiedo and patatine

@Cormoran you need a little further education around Italy and bolognese.

Your weekend sounds marvellous @wasgoingmadinthecountry

M&S is worth a visit for Italian cooking (and wine). Burrata, olives, nduja, tomatoes, cured meats, bruschetta. Enjoy!!

Lovely salads - grilled fish with sautéed spinach and small fried potatoes, risotto (mmmmm), gnocchi, pasta with ragu, cheese (cheese and more cheeses with honey, mmmmmmm nice wine and Prosecco.

You're probably already sorted for this as there's loads of good suggestions above, but just wanted to flag that if you use a referral link for Pasta Evangelists, you can get fresh pasta delivered to your door for as little as £5pp.

The food is pretty good - not out of this world but I'd day it's definitely a good option for fresh pasta at that price point.

Nb the link gets you 30% off plus free delivery.

pastaevangelists.mention-me.com/m/ol/lk5hh-04fc711c27

I'd also suggest ciambellone for breakfast and make sure you watch Roman Holiday at some point. Have a wonderful time whatever you get up to!

So Bologna's mayor himself says spaghetti bolognese doesn't exist but I am the one needing an education....
www.insider.com/spaghetti-bolognese-does-not-exist-says-mayor-of-bologna-italy-2019-3

I do not doubt is served - usually in tourist restaurant that also offer kids menu which also do not exist since kids will have half portion - or made in some houses.
Whatever one does in a household doesn't make it a national dish.

@Cormoran

So Bologna's mayor himself says spaghetti bolognese doesn't exist but I am the one needing an education.... www.insider.com/spaghetti-bolognese-does-not-exist-says-mayor-of-bologna-italy-2019-3

I do not doubt is served - usually in tourist restaurant that also offer kids menu which also do not exist since kids will have half portion - or made in some houses.
Whatever one does in a household doesn't make it a national dish.

The point is, it really doesn't matter. People view it as vaguely Italian, just as they view chicken tikka as vaguely Indian, and if it makes them happy to eat it at a time of celebration, then that's really all that matters. End of.

Remember pasta is a starter!

Fresh fish and salad or meat and veg are typical mains. Desserts are light, tiramisu obviously but I like limoncello dessert.

My siblings all got dreadful poisoning in Italy when we went for mums birthday and had a big dinner out.

Oh yes, it must have been a very bad batch of the stuff, as we were all very poorly the next day... Haven’t been able to touch it since (17 years later). I still can’t even think about it without feeling queasy...

I think I want to say peche
con vino blanco but my Italian is shit and my memory is worse

It's basically a massive glass/carafe of white wine filled with sliced peaches. Delicious.

Tbf it may have been vino bianco con peches

Also spaghetti vongole (yes check the spelling again)

You had me at massive carafe!!

Such lovely ideas - thank you so much all for your input! Yeoman Holiday is on the list because I love that film!

If it goes well,I may head off to NY for half term. Or maybe somewhere else...