ITALIAN FOODIES

It's that time of year again when the mass exodus to Italy begins, the family's holidays have to be planned with military precision as there are 3 businesses involved with a lot of family members and everyone wants to go to Italy for as long as they can.

Bruno's dad is the first to go of course as he is head of the family and he goes for the longest, normally 8-10 weeks, he drives over as he has never flown and never will. Bruno's sister and her family are going for 3 weeks, while she is there his other sister is going to Sicily for a couple of weeks. When they come back his mother is going and then his brother is going for a month so we can't go until September! Prior to the princess we used to go for the month of August so that we would be there for the festival which is always the best time to go and there is always an argument about who goes then!!

Maybe we should just do what the Italians do and everybody take their holidays together in August and close all the businesses - we wish!!

Anyway while we are stuck here until September we'll just have to keep cooking good Italian recipes to console ourselves. Bruno's mother always cooks this recipe and I always think it looks so impressive as the pasta is served in a tin foil bag. It's great for a dinner party as it is a little different and you can have it ready before your guests arrive and keep it warm in the oven.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• mushrooms sliced - we used about 8-10 medium sized.
• 4 Italian sausage chopped - don't forget to take the skin off - available in LC.
• porcini - I don't know the weight but it was roughly a handful - available in Superquinn or Olio e Farina.
• tin Italian tomatoes or good quality cherry or plum tomatoes - available in LC.
• 1 clove garlic - peeled
• parmesan cheese
• white wine
• spaghetti
• olive oil
• sea salt and black pepper
• tin foil

WHAT TO DO:

 - put your porcini in a bowl with boiling water and leave to soak for about 15 mins.

 - preheat your oven to 150 degrees

 - fill the base of your pan with olive oil and cook your garlic until brown and remove

 - add your and sausage and cook until  golden brown, halfway through add your mushrooms.

 - add a splash of white wine and leave to evaporate, add your porcini and some of the juice and leave to cook for a couple of mins.

 -  add your tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and leave to simmer for about 20 mins. Check the seasoning at the end and add more if required.

 - while your sauce is simmering bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and your spaghetti and cook until aldente.

 - drain your pasta, put back in the pot and mix in some of the sauce.

 - lay out 2 large sheets of tin foil and spoon out your pasta on each, spoon some sauce on top and grate some fresh parmesan cheese.

 - close up like a bag and put in the oven on a plate for about 5 mins.

Buon Appetito!!

 - another submission for Ruth's Presto Pasta Night!

We got a mention in this month's Food & Wine magazine, the other girls were mentioned too -  Laura, Val and Deborah. It's great to see Irish food blogs getting a little recognition as there aren't that many compared to other countries. They said that we own the Piccola, we don't YET!!:)

Thanks guys!

Lorraine and Bruno.

There seems to be a problem with uploading photos at the moment so no recipe again today. I decided to show you our little cucina for 2 reasons:

1. we will be moving in a couple of months and I'm really going to miss it, we've been here for 5 years and we have definitely got good use out of it. It came from Italy of course!

2. When I'm reading other food blogs, I'm always so curious to know what the writer looks like, what kind of person they are and what their kitchen looks like?? Maybe I'm just too nosy for my own good!! That is probably the mystery of blogging and now I've blown mine by showing you my kitchen. Oh Well!!

That's the princess in her royal elevated throne, she always sits there while I'm cooking and I have to entertain her with my melodious singing voice. One can never have too much "twinkle twinkle":)

On another note I was delighted to find a website promoting the restaurants of Atina. Bru's cousins restaurant Il Viccolo is on it so you can see some pictures of the restaurant, his family and the menu and a couple of pictures of Atina. The site is in Italian but it's easy enough to follow

 - click on Storia di Atina to see some pictures of Atina, there is a little arrow at the bottom to skip to the next one.

 - click on Il Viccolo to see the restaurant, use the link "visita il locale" at the bottom to see pictures of the restaurant and then click on the links on the top to see the family and the menu. If you click on each photo it tells you who everyone is. It's really cool actually for such a small town.

If any of you are going to Italy this year and are driving from Rome to Naples, I would definitely recommend stopping off in Atina, it's easy to find and not that far off the motorway. The village is tiny but is so authentic and the views are stunning and pop into the restaurant for a bite to eat. Most of them speak english which is rare in a small village but they have so many ex-pats returning every summer from England. Ireland and Scotland with their families. Tell them Lorraine and Bruno sent you!!!

 - Pasquale's girlfriend Francessca has a really funky bar in Atina and that is listed on the site aswell, it's called La Buka so have a look if you like. We've had many a late night there!!

Enjoy!!