Easter Dinner

We dine simply, but well, this Easter, with a meal inspired by Melissa Clark in her book Dining in French.  Our menu is Baby Lettuce Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette and Chive-Stuffed Rack of Lamb with Crispy Potatoes.

We start by making the salad, combining baby lettuce with a vinaigrette made from a shallot, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and olive oil.  We add grape tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, sliced cucumber, scallions, avocado, and blue cheese (a few tweaks to the original recipe), then drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad just before serving, tossing the mixture with our hands until everything is lightly coated.

Salad ingredients

Ready to serve

For the rack of lamb, we make a garlicky, ginger herb paste by blending chives, parsley, garlic, fresh grated ginger, Asian fish sauce, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  We rub this herb mixture on the rack of lamb and let it marinate while we prepare the potatoes.

Making the paste

Great directions

Rack of lamb and herb paste

We boil fingerling potatoes for about 15 minutes, then let them cool and flatten them with our hands.  They then fill a small roasting pan, drizzled with olive oil and salt.

Potatoes ready

We place the rack of lamb on the potatoes, fat side up and roast in the oven to medium rare.

Ready for roasting

Roasting in process

As the lamb cooks, we prepare the table, and share cocktails and some simple appetizers.

Appetizers

Table is set

Once the lamb is ready, we transfer it to the cutting board, tent it with foil to keep warm, and flip the potatoes over and roast them at a higher temperature until they are golden, crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

Potatoes continue to roast

We slice the lamb and serve with the potatoes and a little Dijon mustard on the side.

Serving the lamb

On the table, with a little red wine, it's Bon Appetit and Happy Easter!

Enjoy!

Dining in Rome

We have one dinner in Rome at an old favorite:  Trattoria Lilli.  But first, we explore food options available in the local markets, have an appetizer at Piazza del Popolo, and then wander along the River Tiber to the restaurant.  While exploring, we spot a food and wine shop and pop in to find an incredible selection.

Food and wine

From the Spanish Steps in Piazza di Spagna, we walk down via del Babuino to Piazza del Popolo (with the fountain Fontana del Nettuno on one side and, on the other side, Fontana della Dea di Roma).  We stop for cocktails (negroni and wine) and bruschetta.

Cocktails and snacks

After the short walk over to and along the River Tiber to Trattoria Lilli, we settle in and enjoy some incredible traditional Italian cuisine:  bruschetta con funghi porcini, tagliolini a caceio e pepe (pecorino cheese and black pepper), rigatoni alla gricia (bacon, pecorino cheese, and black pepper), and penne all'arabbiata (tomato sauce with garlic and chili pepper).

Bruschetta

Tagliolini

Rigatoni

Penne

What a great way to end another fabulous and memorable trip to Italy!

Passing Through Rome

We stop in Rome for an afternoon on our way home with an early flight out of Fiumicino Airport the next morning.  We stay in the city near the train station and walk around the city for a few hours, first heading over to the Colosseum, then past the ruins of the Forum, and over to the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II.

Past the Colosseum

Forum ruins

Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II

Along the way (packed with tourists), street vendors, artists, and actors fill the sidewalks.

On the streets

As we move on through the city, we pass shops and restaurants, many with outside dining on this beautiful day.

Dining out

We emerge into Piazza di Trevi to see the Trevi Fountain, then back into the city streets to find our way over to the Spanish Steps (Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti) at Piazza di Spagna.

Trevi fountain

Construction of the public buildings in Piazza di Spagna began two hundred years before Christ and the Romans used the square as a space for gymnastics, exercises, and tournaments.  The proximity of the Tiber River brought on periodic damage and destruction of the buildings by floods over the years.  It's still an incredible space.

Piazza di Spagna

Spanish steps

Strolling back to our hotel, we pass through more great squares and architecture 

Piazza della Repubblica

As the sun sets, the city lights up and we view the sights from the roof of our hotel, looking toward the train station (Roma Termini) and the other way into the city.

Roma Termini

The other way

 

It's always great to end a trip in Rome!

Dining in Rimini

Due to the pouring rain and the great food in our hotel, we have a few dinner in the I-Fame restaurant in the I-Suite hotel.  We start each meal with a bountiful bread assortment.

Bread

In our meals at the hotel, we dine on cream of eggplant soup, raw amberjack, pappardelle with cuttlefish ragout, nettles gnocchi, calamarata pasta with crustaceans, pasta with oysters and burnt lemon, and tagliatella with Bolognese ragout.  And, of course, a desert assortment.

Starters and mains

Desert

Our last day, as the heavy rains lighten up a bit, we walk across the street to Ristorante Sabbioni, where we have tomato bruschetta, octopus and potato, seafood risotto, seafood ravioli, and lobster pasta.  Wow, this turns out to be a lot of food!  All delicious and we eat every bit.

Tomato bruschetta

Octopus and potato

Seafood risotto

Seafood ravioli

Lobster pasta

More incredible Italian dining experiences!