Dinner with Simona

The prepping continued in our kitchen before heading over to our dinner hosts.

Green beans tied with a chive

Kristi and Simona flank Nick after the car is loaded with all the food and wine.

The hosts, Sharon and Phil, with Simona and the beautiful tables

Nick and Simona as dinner nears.

Different parts of dinner being prepared. The starter was a roasted red onion, arugula and walnut salad with ciabatta bread. The “primo” was a pork ragu made in a white sauce of wine and herbs, including dried fennel flowers. The “secondo” was a chicken breast stuffed with sundried tomato, pistachio, and walnut pesto, and wrapped in prosciutto, served with the green beans and roasted cherry tomatoes.

21 people enjoyed the feast! But wait, there is dessert.

This is a torta caprese made with 75% dark chocolate, ground almonds, served with a cappuccino whipped cream and berries cooked in wine. Mamma Mia!

After dinner Sharon introduced Simona, who explained the ingredients to the guests. Next up, a cooking class.

You can learn more about Simona at http://www.sagraincasa.com, follow her on her blog, and she is on Twitter and Instagram.

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Italian chef in North Carolina

Simona Fabrizio, with whom we cook in Orvieto, is in the U.S. on her first cooking tour here. We are so lucky to have her here along with her cooking stops in Cincinnati and Boston. She is doing a dinner for 22 and cooking class for 14 here.

Simona and her photographer husband Nick Cornish, arrived yesterday and immediately began cooking. Kristi and I made dinner for them and our two host couples.

Chocolate torta caprese

After prepping yesterday for dinner tonight we sat down for dinner last night.

Coffee to start the day this morning and back into the kitchen to cook.

Sofrito and frying pans to brown the pork for the white ragu.

Fava beans peeled for bruschetta and a machiato to help along the work!

More to come!

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