cherry tomato salad; casoncelli alla bergamesca

casconcelli_bergamesca

These traditional little Lombardy ‘dumplings’, shaped, as described in a Wikipedia entry, as ‘sweet wrappers’ (the filling is generally slightly sweet), were displayed in the fresh pasta glass case at Eataly when I stopped by on Friday to tell Luca how much we had appreciated his wonderful gnocchi the night before.  I already had plans for dinner that evening, but I decided I’d come back for them the next day.

I did, and we were not disappointed.

  • casoncelli alla bergamesca [filled pasta in the tradition of Bergamo] from Eataly (ingredients: durum wheat, eggs, ‘oo’ flour, pears, prosciutto, hot capocola, walnut, breadcrumbs, parsley , butter, and sage), stirred into a pan where ramp fruit from Berried Treasures had been warmed in a little butter, then some additional butter added, along with freshly-ground black pepper [an alternative sauce would be al burro e salvia, or, as per Luca’s suggestion to me, flavoring the butter with a bit of Gorgonzola Dolce]
  • the wine with the pasta was an Italian (Veneto) white, Boirá Veneto Pinot Grigio 2014

 

tomato_salad_lovage

Although primi, before the primi (which in this case had no secondo), we enjoyed a simple salad of tomatoes and herbs.

  • deep golden/red cherry tomatoes from Berried Treasures, halved, then tossed with chopped lovage from Berried Treasures, parsley from Tamarack Hollow Farm, some good olive oil, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, proper Malden sea salt, and pink peppercorns, arranged in bowls on a bed of very flavorful organic arugula from Norwich Meadows Farm
  • slices of ‘Rustic Classic’ bread from Eataly
  • the wine with the tomato was French (Provence) rosé, with the humble, and quite serviceable description, ‘Vrac Rosé 2014