Another dinner at home, this time northern italian food.
baccalà mantecato- fresh atlantic cod salted and poached in milk, then whipped with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and herbs
varhackara- a delicious form of pesto made from a mixture of cured salami, smoked speck, guanciale and pancetta
Grissini- hand-pulled breadsticks from torino
Pane nero di segale- Rustic northern Italian Bread naturally-leavened, made from wheat and rye
melanzane in saor- seared Eggplant marinated in a sweet and sour mixture of italian sweet onions, pine nuts, golden raisins, olive oil and vinegar
Canderli- tender Bread Dumplings seasoned with speck, nutmeg, and parmigiano served with a dark, roasted chicken brodo
Toc’ in Braide- Friulian soft Polenta topped with fresh mountain cheese cream and brown butter finished with toasted dry polenta
Radicchio rosso alla trevigiana mele e piave- radicchio from treviso grilled over oak with piave cheese, honey, and extra virgin olive oil
Uccelli Scappati- Heritage breed Pork shoulder Wrapped in Pancetta and sage, then slowly braised in wine with herbs and spices until tender
Stroscia- traditional Ligurian Olive Oil Cake with almonds, served with whipped orange blossom ricotta
brutti ma buoni- “ugly but good” crispy-chewy cookies made with hazelnuts and egg whites
Bonèt- Dark Chocolate Custard with rum caramel and Amaretti
This was my third dinner at home from vespertine and it was another great dinner. the appetizers were DELICIOUS, we really liked the varhackara and the eggplant, it had a nice balance of SWEETNESS and sourness, the baccalà mantecato was also really tasty, it did not have a strong fishy flavor. However the dumplings were quite salty just by itself, so we were not able to finish them completely. Next was the main course of pork shoulder, polenta and RADICCHIO. the pork shoulder was super tender, completely falling apart but it was quite rich and heavy. the polenta was also very tasty but was a bit too soft for us, we like ours a bit more firm. the radicchios were really good and we liked the addition of honey which helped balance out the bitterness. we were so full already we decided to take a little break before diving into dessert. we only were able to finish half of each dessert, we could not eat anymore. although we ordered the right number of portions for the amount of people, we still had a lot of leftovers enough for 1-2 people.
it was yet another delicious meal, however this dinner was not my favorite among the other two that I had before. It was all a bit too rich, i think they needed to add some more vegetables or something fresh like a salad to balance out all the carbs and cream.
VESPERTINE
3599 HAYDEN AVE, CULVER CITY, CA 90232, UNITED STATES
