Menu: Lucca-Style Penne Pasta in Timbale, “Veal” Scallops with Ham and Sage, Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower, Peach “Cobbler,” Purple Plum Ice Cream

Recommended Wine: Tuscan Chianti

            Back in Tuscany, this time in Lucca, we have another interesting menu, based on dishes served at the home of two of Mr. Famularo’s American friends who live there. It starts with a mix of pasta with meat sauce, topped with bechamel and parmesan, and encased in a sweet pastry crust flavored with lemon peel. This is followed by “veal” scallops, pounded thin, rolled with ham and sage, and braised in a mix of vegetables, white wine, and tomatoes. To the side is oven-roasted broccoli and cauliflower, topped with breadcrumbs. For dessert, there is a peach cobbler-type dish and purple plum gelato.

            The pie was really interesting. The pre-cooked penne pasta is combined with a tomato meat sauce, placed in a pastry shell, topped with a nutmeg-scented bechamel sauce, sprinkled with parmesan cheese, sealed with a second piece of pastry on top, and baked. The tomato sauce recipe makes a bit more than needed, but if the recipe is doubled you can get a second meal out of it with some extra pasta. Though I forgot to add the parmesan until after I’d already sealed the pie, it tasted just fine without. The crust was sweet, almost cookie-like, but it worked with everything else, the bechamel seemingly tying everything together. This crust recipe would be even better with a fruit filling.

            After flattening and rolling the boneless pork chops (in place of veal scallops), the second course came together without difficulty. The carrots, onions, and celery flavored the braising liquid and pork. I’m not sure I would bother making the meat rolls again, though. They were good, but the vegetables and braising liquid would give just as good a flavor to plain pork or chicken pieces without the hassle of pounding and rolling. The broccoli and cauliflower, oven-roasted with just salt, pepper, and olive oil, then topped with toasted breadcrumbs, is simple and delicious. Just make sure that if the breadcrumbs are pre-made and frozen that they are brought to room temperature before sprinkling.

            Dessert was not quite as good as the other courses, though there was certainly nothing wrong with it. The issue was that the cobbler dish was a bit too sugary, both in the peaches and the topping, overwhelming the other flavors. The “crust” did end up with a nice angel food-like texture and the ice cream helped cut the sweetness, but I think fresh peaches would be better in a regular crust or, better yet, the pastry from which the pie was made. Made with just sweetened plum puree and milk, the ice cream had a flavor between sorbet and frozen yogurt. It was an interesting change of pace, but not as sweet or creamy as one might expect. Still, this all made for a highly enjoyable dinner.