A Taste of Providence

Wine: Shotfire

We went to Lucques for a dinner and book signing. Suzanne had once cooked at a restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island named Al Forno. The owners and chefs Johanne Killeen & George Germon had a new book out: On Top of Spaghetti. We received a copy of the book. In addition we bought their first cookbook: Cucina Simpatica.

We saw two recipes in Cucina Simpatica that we decided to make. Chris as The Cheese Store of Silverlake had given us the end of a Prosciutto and we wanted to use it in the dinner.

The first dish is called: Cavolo e Pancetta Soppresa. It is an incredibly rich cabbage dish. It could serve as a very cheesy side dish, or an appetizer. We plan to use some of the left over as a pizza topping. Never had a cabbage pizza but we think it will work. We really liked the dish.

For the second course we wanted to use the rest of the Prosciutto that Chris had given us. We found a recipe in the book for: Pasta with Lentil and Prosciutto Sauce. We ground the Prosciutto up in the K5A and made the sauce. It is wonderful. It was very rich and meaty tasting. We will make it again. No cheese is needed (and none was wanted after our cabbage first course!). One unusual part of the pasta is that when it is served it is topped with chopped raw diced red onion. It gives it a real kick! I would recommend the pasta.

For dessert we finished the Apple Crisp we had previously cooked.

So, we are two for two with the new cookbook!

Cavolo e Pancetta Soppresa
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7 cups finely shredded savoy cabbage
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
¼ cup shredded Bel Paese or Fontina Cheese
¼ cup crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 oz. pancetta chopped

1. Preheat oven to 500 Degrees
2. Combine all the ingrediants except the pancetta, toss to to combine, and transfer to shallow ceramic baking dish
3. Top the cabbage with the pancetta and bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Cabbage will be cooked through and crusty on top.