A Homemade Napolitano Cena/Dinner

Sweet friends invited us over for dinner on Sunday. We'd like you to meet them and then we will tell you about the fabulous meal they served us along with a fun evening of singing and story telling!!! 

This is Flora who lives in Naples. We first met her while serving at the Swiss Temple in 2017. 

She is the mother-in-law of Ciro, a retired police officer who shares her love of cooking.

This is Flora's daughter/Ciro's wife, Stefania, who lets them do the cooking and she does the clean up. She is being hugged by Delia. 

Delia is from Puglia and just turned 81 and is a delight to know. She LOVES to sing so when Bruno Venturini's music started playing, she started singing!

 

Appetizers of Bruschetta started the meal with four different kinds of toppings (marinated zucchini, pesto, pork patè, sun dried tomato spread). That is what Flora is preparing in the picture above. Delicious! 
Next came the Primo/first course - Linguine with Clams, Razza (stingray) and Cherry tomatoes. Divine!
Then came the Secundo/second course - Chicken in Onion Sauce/Gravy that was indescribably Delectable!

The Contorno/side dishes were Pan-roasted Patate/potato and a tossed salad with cucs, tomato, etc. and one usual ingredient which has a story of its own (*see last picture). Dolce/dessert was an amazing flourless chocolate torte/cake topped with a cocoa powder design of two of the large ocean rocks near the Isle of Capri. Decadent!

Such a lovable group of friends and talented cooks!! It was a Dinner Deliciouso!

*THE SALAD INGREDIENT STORY

 

In this picture, Flora is picking some of the unusual ingredient that she added to the salad she served at Sunday dinner. Last week, she came over to our apartment to "Beth's Hair Salon" for a trim. She got very excited when she saw the weeds that were growing profusely along the sidewalk. After her haircut she asked for a sack so she could pick a bag full of weeds. She knew them as being edible and delicious. We researched and found that its name is Purslane!! Our Italian education continues!! Until Flora came along we saw them as lowly weeds, like the ones that grow like crazy in our very own back yard in Randolph. They have now been elevated to a gourmet ingredient!