Saturday October 2, 2021 - A Special Invitation
Elizabetta and Pierluigi, both natives of Rome, are the landlords of the AirB&B apartment we rented for our three months here, even though we are actually staying in one of the temple missionary apartments for now. We were very excited and honored when Elizabetta invited us to come to dinner at their apartment in the city center. Elizabetta came to pick us up a fashionable 45 minutes late with her two children, nine year old Andrea, and five year old daughter Lola. What ensued during the drive into the heart of the capital city would make a Disney ride envious: Honks, curves, cobblestone clatter and constant chatter from Elizabetta, driving with one hand on the steering wheel, one hand holding a cell phone, and one hand on the stick shift?! And throughout the white-knuckle event, landmarks of the Eternal City were flashing past the car windows until we reached the checkered flag at her apartment overlooking the Colosseum.
The performance that followed was prepared from scratch and then enjoyed, one course at a time. Elizabetta started with "Fiori di Zucchini". We watched as she stuffed the zucchini flowers with fresh mozzarella and an anchovy, then battered and deep fried them. Next, by mixing flower, salt, egg yolk plus a little egg white, she began hand mixing pasta dough, and with the help of a little pasta roller, prepared fresh linguini. After about a two minute boil in salted water, the steaming linguini noodles were topped with a sauce she prepared from fresh tomatoes, a few mixed vegetables, Italian sausage and olive oil: very simple and buonissimo! That would have been enough, but we still had a way to go. The next course was "Salta in Bocca", literally "jump in the mouth". Elizabetta wrapped prosciutto and dried sage leaves in a thin filet of beef, securing each with a toothpick, and quickly deep frying them. The name says it all. The final event was home-made cannoli. Elizabetta mixed another sweet dough, rolled it into little squares, wrapped each around a hollow wooden dowel to hold the shape, and deep fried while still on the form. Each crunchy tube was then filled with sweetened ricotta and little chocolate bits, garnished with candied cedar cubes and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
It was almost midnight before we left the table for a little passeggiata from the apartment around the colosseum and Arc of Constantine. The two children were just going to bed when we left, and the city looked like it wasn't planning on sleeping any time soon. Maybe that's why they drink so much cappuccino!
What a beautiful and rare opportunity it was for us to spend an evening like this with such delightful people in their home in this historic place. We finally strapped ourselves back into Elizabetta's little rocket for our return "home" and a repeat performance of "Mister Toadalini's Wild Ride".
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