Sardinian (Italian) Personal Chef Recipe Ideas from Ruth Paget
As part of my summer reading project to learn more about Italian culture, I read Sardinian Cuisine: Blue Zone Culinary Treasures from the Italian Isle by Leonardo Romano (available on Amazon Kindle) and noted several recipes that would be good for personal chefs as well.
Romano writes in his opening remarks that the island of Sardinia west of the Italian mainland has a rugged, mountainous interior with sheep herding predominating in the local economy. Sardinia’s famous bread is called carasu. Carasu is a crusty flatbread with a long shelf life.
The following recipes from the book pair well with lamb for festive occasions:
*crostini topped with straccchino cheese and salsiccia sausage – this dish requires you to remove the casing on the pork sausage and fry it. Next, you rub the baguette slices with olive oil and grill it.
Then, the crostini is spread with the stracchino cheese that melts into the grilled bread a bit with chopped rosemary sprinkled on it. The fried sausage is placed on the cheese and served.
This is a rich hors d’oeuvres that would taste good with chilled, dry white wine.
*patate al forno con rosmarino – this dish calls for chopped potatoes to be mixed with olive oil, sea salt, and rosemary and baked.
These potatoes are perfect cocktail food when stuck with toothpicks.
*pomodori al forno con pecorino – this dish calls for tomatoes to be baked and stuffed with pecorino sheep’s cheese, garlic, basil, parsley, bread crumbs, olive oil, and black pepper.
This dish is a perfect countable appetizer for personal chefs to make.
*agnello con carciofi – this dish is a stewed lamb dish made with artichokes, onions, garlic, lemon, white wine, vegetable broth, olive oil, black pepper, and parsley.
All of these dishes can be made with ingredients that are easily obtainable in Monterey County. Sheep are raised in San Luis Obispo County just south of Monterey County, and can be ordered at butchers in Salinas, California. (I have also sometimes seen lamb from New Zealand at Costco as well.)
Italian food lovers might enjoy many of these out of the ordinary Italian dishes from the island of Sardinia. They are not too difficult for personal chefs to master either.
Happy Cooking!
By Ruth Paget
-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe's Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books
-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games
-developer of food and beverage knowledge games
-creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center
-creator of French travel and culture games
-writer of 1800+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs
-family genealogist
-developer of 9 music theory games
