Neapolitan Easter Lunch Experience

Last week we went back to my friend Federica’s house for another amazing Italian fundraising lunch hosted by Federica and her sister Luciana, author of TroppoBuono blog. We were introduced to the delights of their beautiful hometown of Naples
and its cultural and gastronomic heritage. This time the theme was Discover Napoli, with an Easter menu, and the charity being supported  L’Altra Napoli ONLUS, which works in the very heart of Napoli, the Sanita’ area, and
promotes cultural and artistic projects amongst the local kids, to keep
them off the streets and push them towards education and jobs.
The lunch consisted in a six course meal. We savoured some traditional Neapolitan Easter bites for aperitif and BYO drinks.

 

Beautiful table setting
 Casatiello : synonymous with Easter in Napoli typical rustic bread-like savoury cake made with lard, assorted salami, cheeses and check out the little domes holding a whole egg inside each one. The whole eggs, including shells, are placed in the dough uncooked. The dough is baked  and the eggs are cooked inside the dough. Magic!
Very satisfying.
Assorted Easter bites
 Italian designs on the table
Sartu’ di Riso –  savoury rice dish from Napoli, made with cooked risotto rice and filled with tinny beef meatballs, peas, cheese and smothered in a 5 hours cooked tomato sauce.  The ingredients are then assembled in a drum-like shape dish and baked in the oven for a further 30 minutes. It’s so delicious, hearty and filling. I took an extra one home!
 Genovese Pastificio dei Campi Gragnano pasta served with gutsy meat and white onion sauce and sprinkled with pecorrino cheese. Simple dish with great textures!
 Capretto – traditional during Easter, kid goat is a great alternative to lamb served with contorni napoletani – I didn’t have a chance to take picture of  all of them. The Capretto  was  flavoursome, tender and juicy. The goat was donated by Cabrito from Dorset and Peperoni arosto (above), Melanzane a funghetti (no picture, sorry!) was prepared by Gina
 
limoncello mini baba  donated Nastro D’Oro from the Amalfi coast and maraschino cherries

Pastiera, another dish synonymous with Easter in Napoli. It was donated by Eat at my Place (SE11) 


The finalle : Terrone coffee and homemade Mostaccioli, honey spiced biscuits coated with dark chocolate,  a speciality of the Campania Region.
This supperclub is very well priced (donation of £35 per person), portions are huge and the food is divine!  The hosts made us feel very welcome too. Most of the ingredients were sourced from Napoli, Campania region where Federica is from or locally sourced. I can’t wait for the next one.
Follow @Federilli on twitter for details of the next supperclub. Read her post on the event here

 

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2 Comments

  1. Adam Lacey
    March 26, 2013 / 9:54 am

    Fantastic food and culture. You are very lucky. My Granfather was from Napoli although I never met him. Its interesting to see a part of the Neopolitan culture. Thanks
    Adam

  2. March 28, 2013 / 7:59 pm

    Thanks Adam. It was a great lunch and great experience. We learnt about Napoli and it's heritage too. R