Pranzo con Amici (Lunch with Friends)

Today's post is all about pranzo (lunch). Judy and I are still in Lucca and we've invited friends to our apartment for lunch. These are really special friends - Angelo, Daniela and Eva are the trio behind Lucca Italian School, a wonderful language school and a place where I have spent many happy weeks over the past few years. They are, as I tend to think of them, the holy trinity of Italian teachers. Eva is also the school's master cooking teacher, but hey, no pressure!

The table is set for pranzo with amici, Lucca, January 2017.

I love to cook, especially for friends. It's a way of being creative, of welcoming others, of sharing a bit of myself. Conversation and laughter always surface when people share a meal. Often when I've hosted a meal in Lucca it's been for friends visiting from the United States. Today Judy and I are hosting Italian friends, so there is the added bonus of speaking in Italian and catching up on news from Lucca and the Italian School.

On the menu today:

Insalata mista, a simple mixed salad served with olive oil, lemon and a balsamic glaze.  

A simple salad, Lucca, January 2016.

Caprini aromatiche (an herb and olive oil marinated soft cheese). I could write a whole blog post on my love for this cheese and my attempts to recreate it at home; sadly I have not yet gotten it just right. Luckily in Lucca we can walk five minutes down to Il Mercantino on Via San Paolino and buy some.

Focaccia, soft inside with a beautiful salted crust. Fresh from Amadeo Giusti.

Caprini and focaccia.

For the main course, a frittata with onions and zucchini (recipe below, adapted from Marcella Hazan).  

Many of the frittata ingredients.

Wine (this is Italy after all - wine with lunch is "normale"). Our friends arrived with a bottle of Sangiovese from the Lucca hills, which went perfectly with the meal. 

For dessert a fruit crostata (or two) from a nearby pasticceria and a torta (cake) brought by Daniela, Eva and Angelo, filled with cream and raspberries. This came from what must be the most heavenly place on Earth, Pasticerria Sandra, L'angolo Dolce (the sweet corner), which is outside the walls of old Lucca in the Borgo Giannotti neighborhood. At L'angolo Dolce, pastry is art.  

Heavenly pastry from a local pasticceria, Lucca, January 2016.

Coffee brewed stovetop in the Moka to round out the afternoon. Moka brewing is an essential skill and one both Judy and I have been practicing. We've just about perfected our technique. 

A Moka, a coffee-brewing essential in Italy.

Pranzo today was "perfetto." Great company, conversation in a mix of Italian and English across a range of topics, and a chance to welcome friends into my Italian home (even if it's only a rented apartment for a couple of weeks). It's all a piece of my part-time but very real Italian life.                                    -post by JB

The end of a lovely lunch with Daniela, Angelo and Eva, Lucca, January 2017.

Frittata with Zucchini and Onions (serves 5-6) 

2 small or 1 medium zucchini, cut into thin rounds

1/2 of a large onion, diced

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup grated Parmesan  

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

10 large eggs

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a 12-inch sauté pan over low-moderate heat. Add zucchini rounds in a single layer and cook on one side until slightly browned. Turn and cook a couple more minutes on the other side. Remove from pan and place in a large bowl.  

Sauté onion in the oil remaining in the pan until golden and soft. Remove from pan and add to zucchini. Cool to room temperature. (Can be done several hours ahead of time.)

Add to cooled veggies: chopped parsley, grated Parmesan, salt and pepper, eggs. Mix well to combine.  

Preheat oven broiler.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch non-stick skillet and pour egg/vegetable mixture into pan. Cook over low heat, pulling up the edges as they set to allow liquid to flow underneath. When nearly cooked through and just wet on top, place under broiler for a couple of minutes to set top and lightly brown.    

Slide from pan onto a plate and serve hot.

A finished frittata.

Note: This is not a fussy recipe, It can easily be cut in half (just cook in a smaller pan). Try swapping out the zucchini for small rounds of parboiled red potato, or add roasted red pepper and use soft goat cheese instead of Parmesan. Experiment!  

Seasonal Sightings

Once Christmas Day has passed in the States, the holiday season is in the past for many people. In Italy, the season extends through Epiphany, which is typically on January 6. Christmas decorations remain up, festive lights continue to glow and gifts are even given to some children on that day.

Rows of lights crisscross a street in Lucca, December 2016.

In Lucca this year, signs of the season were everywhere, from piazzas with towering Christmas trees to private doorways with pine swags and even a café window adorned with one sheer red and one sheer green curtain.

A tree with white bows and white lights in Piazza Mercanti, Lucca, December 2016.

At Gigi Trattoria, bunches of holly berries were used to tie back the Christmas-colored curtains. The restaurant is a favorite in Lucca for both Joanne and me (Judy).

Gigi Trattoria, Lucca, December 2016.

Joanne wouldn't let me post the photo of one store window that proudly displayed the words "I Love Xmas" over a fist with a raised middle finger. I had to agree with her. There were too many other "politically correct" shop windows to capture. Below is a glimpse of just a few of them.                      -post by JG and JB

Restaurant window just off Via San Giorgio, Lucca, December 2016.

The window of a flower shop, Lucca, December 2016.

Yep, it's the window of a wine shop, Lucca, December 2016.

Taddeucci's window includes one of the shop's famous buccellato - a must-taste in Lucca. December 2016.

Chocolate shop window on Via Filungo, Lucca, December 2016.

Buon Capodanno (Happy New Year) from Italy

I'm not big on New Year's celebrations. I avoid grand resolutions. I'm usually still in recovery mode from a busy Christmas season and never get around to planning something for New Year's beyond a glass or two of prosecco and watching the ball drop in Times Square on TV (which happens at 10 p.m. New Mexico time). Low-key is an understatement. Still, I often think I should plan something exciting, something to set the tone and inspire the start of a new cycle around the sun.

This year, shortly after Thanksgiving, I found an amazingly low airfare that would allow for an unplanned trip to Italy over the holidays. A quick text to Judy read something like this: "We can fly to Italy for New Year's for under $500 round trip, want to go?" Her equally quick response was, "Yes, I'm in, let's do it." Just like that we had plane tickets, an apartment secured, and plans to leave the day after Christmas for 12 days in Lucca, including New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Carousel, Lucca, December 2016.

Lucca is magic at this time of year. The city is still dressed in its holiday sparkle, the streets glowing with tiny lights. Children ride the carousel and  ice skate in Piazza Napoleone. Store windows display holiday treats and beautiful winter clothing. The air is fresh and crisp and the streets uncrowded. Since arriving, we've heard only Italian spoken, not the English, French and German so commonly heard when more tourists are in town. I can't think of better inspiration than to begin 2017 here.

Ice skating rink, Lucca, December 2016.

New Year's Eve morning was cold and crisp, perfect for sleeping in and a late prima colazione (breakfast) at the apartment. Next up - grocery shopping to gather essentials for New Year's Day, when most shops and restaurants will be closed. Grocery shopping here means visits to several specialty stores - Forno Amedeo Giusti for fresh, warm focaccia, the Ortofrutta for beautiful veggies and fruits (local tradition says we must eat 12 grapes on New Year's Day), Il Mercantini for a small tin of good olive oil, and a local grocery store for milk, eggs, fresh pasta, and a nice bottle of local wine. That ought to get us through till Monday!

Walking around town in the afternoon brought consideration of a purchase of red underwear - another local New Year's tradition (we each settled on just wearing a red sweater), a light lunch at a local cafe, a caffe macchiato for an energy boost, and lots of people watching.   

Osteria Via San Giorgio, Lucca, December 2016.

Dinner was a highlight of the day. We always look forward to eating at Osteria Via San Georgio and it's an especially good place for a festive dinner. The food is wonderful and there is always some seafood on the menu (not so common in Lucca, where meat is a more common dish). The atmosphere is classic - small tables, beautiful architecture, and the murmur of Italian as a soundtrack. Add to that the owners, Piero and Daniela, and their wonderful staff. They give the best greetings - those baci (kisses), first on one cheek, then the other. Nothing makes us feel more at home.

Spaghetti con vongole, Osteria Via San Giorgio, Lucca, December 2016.

A meal of salad with fennel, good pasta with seafood, a local white wine, torta for dessert (pear and chocolate for Judy, apricot and almond for Joanne) and a post-meal digestif was the perfect way to spend New Year's Eve before the strike-of-midnight celebrations. Tomorrow, the fun continues with an afternoon concert by the Budapest Gypsy Symphony. Buon Capodanno! -post by JB and JG

Apricot and almond tort, Osteria Via San Giorgia, Lucca, December 2016.

Welcome to Two Parts Italy

Happy New Year from Lucca, Italy! Can you feel the excitement in our writing?

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San Michele church in Lucca. spring 2016.

We are Joanne and Judy, friends, travel buddies, aspiring speakers of the Italian language, lovers of Italian food and wine, and daughters of Italian fathers. We met several years ago in an Italian language class in New Mexico and quickly learned that we shared a passion for Italian travel and culture. We hope you will join us as we explore Italy – its people, places, food, traditions– all the things that make Italy our favorite travel destination.

Trastevere, Rome.

Let’s start with a question: What is your recipe for happiness? Most would say health, love, family, friends, and meaningful work are essential ingredients. We would agree. But is there a magical addition, some special something that kicks it up a notch? A little of this and a pinch of that combined in such a way that the result has you smiling at strangers, dancing in your kitchen, singing out loud, totally in touch with joy? The perfect happiness recipe. For us, that magic ingredient is Italy. Just writing the word brings a smile. Trip planning leads to dancing. Actually being there is when the singing out loud begins. Italy.

Palermo, Sicily.

Neither one of us is Frances Mayes. We don’t have a restored house in Tuscany, nor the resources to believe we ever will. A small apartment there remains an elusive dream. Neither of us has quit a job, waved goodbye to family and friends, and moved full time to Italy. We aren’t wealthy; our travel style is budget-friendly. But spending time in Italy, exploring cities and countrysides, lakes and villas, vineyards and olive groves, volcanoes and towers, has become a passion and an important ingredient in each of our recipes for happiness. If you want to see me (Joanne) happy, give me a small apartment in Lucca, some time in the market buying picture-perfect produce, some freshly baked focaccia, and an hour to cook up a meal for friends. For Judy, just give her spaghetti con vongole and some music in a piazza anywhere in Italy.

In the end it comes down to this: Whatever the other ingredients, the recipe for a happy life always includes the addition of two parts Italy.                                                                                                             - post by JB

PS:  If you’d like to know more about us, you can read our profiles under the “About Us” tab.