SUNDAY PROPERS SICILIAN TEST KITCHEN PART 1

   After a few casual "Eye-talian" (Sicilian to be exact) Girls Club Get Togethers, we decided why not start a Sicilian Inspired Supper Club? It would have to be on Sunday naturally, around 3pm, and the food must be served family style. We would call it Sunday Propers and would serve local, simple and home cooked meals by the "Guido Girls," Melissa Love and myself. 

   First we'd have to get to know each other in the kitchen. As everyone woman knows, her kitchen is her territory. You know how that saying goes, "too many cooks in the kitchen..." Well one too many Sicilians in the kitchen can be a volatile situation to say the least. 

   Melissa and I have never cooked together before, so before we start serving guests, we thought it would be a good idea to see how compatible we are as cooking partners. It really turned out great. It was all about compromising, not taking things personally and being open to new ideas. With that winning combination we really cooked up a delicious vegetarian Sunday dinner, Guido Girls style! 

    To keep things local, we picked some fresh herbs from my garden then hit the Graham Ave then the Dumbo Farmer's Markets, picking the freshest seasonal veggies. The peppers and eggplants looked fantastic and to keep with the harvesting season we wanted to make some pumpkin ravioli. We also picked up some apples for a surprise Melissa Love dessert.

   We grilled the eggplant and topped the slices with fresh basil pesto drizzle and toasted pine nuts. They were so delicious, almost buttery. A great starter. 

     We came up with the idea of Peppers Stuffed with Bruschetta. To do this we roasted tomatoes, shallots and garlic. In the meantime, we browned some cubed bread in butter. We mixed the roasted tomatoes with the browned bread and some fresh oregano, fresh basil,olive oil, and grated pecorino romano, then stuffed it into the colorful peppers. This was an incredibly surprising dish with all the fresh herbs and roasted flavors. 

   For the pumpkin ravioli, we went with a simple butter sage sauce served a side of fresh roasted beets with tarragon.

   Not only is Melissa a genius cook and baker, but she is a professional pretty maker. Her food styling transformed what would look like a regular home cooked dinner into a elegantly eye catching, mouth drooling tablescape.

   For dessert Melissa made an amazing homemade apple gallette and she Sicilianized it with a secret crumbly cookie filling. These babies, topped with Paul's homemade ice cream, that wasn't ready for in time for dessert, but which we sampled anyway, was outstanding. The perfect way to end a perfect Sunday meal.

   Melissa and I are going to do some more Sicilian kitchen testing before we announce our first Supper Club, but stay tuned! Next up, butter nut squash gnocchi and maybe some homemade canolis...