Meeting other food bloggers in person is always a pleasure. Paola is originally from Genova and has a blog in Italian called “Primo Non Sprecare” (First: Don’t Waste), in which she shares recipes that often contain tips to prevent wasting food by using up leftovers. She is involved with the Slow Food movement in Italy and has published a cookbook with her recipes, that is also called Primo Non Sprecare. We have been following each other’s blogs for five years now, and Paola has in the meantime left over 600 comments on my blog! That makes her one of the most prolific commenters (I’d have to travel to Australia to meet the most prolific one).

Paola had kindly invited us over to her house for dinner, but due to unforeseen circumstances that was not possible and so she took us with her husband to restaurant Del Ponte instead. This is a Ligurese restaurant in Milano, so we could try some dishes from her home region. She helped me pick out some dishes on the menu that I had not tried before.

The first one was Focaccia con Formaggio di Recco. This originated from the small seaside village of Recco in Liguria. It is very thin focaccia, baked with fresh cheese. According to Paolo, Paola’s husband, the focaccia at Del Ponte was good, but not as soft as is it can be.

The next one was cappon magro. It is a typical Ligurian dish with layers of vegetables and poached sea bass with green sauce, shrimp, mussels, and vongole. The vegetables included carrot, cauliflower, and beetroot. I thought it was really nice, but a waste to boil the sea bass (as it dries out the fish). I am not awarding a prize for who can guess how I am going to prepare my version…

It was a wonderful evening with the great company of Paola and Paolo. I have some ‘homework’ to do, because Paola gifted me a cookbook by Slowfood with recipes from all over Italy organized by region, as well as her own cookbook. So many recipes to try when I get home, which will appear on the blog.