A refreshingly Umbrian start to the year

Our continued journey south through the culinary regions of Italy has continued to be not only more tasty, but less fatty! The start of 2012 has been incredibly healthy (when compared to our previous regions).

Sikeli and Stephen's entree of Fritatta Pasquale (Easter Fritatta) was a refreshingly butter, cheese and carbohydrate free course. And having just read in Body & Soul how good eggs are for you, we were practically saintly...

Melissa's main course of Lamb Ragu with Tagliatelle was beautifully rich with delicious red wine it but again - BUTTER FREE! Oh the joy. The tricolore tagliatelle was a very Italian touch.

And Daisy's Tazzotti dessert was another off piste recipe, but very nice and light.

This lunch was also a celebration of Stephen's 23rd birthday. Sikeli made an Australian Womens' Weekly Cookbook which can only be likened to a picturesque Umbrian countryside, albeit with a gorilla, elephant, meerkats and ducks.

Ragù alla Bolognese - Update

It's now 3:50pm on Sunday. We've had the ragu and it was delish. Allowing the ragu to rest overnight and then reheating it in the oven seems to have allowed the juices of the ingredients to be released and so the end product was not overly salty at all.

We also made our own pasta, which I think also helped to diffuse the saltiness of the ragu.

So, I think the ragu alla bolognese ricetta tradizionale is a winner!