Crostini alla Spuma di Mortadella - Recipe #84

Originally I planned to prepare this with the lasagna alla rucola, but when it came right down to it, neither Trent nor I was hungry enough for an appetizer AND main course. I pulled out the recipe again for an easy Sunday lunch option. Somehow, over the past year or two we've shifted from going out to coffee and pastry one of the weekend days to coffee and lunch (often with a sweet dessert) both Saturday and Sunday, and I was feeling it was time to have a quiet meal at home.

This is another of my aunt's Tuscany cooking class recipes and another which required a trip to DeLaurenti, for no matter how many deli meat cases I perused, I never saw mortadella bologna at the grocery store. While this cheese/meat dip was delicious on toasty bread slices, I'm sure I won't make it often because of the hassle factor - Pike Place Market is not on my normal circuit.

Crostini alla Spuma di Mortadella

• 5.3 oz. or 1 c. mortadella bologna (150 g.)
• 3 oz. or 1/2 c. ricotta (75-90 g.)
• 2 oz. or 1/4 c. freshly grated parmigiano (50 g.)
• Whole milk q.b.
• 3 T. cream (I didn't end up needing any, as the consistency was perfect without)
• Grilled crusty bread slices

Mix well in a food processor with all the ingredients except cream. The whole milk will make it chop up correctly. If you want to make mixture softer, add cream. Spread on grilled slices of good crusty bread slices.

Note: Mortadella is made with pure pork, has no smoking, cooked by a steam process, and usually contains at least 15% small pearly white nodules of pig fat which are evenly distributed.

After eating, we headed out to Revolution for coffee and a currant pecan scone to share over a couple of games of Boggle. A nice cozy afternoon with a much smaller bill than when we add in two lunches, even when you add in the cost of the DeLaurenti field trip.