Where to eat after a day of hiking above Lecco
Really, would it hurt to add atleast a couple of signs pointing the way to a decent meal? From the first day when MotH took me on a hike in his home country, I learned immediately that when you walk in these mountains, the grub du jour was polenta: polenta with gobs of melted cheese, with forest mushrooms, with deer or wild boar ragu. A variation of it is always on the menu in all of the rifugi (mountain huts) and while it may take some getting used to for light-weights, once you get the feel for alpine living, there is nothing more delicious to dig into after a day on the trails.
There were no such mountain huts where we were hiking on Saturday, so come dinner time we went to our new favorite place for casual dining - Santa Polenta. Santa Polenta is not the italian cousin to Santa Klaus - it's just an expression of surprise that goes along the lines of Holy Moly! This polenteria is packed on weekends (reservations a must), but if you're able to nab an early table, the food comes out hot and quick. An average dinner for two runs around 40€ and includes 2 glasses of wine, water, and cover charge. We are so stoked to have found this polenta house that we've been here twice within the last 4 weeks. www.santapolenta.it
Sante Palle (Holy Balls). Each piping hot mound of polenta filled with a different cheese: fontina, gorgonzola, taleggio.
The Santa Polenta pizza: tomato sauce, mozzarella, pancetta, taleggio and arugula.
Polenta with meltingly soft and delicious porcini.
Polenta and tenderloin on a hot stone plate (slice and cook to your liking - fun!).
scribbled from the chestnut forest by Rowena... at 5:19 PM
12 Comments:
I love polenta! These dishes look so good! Congrats on your hike too! Very rewarding I am sure, especially when you sit down to this fine meal and saw the views.
The Wanderfull Traveler
ooh this place looks good, especially the polenta with the porcini :)
WT - as long as the weather continues to be mild like this we may be able to take even more hikes. And eat more polenta.
Kat - that porcini...holy cow it was so buttery soft that it makes you want to have it linger in your mouth before gulping it down. I always use the dehydrated or frozen ones - fresh really does make a huge difference.
This is making me very hungry. I just ate the best maccheroncini with mushrooms and sausage at a trattoria in Bologna, and reading this makes me want to go back. I blog a little about my travel and experiences in Italy. Feel free to check it out for some insights on things to see and places to go outside of travel reviews. http://culturacibocalcetto.blogspot.com/
Those photos are gorgeous - as is the food!
Kevin - I'm ashamed to admit that while I live in northern Italy, a visit to Bologna is still waiting to happen. Too many places, not enough days off - checking out your blog right away.
Megan - thanks! This is the first time where we've eaten at a place twice within the span of 3 weeks!
Holy Balls, Batman! Palle Sante sounds incredibly good. I wonder if I can make some with regular blue cornmeal.
I want the 3-cheese polenta, right now! Have a great time in Hawaii... may be look for a polenta-n-spam recipe soon? Buon viaggio!
should have been, 'may we look for...' sorry.
Yummy!! I couldn't comment on your last post about going to Kauai. It's funny cause I just returned from Kauai!! Have a good visit!!
Bon voyage! Have some lomilomi salmon for me!
Andrew - I think the idea of blue cornmeal is GREAT! Oh just the thought of holy blue balls...whoa!
Fern - would you believe that I ate no spam at all while I was back? It just never presented itself on my plate, but I did bring back some fancy spam varieties.
Holly - sorry, I just knew it would be difficult to get back to the blog once I took off. We stuffed our faces like crazy.
Meredith - mission accomplished!
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