I have written about Ristorante Del Sonno in Bagni di Lucca before. It is one of our favourite places to eat, because of the delicious food and the company of Jayne and Ilario who own the restaurant.
The lovely Jayne kindly shared her recipe for saltimbocca with me and allowed me into her kitchen to watch her cook it. This Roman speciality is better here than at any restaurant I have been to in Rome.
The ingredients – thinly sliced veal, prosciutto and sage leaves. There is also stock which is waiting for the right moment to join the others.
Melt butter in a frying pan.
Fry the veal slices, which have been lightly coated in flour.
Turn the veal slices to cook both sides.
Put the prosciutto slices on top of the veal.
Next put the sage leaves on top.
Ladle enough stock into the pan to make a sauce for the saltimbocca.
Then serve it up. I usually have mine with grilled vegetables.
Jayne and Ilario have owned Del Sonno for about 10 years. Ilario grew up in Bagni di Lucca, but moved away to work. Jayne is English and came to Italy in 1982. Both come from a catering background but had taken time out to do other things.
Del Sonno has been established for around 150 years and Ilario and Jayne were delighted to find it for sale. I have since been contacted by a member of the original family who owned the restaurant. I will be keen to meet with her when I get back to Italy.
Jayne and Ilario have recently moved to the village of Gombereto. I was invited to lunch one day to their beautiful house and was given a guided tour of the village by Ilario.
Views from the village.
The town square.
Many of the houses are clustered together and joined by tunnels.
A lovely old doorway.
On one of the houses.
Say hello to Ilario and Jayne when you go to Del Sonno, and don’t forget to try the saltimbocca. Their wood fired pizzas are also excellent, making decisions very difficult.
Click here to see the earlier post on Del Sonno.