Come rain or shine..

Homemade ravioli served with a chesnut cream, crispy pancetta cubes and fresh rosemary

This morning, while taking what should have been be a brisk healthy walk , but was in fact  a slow leisurely stroll with our lazy dog Lui, I came across three of our elderly neighbors who were busy harvesting their olives. “ Buon giorno, buon giorno, come và? “( How is the harvest going?), I asked.” Unfortunately not so many this year “ they replied. ”When are you planning to pick yours?”, “ questo sabato,”( this saturday) I responded. The nice old lady turned to me shaking her head and with a knowing smile on her face (exposing her five remaining teeth ) said  “let’s hope you can my dear, because my painful aching bones are telling me that the heavy rains will very soon be back. “

Rushing home as fast as Lui would allow ,the first thing I did was turn on the computer to check the weather ….just in case ….MAMMA MIA it looks like she could be right ! Apparently by late Saturday morning the skies are going to open up and throw down heaven knows what.

So here we are yet AGAIN trying to make up our minds about this harvest…is it going to rain or not?…They have been wrong before but I bet the old lady hasn’t. Would it be wiser for just the local people to help us. I keep getting a picture of all the great people (about 30 of them ) who want to come (some have a long journey ) and join us, getting soaking wet, up to their eyes in mud slipping and sliding all over the place while trying to lay the nets to catch the olives under about 50 trees. But then I must confess this is quickly replaced by a selfish  vision of me eating my first bruschetta  using our first press Extra Virgin Olive Oil!  Che Pizza ! (common Italian expression that means : What a pain! )

To ease the anxiety of this problem I decided to make some homemade ravioli to calm me down! Slowly one by one I filled each individual ravioli with beef cooked in red wine , I then prepared a chestnut sauce and a few crispy pancetta cubes . Chopped some  fresh rosemary to sprinkle on top. I made it ,ate it and now feel ready for action .

Just  remember on Saturday morning while you are all relaxing having a late breakfast, reading the newspaper ,  here in Umbria we will be out there, come rain or shine , breaking our necks ,JUST  to have a Bruschetta!!!!