Dolce Vita

A couple weeks ago we were in Calgary and I got to visit with my friends Tara and Shanna. We declared it a "Gourmet Italian Food Day" and they took me to the Italian Market. THE ITALIAN MARKET PEOPLE. We don't have one of those fancy-schmancy places where I live so this was like meeting Santa Claus for me. I was brimming with culinary delight.

What's that bag I'm holding?? I don't know, but I'm at the freakin' Italian Market!

Tara and Shanna had much more composure than I. It was "no big deal" since a trip to the Italian Market is a regular Saturday occurrence for them. Whatever. Go ahead and order your Prosciutto di Parma while I secretly pee my pants.

That there my friends is carb heaven. An entire aisle devoted to the many different kinds of pastas...all imported from Italy. My eyes committed gluttony, so I moved onto the next aisle before any real real damage was done.

Shanna's just checking out the cheeses...babies in tow.

Once our ingredients were found and bought, and the babies (all 4 of them) indicated (rather loudly) that it was time to bolt home for naptime, we set off with our bounties to create our meal.

On the menu: Pesto Stuffed Chicken Wrapped in Prosciutto with a Pesto Cream Sauce and Porcini Gnocchi with fresh bread and Bruschetta from the Italian Market. At this moment my tongue could literally explode remembering the deliciousness of this meal. ANDDDDD....we made everything FROM SCRATCH. Pesto, gnocchi, EVERYTHING.

Tara's pouring off the porcini water that the porcini mushrooms have been soaking in. It will be added to the mushroom sauce later.

We elected Shanna as "Gnocchi Maker". Those fingers worked some magic and she did not disappoint.

It's so effortless for her, she should be blindfolded with one hand tied behind her back :)

Just gotta do some final tasting and start plating.

Three hours of labor and it's time to indulge! We started with white wine and freshly made bruschetta from the Italian Market.

Now onto the Pesto Stuffed Chicken Wrapped in Prosciutto with a Pesto Cream Sauce and Porcini Gnocchi. This was so delectable.

The chicken was perfect. Salty, creamy, crunchy.

I kid you not, the porcini gnocchi was positively sinful. It was luscious and richly bodied from the mushrooms. I may just have to kidnap Shanna to be my "gnocchi slave".