xo amys

Since we can’t travel to Italy, we brought a little piece of Italy to us… Last weekend we celebrated my darling husband’s birthday at my brothers and sister in law’s countryside house. We could have not asked for better weather, since there was a heatwave coating all of Finland and temperatures rose close to 30 degrees celcius. We took the little boat and spent the day on a little island sunbathing and swimming. For lunch we had pike perch that my brother had fished the night before and for dinner we had a huge spread of antipasti and some steak. We had some cake and spent the night sitting by a campfire listening to music and talking about our future house projects. Siena had the time of her life, it was her first time sleeping elsewhere than home and she basically spent the entire day lounging outside and swimming.

Avocado Salsa verde

To make the salsa verde, put some parsley, olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, Dijon, lemon juice, salt and pepper into a food processor and blend into a dressing. Cut some avocados on a plate and add a generous amount of toasted almonds on top. Drizzle the dressing all over. To toast the almonds, just add almonds flakes on a dry pan with a bit of Malden salt and let it cook for a few minutes until they turn slightly golden.

Italian style Paprika

Roast 6 whole paprika’s in the oven (200 celcius) that are coated with olive oil for about an hour until the skin begins to “burn”. Once dark, place into a bowl and wrap with clingfilm. After letting them sit for a while, it is easy to peel the skin of the paprika off. Once you have done this, chop the paprika on a plate, add olive, salt and black pepper. Garnish with a few leaves of basil.

The rest of the antipasti is fairly simple, it is all about plating cold cuts, burrata, figs and slicing melon while adding prosciutto di parma on top. Serve with rustic bread and enjoy the spread!

Find the cake recipe from here.