I’m a huge fan of Pizzeria Ortica, not only because they have excellent pizza, but their small plates, lunch specials and entrees in general have always been consistently good.
To add a new twist into the mix, the restaurant has included Italian Suppers to its repertoire. These are meant to be shared family style with menus changing seasonally.
On the night of my visit, we started off with a Salumi platter of some of my favorite meats including Prosciutto di Parma, Salame Calabrese — a spicy chorizo style salami — and Mortadella. The plate is generous and there is more than enough for the entire table to share.
Additionally, a Verdure platter was also served alongside with Balsamic Marinated Cippolini Onions, Grilled Zucchini and Chili & Mint Marinated Eggplant. I love eggplant any way you cook it and here, they are served whole.
Our main course of Roasted Porchetta was a platter of thickly sliced boneless pork loin and belly with crispy skin. Inside the meat was a stuffing of delicious fennel pollen, cavalo nero (kale) and chilies.
Accompanying the entree were a few side dishes. Soft polenta had a lovely texture and I liked how the consistency was not too thick. Baby carrots are sweet and perfectly roasted with a lovely char creating a nice caramelized coating. My favorite of the evening was the rapini. Slightly bitter but infused with garlic and chilis, making it so mouthwateringly good — I couldn’t get enough of it.
The savory dishes are more than enough to satiate even the largest of appetites, but don’t forget, dessert is also included. Chocolate torte with cream and seasonal fruit was a great finish to our wonderful meal.
The next Italian supper will be on Tuesday, April 10, followed by May 8, and June 5. The price is $45 per person. Make sure you make your reservations early so you don’t miss it.
One lucky reader will be able to win a $50 gift certificate courtesy of Pizzeria Ortica. Please tell me what your favorite family suppers consist of. You have until Sunday, Feb 5 to get your entries in. Winner will be announced on Monday, Feb 6.
Pizzeria Ortica
650 Anton Blvd
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel 714-445-4900
Our favorite family suppers are centered around my husband’s homemade pastas. We start with fresh salad with all the ingredients we can find from the farmers market. Some of our favorite pastas are Linguine Con Le Vongole (clams and white wine sauce), Duck Ragu, and Italian Sausage with Roasted Bell Peppers. Of course, we will pair our dinners with wine and have dessert as a grand finale to our family supper!
This blog post is making me hungry! When I think of family suppers, I go back to my childhood when my grandmother would make tradiitonal Jewish food such as matzoh ball soup, stuffed cabbage and brisket. I still have those recipes today and don;t change a single ingredient.
Growing up I always loved when my mother would make:
-Pot roast
-Yorkshire pudding
-Mashed potatoes
-Gravy
-Steamed Broccoli
But, now that I am an adult–I usually add Brussels sprouts with bacon to the mix when we eat this.
I love me some sprouts.
Congratulations. You are the winner of the gift certificate
Yay =D
Where’s my invite! Every dish looks fantastic – love that there are plenty of veggie side dishes 🙂
My mom makes this fantastic fried noodle dish that she tops with pork, onions, and baby bok choy. The noodles kind of look like a birds nest and the saucy meat with veggies sit nicely on top. It’s so good and always makes me feel good about coming home for dinner.
lemony-garlic roasted chicken with baby potatoes
Oh my goodness that all looks so amazing! My favorite family supper consists of almost anything my mom will make 😀 I’m a huge fan of an Italian feast, though, and tend to cook that way at home. I would say my favorite family feast is a huge salad, a fabulous pasta dish – I’m fond of pasta with leeks and pancetta with a very light cream sauce, hot bread and butter, and something chocolately for dessert.
Haven’t done a lot of “Family Style” dinners outside of Thanksgiving and girlfriends family parties where lechon is front and center. These dishes look incredible though.
Whenever my mom comes to visit me, my supper consists of good Indonesian food. We just had nasi uduk (rice with coconut milk) and teri kacang (fried tiny fish with peanuts). They were delicious!
I’m dying to go here..have been for a long time.
Our family supper favorite is a one pot meal. It’s typically a lamb stew that I make and throw whatever’s in the fridge into the pot.
My family’s favorite Sunday dinners are 1) breaded pan-fried snapper with cucumber salad and rice, and 2) chicken roasted a la Thomas Keller with any number of accompaniments.
My favorite family supper is roast chicken with dressing, mac n cheese, green beans with potatoes, mustard greens,mashed potatoes with gravy and bake & serve rolls.
My favorite family dinner would be composed of healthy and hearty food that my daughter and I would share together. One specific dish would be bone marrow. We both really love that dish
my favorite family supper is something light and flavorful. The most wanted one would be being able to spend some time with one another since everyone in my family has a busy schedule and not being able to spend time with one another. One specific dish would be just something light like rice noodles with veggies.
That would b Calabrese with fresh bread
Bracciole with a side of spaghetti
stewed zuchini
Trippe soup would b a good starter.
Canoli for dessert
Mrs Petrone would make her ice tea that was awesome .RIP to my friends mom who really knew italiano cooking.I never forgot her dishes..
Family Dinner…hmm…nowadays with everyone being so busy. Believe it or not, we do more of a Family lunch. I know my old days , we used to do the speghetti and meatballs, with garlic bread and such. Nowadays. we do more of a potluck on special occasions. (i.e. Chrimstmas, Thanksgiving, and pretty much all the other holidays that the missus have time off, like presidents day) We do our best to do a dish or two (I usually make BBQ chicken and ribs) and either eat with friends or with my in laws. This, I think , is the new family time together. It’s not traditional, but it works for us.
My favorite family supper has 5 main ingredients: My family (me, hubby and two waggy tailed 6 month old puppies that during dinner stare at us pitifully, and pretend like we never EVER feed them), a home cooked comfort dish (preferably with cheese), some seasoned fresh veggies from the farmers market, a crisp cold beverage (or 2) :-), and something with chocolate or caramel for dessert. Perfecto!
Life is good when you are feasting with the ones you love….Cheers!
My favorite family meal is making hot pot. I love the variety of meats and veggies simmering in a yummy soup
When I have time, I love to cook Chinese food for my family. We don’t have ‘family’ meals often nowadays because of our different schedules, but we try to have a family night 1 day a week. Having everyone at dinner table to enjoy good food and good laugh is what makes family supper special.
darn i missed this! i’ve been curious about this place and my parents are visiting soon/staying in the OC – now i have an excuse to go???