Prego, Now That's Italian 2

On all our past cruises, we have had dinner only 1 time in each specialty restaurant. As we received and invitation from our Travel Agent to join him and his wife in Prego last night, we were able to have dinner a second time in this wonderful Italian outlet.

This time, I had their signature Mushroom Soup, Beef Carpacio, and a half order of the Lasagna. The soup is sublime. I've made mushroom soups in the past, but have never come close to this one. I will have to google the recipe so I can once again give it a shot. My guess is that they saute a variety of mushrooms, then deglaze them with cognac, cooking this liquid down to a paste, then add mushroom stock. Mushroom stock is made by simmering mushroom stems in vegetable stock for a considerable time. It is the type of thing you can do in a restaurant, but difficult to do at home. The added stock is then reduced, probably by half. At that point reduced cream is added to the brew. My guess is that the cream is reduced with mushroom stems, which are then strained out before it is added to the soup. This soup is then served in a freshly baked focaccia bowl. Heaven on Earth, and the best part is eating the mushroom soup soaked bread at the end of the course.

The Carpacio was also quite good. In short this is an Italian version of beef tartare, except the raw beef is dry cured and aged, then frozen and sliced paper thin before arranging it on a plate. The product is then dressed by the waiter with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and parm. A very nice version indeed.

My main course was the Lasagna, and it was spectacular. They use layers of bechemal, mushrooms, ground beef and tomato sauce all wrapped in house made pasta. One of the best I've ever had!

As we just survived the Vintage Room, I decided to go by the glass on my wine selections. My first glass was a Brunello from Casteli Banfi. Very nice, aromas of berries, nice balance tannins and a delicious acidity that went well with the soup and the carpacio.

My second glass was a Chianti Classico Riserva from the same producer who makes Tiganello. This was a fantastic, food friendly wine, It was funny, but I had three different wines at Prego, all sangiovese based, all very different, all very good to great.

Dessert was simple, more cannolis, and these were the best I've had since Venerio's on First Ave in NYC. I could probably eaten a plate of them for dinner.

Tonight, it's back to the dining room. Oh well, foie gras and caviar instead. Tough choices, but someone has to make them.

I ask forgiveness for my spelling and gramatical errors. These will get better when I get back to land and have the time to really work on them. Thanks for reading.