An Italian Amuse Bouche for VASGO's 50,000th!

AUGURI, AUGURI! Best Wishes! It's a Celebration!

In just over a year since I began truly writing posts on this blog, around this time in 2011, I had only a couple hundred page views according to my site's statistics.

This past week, you, my wonderful, beautiful and talented readers, helped the blog surpass its 50,000 page view!

In your honor, I'd like to give you a treat designed by just VASGO himself!

Photo Source: Francesca Claybrook Photography, LLC

I made up this Italian themed Caprese Salad style amuse bouche after seeing the most perfect round pasta, called Croxetti, in the store Eataly. It's like a pasta coin with an image stamped on it and was the perfect platform for the red, white and green treat.

The tiny, grape tomatoes looked so wonderful, I knew they would provide the bold red color I needed while functioning into the dish the way I wanted.  All I had to do was slice them thin as a coin and lodge them into the sides of the center. The basil was so green and aromatic, cutting them into tiny strips really kept the colors moving around the spool of pasta. The center is what made it all happen. Once I spotted the freshly made ricotta di bufala at the store, not just normal ricotta found everywhere but ricotta with superior bufala awesomeness, I knew the design instantly of my project from beginning to end.

Drizzled with the superior cold pressed-only extra virgin olive oil (better than hot-pressed) and next to a tiny pool of sweet, 30-year aged balsamic vinegar from a micro producer in Tuscany, this just VASGO version of a gourmet Caprese made all the work worth it.

And now..... The top Ten countries, by readership:

1. United States
2. Italy
3. United Kingdom
4. Canada
5. Brazil
6. Australia
7. Germany
8. Netherlands
9. Russia
10. India

And some honorable mentions within the last few weeks: France, Greece, Israel, Guam, Libya, Finland, Japan, and Spain!

Thanks to all my international readers!  All of you are wonderful people!