Erica De Mane is a chef and food writer. She is the author of The Flavors of Southern Italy and Pasta Improvvisata. One night, she had a dream, a black rice dream. She bought our Venere Nero made by Pacifico Crespi's family since 1821 and read about all the nutritious qualities of the black rice. She was inspired and she created a new recipe with shrimp, tomatoes, guanciale and rosemary. It looks so delicious, I made it last night, with our piennolo tomatoes. I was assisted by Michael, my husband and the sous chef. We had a few arguments during its preparation. Mainly because Michael is too precise and got all upset when I didn't follow the instructions to the letter. It took no time, even with the arguments: it took the time for the rice to cook. At dinner, we were back to be nice to each other, again. It was delicious. My suggestion to Erica? Dream more often. You are doing good!
PS the picture above is not a good picture of my dish, only because I am not a good photographer. One more reason to go to Erica's post. Her picture gives justice to this great dish.
