Prehistoric Forests and A Pignata

This was another trip to the mountains. We are still in the Alta Rocca range but it was a different route to yesterday's trip.

We visited Cucuruzzu, a prehistoric site located in the forests of Alta Rocca. The terrain wasn't entirely flat but with good walking shoes, and a desire to see all there is, it is amazing what the legs and body can do in terms of climbing up and coming down from rock boulders and the like.

The early settlers in this site dates from 2nd to 1st millennium BC. Yes, it was that long ago and absolutely fascinating to hear the history and see where they lived. There was these amazing stone huts that displayed where the kitchen could have been or the bedroom. Once again Susan was very informative about the area.

There is even a little chapel built in the 19th century.

After our walk, we headed to A Pignata. It is located in the mountain tops of Alta Rocca near the town of Levie. After our great lunch yesterday, we didn't know what to expect for today. I was thinking to myself, how could another mountain top lunch 'top' yesterday's? Even Susan was saying that today's lunch would be spectacular but I had my reservations.

Upon our arrival, I had a quick look around and fell in love with the place. Gorgeous sceneries; there was an outdoor area where you could drink or have a meal and look out over the mountain range. There were guests cabins and a heated indoor swimming pool.

The restaurant had a rustic French country setting. There was a lovely fireplace, an ingenious rotisserie, lovely copper kettles and it was very Provence in style. Loved it! We met Antoine, the owner of the homestead who was very congenial to us and even allowed us to take a picture of him at the fireplace. We found out from Antoine that A Pignata was started up by his family in 1969. It started as a 2 room accommodation and has now been extended to an 18 room accommodation.

So what did we have for lunch?

Charcuterie of coppa, ham and salami. Delicious and smooth textures. Quite refined actually.

Then we had slow cooked lamb which was so, so delicious. The meat literally fell off the bone and was absolutely 'melt in your mouth'.

There was a fantastic bowl of Canneloni with brucciu. Brucciu is a type of cheese. This dish was again absolutely delicious!

There was a large dish of Butter beans served with black vinegar. It was required that we all tossed some black vinegar over the beans. It made sense as the vinegar cut into the richness of the bean sauce.

They then served us a platter of goat's cheese and sheep's cheese with home made fig jam.

A basket of fruits accompanied the cheese platter too.

Last but not least, we had the chestnut cakes. They tasted and had the texture of a doughnut. Loved it! There was an option to add some grappa to the cakes, which I politely declined.

This lunch was superb! There have been so many wonderful meals along the way and this is definitely somewhere at the top.