Wood-Apple? Blue Cracker? The asteroid belt 72? Nay, not those Feronia, but the Roman goddess of… wait, of travelers, or fire, or waters, or the harvest, or fertility… no one seems quite sure, though woods and springs are some of her favorite things. All I know is that it was her feast day last weekend and I took advantage to whip up some Roman favorites. Mine, not hers. I mean, if we don’t even know what she was goddess of, the likelihood of knowing what she enjoyed eating is slim and none, and Slim went on vacation.

The food? Three of the dishes from various past events – of the two that weren’t, we began with involtini di melanzane – grilled eggplant wrapped around fresh buffalo mozzarella, cured lomo standing in for prosciutto, and a sage leaf. The whole thing brushed lightly with reduced balsamic vinegar and served atop grilled radicchio.

On to a stracciatella for our soup, then gnocchi di semolino, and, for the moment, skipping over the main course, a risotto cheesecake – a layer of chocolate cookie crust, a layer of sweetened risotto, a vanilla cheesecake layer, and finally, a topping of chocolate espresso ganache.

Back to the main course – abacchio alla romana – lamb that’s slow cooked in a garlic, rosemary, anchovies, olive oil, white wine and vinegar. Here served atop simple sauteed greens – chard and spinach – with garlic, and some pepperoni alla bagna cauda – fire roasted peppers in an anchovy, garlic, butter and olive oil bath. All very low calorie and such, you know?