San Gennaro Festival 2016 {in Seattle}

9/11/2016

This weekend we visited Seattle's San Gennaro festival for the second consecutive year. The festival, in honor of Saint Gennaro, is held in the neighborhood of Georgetown and celebrates all things Italian: food, music, wine, and shopping. Our friends Jay and Michelle joined us this year and we enjoyed the props and selfie booth immensely!

The setup runs right down a residential street and couldn't be cuter with cafe lights, Italian flag colors all around, a huge stage, a beer/wine garden, and even a play area for the kids.

Tutta Bella is my favorite of all Seattle's pizzerias and their pizzettas were perfect for sharing while not getting too full. Pizza originated in Naples, Italy, and Seattle has more Neopolitan pizzerias than any other city in America. If you can't get to Naples before dinner, check out the certified spots in your area. You will not regret bypassing the delivery or frozen pie when you taste the thin, doughy, wonderful crust and exceptional toppings of a traditional Naples style pizza.

Bryce and I shared the Bianca with fresh mozzarella, chèvre (goat cheese), provola, onion, roasted garlic and oregano. It was the best of all the varieties from Tutta Bella I've ever had! It was so cheesy while the onion and garlic took it to the next level. We devoured this so fast we couldn't remember how many pieces we each had!

Our friends went more traditional with a margherita pizza; tomato sauce, basil, mozzarella. The pizza was, for sure, the best way to start the eating adventure. Because the crust is so thin and flexible, you can easily fold it for ease of eating and you don't end up too full.

Just one dinner item would never do, I also got some caprese skewers (cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinegar - where's the basil?!) and fried veggies. The artichokes were by far the best fried veg, while the others were mushrooms, zucchini, and green beans.

It soon became gelato time! Fragola (strawberry) and cioccolato (chocolate) was our order. The chocolate was rich and the fresh strawberry flavor was unmistakable. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful and sunny day in Seattle, the temperature was just right and not too cool for ice cream.

Our final course was a double whammy - cannoli and sfogliatella! Cannoli is my childhood and all time favorite Italian dessert from Sicily. It's a crispy shell filled with sweetened ricotta cheese filling. Imagine cream cheese frosting, but better. Our family has a recipe that includes chocolate chips and cinnamon that won't be beat.

Sfogliatella is something I only learned about 2 years ago while visiting Naples. The shell shaped and many layered dessert changed my life! The filling is also ricotta based but it's got candied orange to add zip and the pastry weighs what feels like a pound.

These were tasty and topped off our afternoon of good eats, although they don't compare to those in Italy or their homemade counterparts.