Pizzeria Ortica

As a student, there is one golden rule for selecting your classes,
Never take anything on Fridays,
Why?
Do you find it reasonable to sacrifice an extra day staying at school rather than having a relaxing outdoor lunch?
Well, as a foodie, of course I'll pick the second choice,
So here I was, at Pizzeria Ortica close to South Coast Plaza.

Lunch menu-


We (me and my boyfriend) didn't go for the 3 course menu,
Instead, we started out with one antipasti, farro con frutti di mare-

The taste was quite clear and simple,
That's not a bad thing, in fact, its light and fresh flavor makes a perfect appetizer.
One footnote though,
I do feel like I can easily recreate this dish at home, maybe give it a try sometime.

We also ordered this pizza, Milanesa-


"Fontina, asparagus, Parmigiano Reggiano, fried egg."
I instantly picked this one right after I saw "fried egg."
It has to be my favorite thing to put on a pizza,
Seriously, if I can make it myself, I'll put one egg for each individual slice,
That gooey yolk mixed with baked pizza dough...heavenly!
Pappardelle al sugo d'agnello-


"Pappardelle pasta, braised lamb ragu, sheep's milk ricotta."
Kinda gamey, but personally, I do like this "interesting aroma" coming from the lamb.
Pasta was cooked al dente, pretty good dish.

Overall, based on the dishes we ordered, Pizzeria Ortica deserves a 7 from me,
However, the total waiting time was...slightly over my acceptable range,
First we waited for the table,
It took out hostess almost 10 minutes to seat us.
In addition,
I guess they had too many orders of pizza that day, so we waited at least 30 minutes for our entrees to arrive,
Just feel like they should be better with time management.

Overall Rating: 6
P.S. Please please try the fried egg on pizza if you never had it!

Pizzeria Ortica
650 Anton Blvd
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 445-4900
http://www.pizzeriaortica.com/

Shrimps and Tuna Fried Rice

This meal is so yummy that this monster can't even resist!

Ingredients (for 4 to 5 people)?

3 cups of rice

1 can of sweet kernel corn

1 can of tuna (I used the one soaked in vegetable oil)

1 lb of shrimps (peeled, deveined)

1/2 onion (chopped)

2 stalks of scallion (chopped)

1 medium sized carrot (chopped)

1 tablespoon of olive oil

3 tablespoons of Japanese mayonnaise

3 tablespoons of ponzu sauce

Some dried seaweed flakes

Some toasted sesame seeds

Salt

How?

Some people prefer to use cold, cooked rice for fried rice dishes,

I have no preference at all, but making fried rice surely is a good way to get rid of leftover rice.

If you don't have any leftover goodies, just cook 3 cups of rice and set it aside.

Drizzle some olive oil and mayonnaise in the pan,

Toss in chopped onions and sprinkle some salt,

Let it cook till the color turned translucent.

Add the scallion and carrots, cook for about 30 seconds, add the shrimps,

Wait till the shrimps turned slightly red, add the corns and tuna,

Meanwhile, pour in 3 tablespoons of ponzu sauce,

Give it a quick stir and wait till the shrimps are fully cooked.

Add the rice into the mixture,

Make sure everything is well combined,

We don't wanna see chunks of white rice, instead of that, try to get all the rice separated and coated with the sauce.

Taste it first and sprinkle more salt if needed.

Sprinkle some dried seaweed flakes and toasted sesame seeds before serving.

Cindy's Rating: 8 (I really really like it!)

So what happened to the my fried rice?

Green monster: What?? No I did not eat it....(oops..)