Ottobre 1495, Lombardia. The consigliere to the Sforza duke is sitting at a table at an inn in Bergamo dining on orecchiete in sauce with a robust flavor made from a local cow’s milk cheese. He’s been listening for news regarding the Borgias. His spies reports that a troublesome landowner, not even a royal, but a pretend prince, named Donatello Trumbo has been causing problems to the south. He has expelled the peasants who couldn’t pay his exorbitant rents and at the same refuses to pay his own taxes. He has a small army of mercenaries, which he refers to as his “deplorables”. The man has no moral or political compass and makes hollow threats. The Borgias it seems, have plans to dispense with him before he becomes a nuisance to Milano and the court of the Ambrosian state. But the consigliere will keep his ears to the ground. <br />The inspiration for this dish was a package of orecchiete (little ears) I found in attractive autumn colors, which the manufacturer referred to as “arcobaleno,” meaning “rainbow.”

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