By Reporter Lee Jun Suk

Hello, I am Han Sol Kim, the owner chef of Casa Italia.

Our restaurant Casa Italia is a place where we serve Italian cuisine based on Italian recipes, using seasonal Korean ingredients.

In the winter, we serve a dish which is baked oysters with herb breadcrumbs and oysters with tomatoes, onions, and parsley. In the spring, we offer a spring-inspired dish called "Neungi Pesto Pasta" which is made with neungi mushrooms, fresh prawns, and dureup (Ko­rean wild vegetable similar to arugula) pesto sauce. It's full of the fresh aroma of spring. And soon, the upcoming summer We are planning to showcase a nourishing dish by adding abalone, asparagus, and green chili pepper sauce to the Ital­ian chicken dish "Cacciatore."

Our signature dishes are Truffle Cream Gnocchi and Porchetta. "Gnocchi" is an Ital­ian word that means "dump­lings". It is a dish made by mixing mashed potatoes with flour, cheese, and other ingre­dients, and shaping the mix­ture into small dumplings. It has been eaten since ancient Roman times and developed in the northern regions where potato farming is prevalent. Our "Gnocchi" features a se­cret cream sauce and includes crushed rice cakes to add a nutty flavor and texture.

"Porchetta" is a traditional Italian pork barbecue dish made by seasoning and roll­ing up pork belly with various herbs, and cooking it slowly at a low temperature for a long time. It is derived from the Italian word "porco" which means "pig" and it is known to have been a main dish in ban­quets. 

Of course, you can't talk about Italian cuisine without mentioning pizza.We make pizza in a brick oven import­ed from Italy, and some of the representative pizzas are “Cal­zone" and "Bismarck."

As a seasonal pizza menu, there is a "Fiori Pizza" topped with edible flowers using lem­on sauce, which is named after the Italian word "fiori," mean­ing "flowers," to give a spring vibe to the pizza.

In summer, we plan to serve our pizza with fresh basil in­corporated into the sauce and using tomatoes. In addition, we have a vari­ety of pasta, pizza, and salads with our Casa's signature col­ors. We will make an effort to serve Italian cuisine using Ko­rean ingredients at our restau­rant.