bad pasta day

Hello again.
What a day! Rain, cloud, grey: a rare occurrence in my part of the woods. Anyway because of this I decided to use what had in the fridge for lunch. Seemed a good idea at the time! A simple plate of grilled peppers and aubergine followed by fresh tagliatelle with a quick fried sugo. Vegetables Good - Pasta ended up in the bin. The truth is all I had to do was to quick fry garlic and chili in olive oil add can of tomatoes, cook for twenty minutes at the most and add fresh Basil .strain pasta and add to frying pan toss with parmigiana and hay presto a very tasty cheep alternative to Page 130 SPAGHETTI NI WITH WHITE SPROUTING BROCCOLI AND LUGANEGA SAUSAGE (the air fare to collect the ingredients for this could be a problem for most ordinary folk) not so easy as it seams. you see when Mary keeps mentioning all the exotic foods i.e. page 21virgin olive oil ,cans good Italian tomatoes (vitale or cirio),page 46grated parmigiana reggiano,page99 grated zest of unwaxed lemon etc, etc,. etc, she does know what she is talking about, these little secrets passed on to you (obviously learnt from years of cooking and probably many mistakes not to mention knowledge inherited from her mother page 35 MY MOTHERS LOBSTER THERMADORE) are a real gift if you are passionate about good food
Short cuts on quality of ingredients, lack of time or Patience or not possessing the correct kitchen tools are a no no. Don't blame Mary Contini when your dinner is just bland tasteless or plain ordinary disgusting if you don't heed my warning: I am speaking from experience so back to today; what went wrong?
Well Firstly I was not in the mood. Secondly Mario had gone down to the local market yesterday on his daily jaunt away from my nagging only to find it was a public holiday. He decided to shop at our local corner super market/ he bought tins of cherry tomatoes of an unknown brand, fresh pre-packed pasta on offer and packet pre-packed Granna paddana. OH MY GOD you cannot believe the difference all these second rate products made. To add to the problem my hob was not working properly and I could not get the water to boil. The result was slimy glutinous rubber. After tasting the strong bitter taste of the sugo I decided to add cream and camouflage the growing disaster. When I served it at the table and grated the plastic cheese on top, the faces of my two guests Mario and Jojo fell: frightened to say anything that could instigate world war three they preceded to humour me; anyone who knows me will know what happens next. One by one the three plates are scraped into the frying pan and swiftly removed from the table emptied into the bucket and that was the end of that. Thank goodness for simple grilled vegetables and a sense of humour anyone who knows me will know what went on between the procedure of emptying food into the bucket and the sense of humour. This is truly a day in my Italian family:
to learn; if you can’t find good ingredients don't buy second rate produce change the menu or starve;
ciao speak tomorrow. Hope I am in a better mood. Take care. xxxx

mary - let us know the name of your favourite haunts in Rome

Good morning: the sun is shining: feeling good: freshly ground coffee croissants with Gorgonzola and Mirabelle homemade jam. I never did understand the difference between jam and conserve do you? If it tastes good its good if it doesn't taste good it’s not good.
Yesterday my husband Mario bought 8 lamb chops from the local market. I read Mary's recipe page59 OVEN BAKED CHOPS this is exactly how my mother Trudi taught me. It is so simple and tastes so good.
When I think of this recipe I think of veal Milanese in Cosmos restaurant, an Italian institution in Edinburgh. If I remember Cosmo added a little grated parmesan to the breadcrumbs to give the lovely flavour to the crust - you could try this if you are using veal for a treat.
Now back to the lamb which brings me to page 13 of Mary's book where she describes her visit to Rome for New Year and where she describes a place so exciting that I have made up my mind to take her advice and take a pilgrimage to Rome this New Year and experience for myself all the delights Mary has inspired in me. The only problem is when she tells us about the best abbacchio - spring lamb, she has ever tasted, was in an unassuming trattoria behind the Vatican, she forgot to tell us the name of the said trattoria. If you happen to read this please Mary be fare let us all into your little secret:

ciao for now xxxx