My Uncle Mike (formerly Michel) and my Aunt Tina (formerly Sebetina) came for dinner. My Uncle taught my sister and I how to cook one of his sauces while my Aunt and my mum chattered on and on.
My Aunt and Uncle are the cutest couple. An old Italian couple that cook together and garden and constantly joke about selling each other at the flea market.
I think my mother's an
amazing cook, but none can compare to my Aunt and Uncle. And today's sauce was
so good. Pancetta, zucchini, red pepper, chili pepper, crushed tomatoes, oil, and awesome. Plus a crazy amount of salt.
During dinner my Uncle regaled us, in his thick Italian accent, with recipes and tales of his life in Italy. He joined the navy at seventeen, so he's been up and down the coast of most of Italy.
He talked about how pizza tastes different in different regions, even if you make it the exact same. "It's-a the water" he says. Water can make or break a pizza.
He went on to talk about pizzerias. "They don't-a deliver in-a Italy," he says. "You go-a get it. No matter what-a time, you go-a get it." Him and his pals would go pick up pizza at 3 or 4 in the morning. "There are only two-a kinds," he says. "Marinara and-a Margarita." Marinara is a thin pizza, just crust and tomato sauce. Margarita is the same, plus mozzarella. Margarita pizza was named after the Spanish Queen of an Italian King, who adored it made that way.
Then Uncle Mike went on to say that the best mozzarella and romano cheeses are made from buffalo milk. I love my Uncle Mike, he's so full of random Italy facts :)
A lot of the chit chat was about family drama and such. Like my cousin changing his last name to his mother's maiden name (mine), even though his parents are still married and his mom has his dads name. Even worse, his dad's leaving for Afghanistan next week.
There was also chatter about my dad's exwife (who, from what I could gather, was a catty psycho bitch) and the fights that are dividing our giant Italian family.
All the family talk made me realize that almost every single male is named either Lou, Rocko, or Michael.
Onto the simple recipes! Cook some olive oil, crushed garlic, a little salt, and half a glass of water, tossed in pasta. The sauce is ready when the garlic is red/brown. And add some chili pepper for spice. Uncle Mike said back in Italy he and his buddies would be in the neighbourhood bar at 3 in the morning. One would say "Why don't we have some pasta?" and they'd all go to one of their places, whip up some garlic pasta, and chow down til dawn.
Then there's the herb pasta. Chop up some fresh oregano, parsely (or as my Uncle calls it,
parsles), and basil, cook it in some olive oil and a little salt, and toss it up with some pasta. My cousin-in-law, Mike, is a picky eater, but he
adores this.
The next is even simpler. Spaghetti cur burro. Just cook some spaghetti, and when it's still hot, cut a piece of butter into it, mix it all up, then throw in some parmigian cheese. I love it like this. Haven't tried the other two, but I definately will soon.
His last quick recipe is a boozy dessert. Cut up some fresh strawberries and pour some Marsala wine over them. Marsala wine is actually really close to a liqueur, so it's really rich. When I can actually buy alcohol I'm definately trying this one. That'll be in what, three years? I should find some other way to get it then ;)
After the pasta, we had a second course, which my mum cooked. Chicken with garden cream cheese, onion roasted potatoes, corn, and salad with white wine vinegar and olive oil. It was
so good, but
so filling.
Then we had the mint pie my Aunt and Uncle brought with fresh coffee. It tasted like mint oreos :)
My Uncle's stories make me want to go to Italy even more.
And I hope my future husband and I end up as amazing as my Aunt and Uncle.
