Rituals

Ever since Carlo's cousin Alessandra arrived from Italy two weeks ago to live with me while she studies English for the next 5 months, the rhythm of my weekends have changed. One thing that's slowly becoming a ritual is the saturday pasta meal (cooked by Alessandra) at cousin Tom's place. As I watch Ale (pronounced Ah-lay) patiently craft her Pasta alla Bolognese, we speak in broken English and broken Italian, all the while laughing non-stop (she has a potty mouth, and Carlo and Tom have to translate her dirty Italian jokes to English for me).

We started off with some crostini spread with some spicy 'Nduja and rapini preserved in olive oil-  "Prodotti tipici" that Tom had brought back from Calabria this summer. The rapini tasted oddly but deliciously creamy on the toasts.

And the piece de resistance, the Bolognese… mmm. Ale told me that a Bolognese sauce doesn't have a lot of tomato sauce and shouldn't be very liquidy. It's more chunky with the meat and veg. Fantastic, comforting and I definitely tasted the love.