Tuesday 17 June 2008

Pasta Like Mamma Used To Make

When this lot arrive home from wherever they've been, their greeting to me tends to be less along the lines of:


'Hello Mum! Have you had a good day?'

and more likely to be something like:

'Is there anything to eat?'
'I'm starving!'
'What's for tea?'


In answer to this last question last night I said:

'Ravioli'.

It wasn't well received.

'RAVIOLI?? No-one likes ravioli. Why did you get ravioli?'

'It was on offer at Tescos. Two packets for £3' (Actually, I had to get four packets for £6, because two packets of anything is never enough to feed this lot). I continued:

'It's not any old ravioli. It's Tesco Finest Minced Beef and Red Wine Ravioli. And I shall make you tomato sauce to go with it. You'll like it. And if you don't like it, tough. There's nothing else'.


And, decked out in my 'Yummy Mummy' apron, I proceeded to fashion out of thin air a tomato sauce the like of which (not wishing to blow my own trumpet here) has probably never been tasted outside of Naples. It was exquisite. Everybody ate it in silence. Even I ate it.....and you know I have absolutely no interest in food whatsoever, so it must have been good.


There is nothing I would like to do more than share my recipe with you.


But I can't.


Unfortunately, during the concoction of this ambrosia-like substance (I mean the food of the gods, not the rice pudding), I was engaged in a somewhat heated discussion with the Father of This Lot regarding the raising of children. And whilst I remember a bit of chopping and slicing, I have absolutely no idea what went into it. I think there might have been some celery, and I have vague memories of a couple of carrots and the basil plant on the kitchen window-sill, but other than that, I can tell you nothing.


You'll just have to take my word for it.


It's roast chicken tonight.


You know where you are with a roast chicken, in my opinion.





22 comments:

Daryl said...

I will share mine ... two large cans .. one of crushed tomato, one of tomato puree, and a small can of tomato paste to which you add a large can of water (use either the crushed or puree tomato can). Crush a couple cloves of garlic, sprinkle some crushed red pepper (if you like it with some zip), toss in some basil, and if you like oregeno toss in a bit of that. Cook slowly over a low heat till the water boils away but watch the bottom doesnt get thick and stick.

No carrots, no celery, no onions .. this is PASTA sauce not Mexican tamale sauce!

This recipe was given me by the very Italian father of my dear friends D and B.

:-Daryl

Akelamalu said...

Do you ever wonder why you bother? I do - like tonight and he pulled a face! :(

Kitty said...

I did roast chicken last night - I knew where I was with the roast chicken. Tonight the cold chicken made for a lovely chicken salad. Tomorrow ... who knows? But I'll maybe steer clear of ravioli!

Take care. x

Renae said...

I'm impressed you have fresh basil on your windowsill. Perhaps I'll go buy a pot of it, and think of you! :-)

scrappysue said...

i'm going to try that daryl!
jackie - don't you love the way our kids throw around the words 'i'm STARVING!' i reply - 'it takes a child 63 days to starve' - that usually throws them off - for a microsecond...

Suburbia said...

Funny how he 'inspired' you to make a heavenly sauce!

Renae said...

Hello everyone. I tried to copy and paste a Chloe update here, but I couldn't make it work. But you can go to my site - www.renaebrumbaugh.com , and click on the comments section of my latest post for an update.

In a nutshell, she is doing great! Thanks for your prayers.

Maggie May said...

One minute you say its out of a packet the next you are chopping up things and making your own! Which is it? Bought or home cooked?

A Mother's Place is in the Wrong said...

Sounds yummy. But we do need to know what's going on with the FOTL. Lovely to catch up with you all. M xx

Grit said...

hmm. memories. i last ate roast chicken in 1986. i think it was about april.

Expat mum said...

Making your own pasta sauce - impressive or what? I must admit I doctor mine with the blender and add things like mashed carrots, chopped spinach etc. They actually eat it - and then I actually tell them what was in it!!

merry weather said...

Now I know what's going wrong with my tomato sauces! Their father is usually asleep while I cook dinner. Next time I shall wake him up in time for opening the tomatoes, get him warmed up onto his favourite subject of where we have gone wrong with the kids and hey presto!

Fingers crossed :)

Anonymous said...

What? You have no interest in FOOD? What a lot of time that would save. If only we could ingest food by pill when busy, eat and enjoy when we have the time.

I would LOVE to hear FOTL's opinions on child rearing. That oughta be good.

Maggie May said...

OHHHHH! You meant the SAUCE. Sorry! I was thinking there were some packets of ready made that you were getting!

family affairs said...

Have you checked to see if FOTL still has all his body parts attached? I went for roast chicken as the fail safe option last night and my daughter said OH NOT ROAST CHICKEN, I HATE ROAST CHICKEN! How can you hate roast chicken? It doesn't taste of anything...or is that where I'm going wrong Lx

family affairs said...

Have you checked to see if FOTL still has all his body parts attached? I went for roast chicken as the fail safe option last night and my daughter said OH NOT ROAST CHICKEN, I HATE ROAST CHICKEN! How can you hate roast chicken? It doesn't taste of anything...or is that where I'm going wrong Lx

family affairs said...

Have you checked to see if FOTL still has all his body parts attached? I went for roast chicken as the fail safe option last night and my daughter said OH NOT ROAST CHICKEN, I HATE ROAST CHICKEN! How can you hate roast chicken? It doesn't taste of anything...or is that where I'm going wrong Lx

Claudia said...

How can anybody be bored of ravioli?! Ok, You' re not Italian, but... I can't understand!

Cath said...

Sometimes our creativity is at its best when we are in foul tempers...

(This is why chefs shout and swear.)

E said...

What time is dinner anyway?

Jennie said...

I want to come around to your house for tea!!!

Rose said...

That's how I cook most of the time. The kids know that every meal is a one time only offer; it's never exactly the same again. Sometimes that's a good thing though...