Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel, style, and food. Hope you have a nice stay!
All in Pasta
I am fully aware as I start this post that there’s pretty much zero possibility of me getting through it without making at least one ball
Instagram is a wondrous thing. It’s definitely my social media addiction of choice (@leannekilroy)
In predictable fashion, all of my iDevices have started to fail at once, like clockwork
In the few occasions each year I find myself far from my husband, I take full advantage.
Who doesn’t like pesto?
Even picky eaters – “what’s that green stuff?” people – love it. My basil-hating brother would eat his own arm if it was slathered in the stuff.
Every so often a dish comes around that is so perfect, so unbeatable, that I don’t bother trying to make it at home. Usually it’s something that I couldn’t make anyway, like fish and chips or tempura or deep fried anything.
This is one of those things I was totally expecting to hate. I mean, it’s nearly entirely made of nuts. And nuts and I, for reasons unexplained, have never been friends.
The title says it all, really. Well, actually, it doesn’t say that the roasting is optional; that you can, in a pinch, use canned tomatoes; that though the squid ink pasta is fun
A few weeks ago, while perusing our local specialty (i.e. overpriced imported goods) shop, we happened upon a few perfect little black truffles from Western Australia, hermetically sealed in plastic marked with their weight in grams.
As promised, here is the recipe for pasta maritata con cozze e ceci – fresh pasta with mussels and chickpeas – as interpreted by my stepmother-in-law (after many a painstaking meal at bustling seaside restaurants in the Salento region of Puglia).
Spaghetti with tomato sauce: the simplest and most beloved of all of Italy’s dishes, a symbol of her cuisine, a staple in every region. Every mamma makes it, everyone slurps it up with masterful twirls of the fork on the side of the bowl.
A little while ago, we broke the number one rule when feeding Italians. We served them a saucy, ultra-orthodox version of spaghetti and meatballs. Contrary to popular belief, you will not find meatballs on spaghetti in Italy. Tiny little meatballs in baked penne, maybe. Meatballs as an antipasto or a second course, definitely. But spaghetti and meatballs is a wholly, indisputably, non-Italian entity that – from into songs, children’s books, and Disney movies – has penetrated our culture and become entirely American.
You’d think that after having posted 14 different pasta recipes – and making countless more – I’d have the whole thing down. Especially when it comes to a weekday, throw-it-together kind of pasta.
I warned you that things would get repetitive around here. And here we go again, another comforting, tomato-cheese-pasta dish that I would happily eat every day.
I’m not usually one of those people who doesn’t know what they want for dinner. Growing up, discussions about dinner used to take up the whole ride to school with my dad, who was generally in charge of the hair-brushing, English muffin-toasting morning routine.
This is as traditional as it gets. If you want to truly taste Bologna, this is about as close as you can get to a legitimate, authentic Bolognese sauce. Just thinking about it brings me back under the porticoes.
I truly don’t know what we would do without our neighbors. They’re the ones who made us feel totally welcome when we first arrived in Australia