On Sunday

Sunday is a great day to cook. In most parts of Italy, Sunday is when the extended family gathers early and starts preparing a meal together - a ritual generations of Italians have passed on to their kids. Sauces like Bolognese can take 5 hours, and making the fresh pasta for tortellini can take almost as long, so you really need a whole day like Sunday to get it all done.

I choose Sunday to be experimental. Why not try my hand at some of the odder and potentially more challenging recipes in the book. I guess "challenging" is relative. To many, Eggplant Parm is a staple that any deli can toss up. Street food-style fried pasta isn't technically difficult. So what do I mean by challenging? To do a melanzane parmigiano right, you need a perfect tomato sauce, prime eggplants, nice mozz, and good parm. It shouldn't be overly chewy, or suggest bland flavors of canned tomato sauce. In fact, you should be able to taste every distinct layer - like a lasagna - but still enjoy the perfect blend of the

ingredients. That's the challenge.

And with the street food, authenticity is key. It doesn't take much to batter up some spaghetti and saute it, but it is more of a challenge to get that outer-crispy gooey-inside parsley & parm laden taste that Romans would expect for a euro or two. So how did I do? (and I apologize for the bad pics, I'm still getting the hang of using the camera in the kitchen)

Melanzane alla parmigiana

Jamie says the mozzarella is optional? Then again, he suggests using buffalo mozzarella. This is a joke. You MUST use fresh mozzarella, but don't waste your money on imported buffalo mozz (the stuff is only at its best when made day of, which doesn't work if you get it imported from your grocery).

The tomato sauce is key too. Good canned tomatoes, lots of fresh basil, a drip of wine vinegar, and some sugar at the very end made for one of the best I've made. Then, if you've grilled your eggplants right, it's just a matter of layering.

I think I messed up on the cheese. I might have put too much, or not shredded it enough, or whatnot, but it was fresh and unsalted (which is the best way to do mozz when you're cooking it). Amazing. Find the recipe and use it.

Fritelle di spaghetti

I had mixed feelings about the pasta from the start. Fried pasta? Washing it? So many different things that didn't seem right. Basically, you make pasta and prepare a batter (sans flour) with egg, parsley, and parm. When the pasta is done cooking, you toss it with the mixture, then put it in the saute pan in little batches.

It took me a few tries to get the heat and timing right. As Jamie suggests, you want a nice crisp outside with a soft, tender inside. Who doesn't want this? What it means is high heat, olive oil (not the extra virgin type which would burn at these temps), and practice. By the last few ones I tried, they were nicely browned, crisp, and soft on the inside. I might even undercook the pasta a little in the future by 30 seconds. Great as a snack, but must be eaten hot hot hot.