quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

More about my time in Rome.

A few more days went past and it got to be Christmas eve. We went out and partied pretty good. It got up towards 11ish and I decided I had to go to midnight mass at the Vatican. My 2 redneck buddies wanted to go too. We walked out of the bar and started asking “wish way to the vaacan?” we followed directions until it got to be about 5 of midnight and we were in front of a big church with steps that just went on and on up to the door. We went in and did the midnight mass thing in a very crowded church.We learned the next day that we were at the “Spanish steps”. We staggered back to the Pension Ricci and snuck in. We woke up about noon and were on our way out the door feeling pretty sorry for ourselves having to spend the first Christmas of our young lives away from home. Boo hoo. Mrs. Ricci stops us and gets it across that we were invited to have Christmas dinner with them. WOW. She let us know to knock on their door about 3 pm. We went out and couldn’t find anything open, of course, duh. We wandered around until 2:30ish and went back to the Pension Ricci. There was the Ricci’s oldest daughter, her husband and their 2 little girls there too. The son-in-law spoke pretty good English and that made things flow a lot easier. We fussed over the kids and played with them. They were great. Then came Christmas dinner. I didn’t know all the things we had, but I’ve dug around a little bit over the years since and I’ll try to tell you all about it. It started with “antipasto” which is the first course and means "before pasta" which came next. For antipasto there was bruchetta which is toasted slices of good Italian bread rubbed with garlic and topped with chopped up tomatoes, olive oil and basil. It’s great!! More antipasto, then there was roasted red peppers with mozzarella and provolone. Also some anchovies mixed up with some olive oil and garlic. I don’t like anchovies, but these were great. Oh, by the way the red wine appeared before anything else and got around pretty good. Next came the 2nd course which was pasta. We thought this was the rest of the meal,,no ,,just the pasta course. It was what I’ve since learned was

Pasta Carbonara



4-5 stips of bacon or pancetta if you can get it.
olive oil
5 eggs
2 tablespoons milk or light cream
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or 1 tbsp. dried
1/2 cup mixed grated parmigiano and romano cheese
½ - 2/3 pound spaghetti or whatever pasta you like
ground black pepper
Get the water and the pasta going
Slice bacon or pancetta crosswise into half inch strips, and cook slowly in olive oil. Don’t let strips burn. The bacon should be browned, but not burnt. Keep warm over low heat.
Separate egg whites and yolks. Put yolks in serving bowl and mix lightly with milk or cream, parsley and the mixed cheeses.
Cook pasta to al dente (firm to the bite), about 8 minutes for spaghetti. When cooked, drain in a colander and add all at once to egg mixture. Toss rapidly until pasta is coated with eggs which will cook from the heat of the pasta. Add bacon and freshly milled black pepper. Toss again. Serve it up!!
Next came the main or meat course. Mrs. Ricci had a leg of lamb ready. Now my mom made us a lot of leg of lamb over the years, but this was:
Mrs. Ricci’s leg of lamb
( Agnello al forno)
olive oil
½ cup dry white wine or lemon juice
Salt and pepper
6-8 cloves garlic
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, snipped in half or 3 tbsp. dried

Make 4 or 5 cuts into the lamb almost down to the bone

One to two hours before you plan to roast the lamb, set it in a ceramic or stainless roasting pan. Pour the olive oil and wine over the lamb and turn it over a few times so it is coated all over. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the garlic cloves and rosemary into the cuts in the lamb. Let the meat marinate at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
Set the oven at 475 degrees.
Transfer the roasting pan to the oven and roast the lamb for 15 minutes.
Turn the meat over, and continue roasting for another 15 minutes.
Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees, and continue roasting, basting occasionally with the juices in the pan, for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the meat is cooked through, well browned, and falling off the bone. Total cooking time is 1 3/4 to 2 hours.
Let the lamb rest for 5 minutes before serving. Make a gravy in the roasting pan with a little water and flour added.
She served it with:
Mrs. Ricci’s Broccoli Rabe

about 2 pounds cleaned broccoli rabe (wash well, trim roots, and coarsely chop leaves)
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt
Hot pepper, if you like it
Drain the broccoli well and cook them until half done in lightly salted boiling water (3-5 minutes from when the water resumes boiling after you add them to the pot). Drain them well, and squeeze them to force out the bitter juices.
Sauté the garlic in the oil, and when it is golden, add the broccoli. Cook over a brisk flame, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes. Season with the hot pepper, if you are using it, half way through the cooking. Drizzle with lemon juice just before serving

ALSO,,, Italian Chick peas

3 cups canned chick peas (ceci)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped or 1 tsp. dried
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley or 2 tbsp. dried
1 cup diced Italian plum tomatoes
Salt to taste
ground black pepper
Warm the olive oil in a large saute pan. Stir in rosemary and garlic, and saute briefly over medium heat,. Do not let garlic brown and certainly, don't burn it.
When garlic turns a light golden shade, stir in parsley,, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Lower heat and cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes to thicken the sauce.
Or,, you could use some already prepared marinara sauce
Stir in chick peas (ceci) and cook for a few minutes to blend flavors and to heat ceci.

Then came dessert which was gelato (Italian ice cream) espresso, sambuca and the rest of the wine!!

We thought we had died and gone to heaven, but we were to stuffed to fly.