Cena in Contrada

The evening air is fragrant with early summer. 

Anna and I arrived a few hours ago and almost immediately met up with Nicco, a friend of Lisa's. Our decision to come to Siena was so last minute that we didn't realize the Palio was only days away. We are only passing through, a short day before continuing on to Bologna.

Nicco meets us for a drink and invites us to join him at a dinner festival held for his contrada, dell'Onda.  Ah, one of my favorite things about Italy is the food festivals. Evenings of long tables and endless food and wine that fades into a party for the whole community under one blanket of stars.  This one is especially exciting, brimming with pre-Palio excitment and pride. The sun is just beginning to set as we drink wine in a courtyard, meeting lots of friendly, happy people and watching the moon rise. A full moon is rising. Splendid. Nicco buys us olive ascolane; hearty fried, green olives stuffed with meat, spilling out of a crisp paper cone. 

After our aperitivo hour ends, the gate opens and we are led down to dinner. We walk down a twisting staircase that overlooks the tables. It's spectacular. All above and around us are beautiful buildings, blue and white flags for the contrada. People are filling the area quickly, carefree, giving bacetti and hugs, finding their seats. 

 Once sat, our wine glasses are once again refilled and soon enough we're served. The boys all share their dishes with each other (and us) so everybody can try everything. Dishes get passed around, wine is flowing. People  eat, sing, laugh and dance. 

The boys suggested we get the steak and tortellini with pesto, so we split the both of them. The tortellini and is smaller and  and has a firmer, chewier bite than any I've seen before. And pesto...I can never turn down pesto. Especially in warm weather.

"Where will you go next?", asks one of the boys.

"Bologna!"

"You must eat tortellini in Bologna, where it was created. Even better than here!"

Everyone gives us advice on places to go in Italy and tries to persuade us to stay for the Palio. More food is passed around. Pasta, grilled pork chops. People are dancing, floating from table to table to visit with friends. 

Hours later, we journey back to the piazza with our new friends. We go for a digestivo and drink Sambuca and then espresso to finish everything off. Eventually, we say goodnight, goodbye and thank you. The boys assure that we are always welcome back, and we of course welcome them to visit us wherever either of us end up. Then, we walk back to where we pitched our tent that afternoon. It's gotten chilly and late.

Tomorrow we will explore Siena and, in the evening, take a bus to Bologna to meet Dora. Big day. 

"All night, those boys bought entire rounds of drinks or food for each other, us... just naturally. It's just what they do. They were all so generous," Anna says.

It's true. This night in Siena was fantastic, and what stood out most of all was the generosity. Before we arrived, and we called Lisa from the train, she immediately assured us we would be in good hands with Nicco and his friends. She was right.  They naturally take care of their guests, and each other. I love Italy. I love the people. I feel like every day somebody reaches out to me in a random act of kindness, whether it is a boy who works at the local market to our farm,  seeing us in Perugia, buying us lunch and showing us the city, a young mom calling her brother in Bari to help us organize a hostel...while giving us a lift there, or tonight, these gregarious boys who gave us such a special night.

I climb into the tent, curl up on my squeaky blow-up water raft and drift to sleep...

 Walnut Pesto

Ingredients

A good bunch of basil

A handful of walnuts, toasted

1 large clove of garlic

Walnut oil

A handful of grated parmesan cheese, optional

Salt and pepper, if you'd like 

Preparation

Get out your blender....

First, blitz up your walnuts and garlic. Add all your basil and blend. Then, slowly pour in walnut oil. When it has reached it's desired consistency, you can scoop it out and stir in some cheese, if you'd like. Season to taste.

And then you of course have the choice of serving it over tortellini. 

This may not be a complicated or fancy recipe but I love it and can not imagine summer without it. 

buon appetito!

Rigatoni all'amatriciana

The exhaustion one feels from constant travel is powerful, elusive, and distinct. These days, it is a memory, a relic from a hectic and beautiful time. I certainly didn't think of it which such fondness on bleary mornings after a 14 hour overnight bus, or when sleeping in an airport. I think some of the most dreadful were early morning departures. For instance, leaving Greece. Lisa and I got enticed by a restaurant that was offering a free carafe of white wine when dining between six and eight. One somehow turned into at least five free carafes...

 A quick dinner transformed into hours of drinking wine and eating mussels and bass plucked right from the glimmering sea just fourty feet away from our table. Music, laughter, and waves. The chef treated us like old friends. It was a great way to end our time the country.
But it was not a good way to start the morning. 
And that's how it always seems to be. You roll into a new city, or country, and you're just destroyed from going out on your last night, or being up all night packing, or having to be on a shuttle bus to the airport at 4 am. Or, all of the above. (Hi, Dublin!) But you take a minute, realize where you are, and get to fall in love with a new city all over again.
By some incredible stroke of luck, we managed to make our 9 am flight. After throwing the towel in and taking a cab, we found our bags were well over the 20 kilo rule. At something absurd like 10 euros per kilo! I ended up throwing away or wearing 10 kilos of extra clothes. (Before Greece, I was in Israel for 6 months, so I accumulated a lot of stuff...) 
Milan was a small stopover for us- just two nights. It was the cheapest way to fly back to Montpellier, and we figured, well, why not? We found a wonderful couchsurfing host named Massimo, and he took such good care of us. We got to his apartment, and he directed us to his balcony, instructed us to sit down and relax, and went off to the grocery store to buy some things for dinner. We watched the city, felt the warm, early June breeze, and for a lovely moment, processed the fact that we were suddenly in Italy. 

On our first night, Massimo brought us to an aperitivo, where, with a glass of wine, we had access to an entire buffet of northern Italian specialties. What a great way to start time in a new place...
We slept forever that night. Bliss. The silver lining to a hard travel day is finally getting to sleep. It doesn't matter if your hostel didn't let you check into your room until three, and it's pushing nine. (Barcelona.) It does't matter that you landed at 6 am, and your couchsurfing host didn't get out of work until twelve hours after, and it poured with rain all day. (Aahrus.) All that matters is, you are now climbing into a bed, and you get to wake up, eat something different from what you were eating yesterday, and explore. 

 When we woke up in Milan, Massimo made us rigatoni with tomatoes and pancetta: all'amatriciana. It was so good, the flavors were so clear and delightful.We had a leisurely Sunday lunch with our new friend, and then had a sunny walk around Milan, and eventually, that night, went and saw Massimo's band play at a festival! I ended up going back to Milan when Anna and I spent a month in Italy, and stayed with Massimo again! I love Couchsurfing. You make such great friends and do such fun things. 
Tonight, I made my own version of amatriciana. It's simple, easy, filling, and delicious. Massimo, if you're reading this, thank you for the inspiration! 

Rigatoni all'amatriciana

Ingredients

1/2 pound of dried rigatoni 

1 28 oz can of tomatoes, chopped and in their juice

Olive oil

1 onion

1 large clove of garlic

1/4 lb of pancetta, cut into cubes

Preparation

Bring water to a boil.

In a large pan, heat some olive oil and add your onions and garlic. Cook until translucent. Add your pancetta and cook for a couple minutes. 

Add your tomatoes, and  perhaps a little bit of water if it seems too thick.  Let it cook for 5-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper (you won't need very much salt...)

Meanwhile, cook your pasta in generously salted water. When it's ready, mix directly into the sauce. 

I had mine tonight with pecorino. It was lovely.
Buon Appetito!

Spaghetti alla Carbonara....and SNOW.

I woke up this morning to this:

I knew it was coming. Boston declared a snow emergency last night, the bakery were I work was closed ahead of time (hence my sleeping until 11:30!), schools are closed. Snow days are the best. I haven't had snow like this in my life for years. I spent my junior and senior years of college in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where it certainly snows, but not like this. And in both the winter prior to and following my time in Santa Fe, I was living on two different Kibbutzim in the Arava Desert of Israel. No snow.  So now, after four consecutive winters in the desert, I am returning to my roots. The American northeast. Brrr. 

I hate winter, but I love snow like this. It's beautiful and special. 

On a blizzardy day, it seems there is nothing to do but cook. Even my sister, who lived on her own for 3 months without a cutting board, made delicious cookies during the last nor'easter that hit Massachusetts. 

Here is what I made for lunch today:

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

This dish is great for a cold wintery day. It's rich, filling, warming, fast, and it is very likely that you have all the ingredients on hand, which is important when you can't get out of your driveway! 

This is a recipe I have made countless times, especially when traveling. This past June, I spent a month in Italy with my friend Anna. We did a work/housing exchange at a farmhouse bed and breakfast in Umbria and collected fresh eggs every morning. What a fabulous difference the farm-fresh eggs made in a dish like carbonara! The eggs really are the star of the dish, so make sure they are fresh. They needn't be from this morning, but I wouldn't make carbonara with eggs that are about to expire.

After my month in Italy, I returned to Montpellier to spend a month living with my friend Lisa. I took a long overnight bus back to France with an enormous wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano in my purse, per her request. We made spaghetti alla carbonara and ate it out of the bowl as we caught up on what we'd each done over the last month. In France, we used lardon, which were conveniently cut up into little cubes for us. 

I am going to give the measurements for the carbonara I made today, which made an enormous bowl enough for two people to share.

Ingredients

Half a pound of spaghetti

Olive oil

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 egg

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more to finish

Milk

Half cup diced pancetta or bacon

Preparation

Boil water for the pasta.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a smallish pan. You don't need a lot of oil, since the pancetta will render plenty of fat. Add the garlic, onions and pancetta and let cook, stirring occasionally.

When the pasta comes to a boil, add a hearty amount of salt, and then the spaghetti. Tend to the bacon and onion mixture. Don't be afraid to stir the pasta using the same spoon you're using for your bacon. 

Break open the egg, pop into a small bowl, and add a good glug of milk (or cream if you're feeling particularly decadent). Whisk in the cheese and beat it all until smooth.

By now, the bacon and onions will be ready. If the pasta isn't cooked yet, keep the bacon covered and warm. 

Now comes the part that requires speed and concentration. When the pasta is ready, drain it, reserving a some cooking water in an extra cup in case you need to loosen the sauce. Immediately return the spaghetti to the pot it was cooked in, and add the bacon mixture, including all the fat it rendered. Toss with the pasta so it's well coated with the fat, and then quickly add the egg mixture. Stir it into the pasta and watch as it transforms into a silky, creamy, delicate sauce before your own eyes. The hot pasta is cooking the egg! 

(If it seems dry and sticky, add some of the pasta water. If it seems runny and uncooked, you can verrrrrryyy carefully heat it for a hot second- but be careful or you'll end up with...eggs. I would suggest even holding the pot a few inches above the flame of your stove, tossing a few times, and then removing it.)

Transfer to bowls and add salt, more parmesan, and a good amount of black pepper. 

Enjoy the food and if you're getting snow today, enjoy that as well!