Actually getting ready to make this dish was fun. I went to a great, local Italian Deli in my town, A&S Fine Foods. It's a great place. The people there are very friendly and gregarious. The selection that they offer is fabulous. They have fantastic imports from Italy and fresh options! When they found out I was making dinner for my mother and myself they asked what time the food would be ready, because they'd be there with red wine and cigars for Dad (sadly Dad is no longer with us, otherwise I'd be making dinner for him, too).
I picked up an interesting ingredient for this dish at A&S. The recipe called for peas and I will be honest, I do not really care for peas (I swear I do like veggies! You might think otherwise between my portobello mushroom ambivalence and my pea disdain! But I really do!). It's a combination of the taste and texture. Anyway, one of the gentlemen at A&S said he didn't like peas either until he had the peas they have in Italy. So i bought a bottle: The peas are baby peas and are kept in a jar with water with a salt and sugar. Almost like they're pickled, but not really. Anyway, they weren't bad as far as peas go, but the texture still gets me!
Onto the dish. Not so spectacular. My mother conjectures I must have made too much pasta, but I don't think I did. We honestly couldn't taste very much. There was smoked ham in it, but I couldn't even really get a great feel for that. I am not sure I would try this again. I might try it again and try it with less pasta. Who knows, maybe I didn't mix the ingredients well enough together in the pot.
That said, it was easier to make than the last dish. Prep work was easy (just chopping) and the actual cooking time was under ten minutes. So props for simplicity. However, the prep work DID kick my ass, or eyes , I should say. I was crying while chopping an onion! Note how red they are!
Anyway, enjoy your Saturday night, all! I'll have a dish update sometime next week. Maybe Tuesday!
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