Why is it that my brain thinks, "It's just pasta and some tomatoes"? I obviously have never had a good sauce, because I'm sure if I had, I wouldn't think that. I lovingly remember the fresh tomatoes from my parents garden, but they never ended up as a sauce with pasta. I believe we are never too old to learn things, to try new things. Is there a recipe you could recommend for me to start with? I have all the books, and would love to experience the simple joy that others here are talking about.
When I was a little kid in the 70s we lived in SE Asia and I quickly learned that if I ordered spaghetti bolognese on a menu there probably wouldn't be any surprises when the plate arrived. We lived in a hotel for about a month while looking for a house in Jakarta and I ate spaghetti every single night in the restaurant, to the great amusement of the entire staff. If I am ever on death row, my final meal will be spaghetti with tomato sauce and some good vegan meatballs.
Spaghetti was never a favorite when I was growing up. Suburban Chicago, a mom of Swedish/German roots who could cook to save a life but was never an intuitive cook. Her spaghetti recipe was ground beef with green peppers, onions, tomato paste, etc. It wasn't saucy. And one time after eating it, I got sick. Just a kid getting a stomach bug, but bringing up that dinner scarred me and I made her promise I never had to eat spaghetti again, a promise I held her to after that.
Imagine my surprise to learn that true spaghetti doesn't have a stodgy clump of ground beef on it. It can be tomato-y and saucy and garlicky. But I will say, pasta in general is not something I relish, or at least I can relish it, but not every day like my family can eat.
You know, I'm having a hard time answering that. There are things I like to eat (that I've made) but I can't think of something that's "I'm down/sick/etc and wish for X." Tho for a time into mid-adulthood, my comfort was "dip." That was coffee with cream and sugar and buttered bread dipped into it, something I learned on my father's knee (he died when I was young) and which I can never fully replicate because he used fake creamer and many times the coffee was Taster's Choice (freeze dried to retain flavor! Mmm)
Buttered bread dipped in coffee with cream is something my wife loves because it reminds her of her grandmother. I think that’s a wonderful comforting dish (even if the ingredients from lots of our children favs are questionable as hell lol)
Apr 20·edited Apr 20Liked by Michelle Albanes-Davis, Kyria
You were miles ahead of me with your first cooking encounter using spaghetti. My mom and dad were out working in the garden on a warm summer evening when I decided to make a spaghetti dinner for them. Being 16 and a guy, I knew very little about cooking at the time and I never watched mom. It had to be easy, right?
So I dumped a pound of pasta in cold water, brought it to a boil and then cooked it for a good long time before draning it. I opened a jar of Ragu (because that is what you did) and poured it on the pasta. When they came in, all sweaty, hot and starving, I proudly announced that I had made dinner.
If love isn't having your parents cut into a big ball of glued-together pasta and trying to swallow it I don't know what is. After that mom started showing me the "secrets" of cooking, starting with pasta.
Hilarious. Bless their hearts and yours. You’ve got to appreciate your youthful confidence and desire to help out. Cooking mistakes like those are great because you’ll never do that shit again.
In college, my roommate got drunk and tried to make spaghetti in our electric kettle, sauce included. When I came back to the room she was passed out and it looked like a crime scene in there. Your story immediately reminded of that. Here’s to all the mistakes we make as we learn to cook 🍻
I am a huge sucker for any kind of noodle and red sauce. Pretty much all I ate when I visited Italy. I remember being a kid and always trying to scoop up extra sauce. Even now when I'm so full I might pop I still try to scoop a little extra sauce from the pot!
I am always so excited when my tomatoes come ripe in the garden. It's the last piece of homemade heaven. I chop up onions, pick a couple of zuchinni and dice those up, dig up some of my garlic, tear up some basil from the huge pot I've always got going in the summer, splash some really good olive oil around, and cut up those heirloom beauties to put over spaghetti. It's one of the best summer dishes ever.
Perfectly put. That’s summer right there. That’s what I wait all year for and it always delivers. A really good olive oil ties it all together. Ok, now I’m hungry again!
Wonderful story, Michelle! I almost never buy jarred sauce; it’s usually my mom’s recipe that I make. When the kids were young I would make a triple batch and simmer it in the crock pot all day. Then I could put some in the freezer for a busy day.
Your spaghetti pie is the “company” dish at our house with a big salad and garlic bread. It’s also my husband’s first suggestion if I’m not sure what to make for supper ❤️
My mom used to make red sauce in a crock pot and let it cook for an entire day. I would steal tastes of it by scooping a spoon full onto a piece of white bread as a snack.
And if someone asks about zoodles-it’s a hard PASS. If I want pasta, I’m eating REAL pasta. 🤤🍝
Beautiful! Reminded me of my first cooking love. My mom teaching me to make chili! It's still a comfort and love food for me and have shared it with so many others....
Sweet story! I love making sauce. My mom kept me out of the kitchen unless I was doing dishes. I learned to cook later in life, but my sauce I am told is amazing. Even my brother prefers mine over my moms 😳 We like red sauce on the sweet side.. but I love all sauces and ALL pasta!
Oh my what a lovely story -- I assume you've read Small Fires, by Rebecca Mae Johnson? All about the red sauce that taught her ... everything?
Putting it on the list!
Such a fabulous read. Spaghetti with a simple tomato sauce is one of favorite things to eat :)
Why is it that my brain thinks, "It's just pasta and some tomatoes"? I obviously have never had a good sauce, because I'm sure if I had, I wouldn't think that. I lovingly remember the fresh tomatoes from my parents garden, but they never ended up as a sauce with pasta. I believe we are never too old to learn things, to try new things. Is there a recipe you could recommend for me to start with? I have all the books, and would love to experience the simple joy that others here are talking about.
Last year I published a pomodoro sauce that would be a great recipe to make since we’re almost in tomato season here in LA. https://badmanners.substack.com/p/pomodoro-dogma
Thank you! It's going on the list for when I see some good tomatoes!
When I was a little kid in the 70s we lived in SE Asia and I quickly learned that if I ordered spaghetti bolognese on a menu there probably wouldn't be any surprises when the plate arrived. We lived in a hotel for about a month while looking for a house in Jakarta and I ate spaghetti every single night in the restaurant, to the great amusement of the entire staff. If I am ever on death row, my final meal will be spaghetti with tomato sauce and some good vegan meatballs.
Damn right. If you haven’t made the eggplant polpetti in Hungry as Hell, do it. It’s my favorite meatball for the last 3 years!
Spaghetti was never a favorite when I was growing up. Suburban Chicago, a mom of Swedish/German roots who could cook to save a life but was never an intuitive cook. Her spaghetti recipe was ground beef with green peppers, onions, tomato paste, etc. It wasn't saucy. And one time after eating it, I got sick. Just a kid getting a stomach bug, but bringing up that dinner scarred me and I made her promise I never had to eat spaghetti again, a promise I held her to after that.
Imagine my surprise to learn that true spaghetti doesn't have a stodgy clump of ground beef on it. It can be tomato-y and saucy and garlicky. But I will say, pasta in general is not something I relish, or at least I can relish it, but not every day like my family can eat.
I love when you grow up and realize a dish that your family makes is an unusual version of what everyone else in the world eats. Lololol.
What’s you comfort dish?
You know, I'm having a hard time answering that. There are things I like to eat (that I've made) but I can't think of something that's "I'm down/sick/etc and wish for X." Tho for a time into mid-adulthood, my comfort was "dip." That was coffee with cream and sugar and buttered bread dipped into it, something I learned on my father's knee (he died when I was young) and which I can never fully replicate because he used fake creamer and many times the coffee was Taster's Choice (freeze dried to retain flavor! Mmm)
Buttered bread dipped in coffee with cream is something my wife loves because it reminds her of her grandmother. I think that’s a wonderful comforting dish (even if the ingredients from lots of our children favs are questionable as hell lol)
Oof, there is nothing like getting sick after a particular meal to put you off it for years, even if it didn't actually cause it.
Thats me and potato salad from 1994-2003. I should have never trusted that buffet…
cacio e pepe for a broken heart 🫶🏼
You were miles ahead of me with your first cooking encounter using spaghetti. My mom and dad were out working in the garden on a warm summer evening when I decided to make a spaghetti dinner for them. Being 16 and a guy, I knew very little about cooking at the time and I never watched mom. It had to be easy, right?
So I dumped a pound of pasta in cold water, brought it to a boil and then cooked it for a good long time before draning it. I opened a jar of Ragu (because that is what you did) and poured it on the pasta. When they came in, all sweaty, hot and starving, I proudly announced that I had made dinner.
If love isn't having your parents cut into a big ball of glued-together pasta and trying to swallow it I don't know what is. After that mom started showing me the "secrets" of cooking, starting with pasta.
Hilarious. Bless their hearts and yours. You’ve got to appreciate your youthful confidence and desire to help out. Cooking mistakes like those are great because you’ll never do that shit again.
In college, my roommate got drunk and tried to make spaghetti in our electric kettle, sauce included. When I came back to the room she was passed out and it looked like a crime scene in there. Your story immediately reminded of that. Here’s to all the mistakes we make as we learn to cook 🍻
OMG that sounds hilarious (though probably frightening at the time). College stories. There's an afternoon of Tequila and "truth talking." ;)
I am a huge sucker for any kind of noodle and red sauce. Pretty much all I ate when I visited Italy. I remember being a kid and always trying to scoop up extra sauce. Even now when I'm so full I might pop I still try to scoop a little extra sauce from the pot!
Full has nothing to do with it! We just need a little more… for personal reasons lol
Exactly, personal! So personal I sneak some bites over the sink when no one is watching...
I am always so excited when my tomatoes come ripe in the garden. It's the last piece of homemade heaven. I chop up onions, pick a couple of zuchinni and dice those up, dig up some of my garlic, tear up some basil from the huge pot I've always got going in the summer, splash some really good olive oil around, and cut up those heirloom beauties to put over spaghetti. It's one of the best summer dishes ever.
Perfectly put. That’s summer right there. That’s what I wait all year for and it always delivers. A really good olive oil ties it all together. Ok, now I’m hungry again!
exactly why I have a garden, bc man, there's nothing like fresh tomatoes.
Pasta is life
Wonderful story, Michelle! I almost never buy jarred sauce; it’s usually my mom’s recipe that I make. When the kids were young I would make a triple batch and simmer it in the crock pot all day. Then I could put some in the freezer for a busy day.
BTW, my son loves your spaghetti pie recipe!
Spaghetti Pie!!! One year I’m going to serve it like a birthday cake. Just wait
Your spaghetti pie is the “company” dish at our house with a big salad and garlic bread. It’s also my husband’s first suggestion if I’m not sure what to make for supper ❤️
Hell yes. It’s a great “company” dish!
My mom used to make red sauce in a crock pot and let it cook for an entire day. I would steal tastes of it by scooping a spoon full onto a piece of white bread as a snack.
And if someone asks about zoodles-it’s a hard PASS. If I want pasta, I’m eating REAL pasta. 🤤🍝
#cosigned on zoodles!!!!!!!!!!!
10000%. I don’t mind zoodles in with the pasta but don’t get between me and a plate of spaghetti tyvm
Beautiful! Reminded me of my first cooking love. My mom teaching me to make chili! It's still a comfort and love food for me and have shared it with so many others....
I swear that the first thing you cook just says with you like that. Chili is a great first love food and brings so much comfort.
Beautiful, Michelle. The OG sauce. All of your sauces have fueled my soul. Any tried the balsamic chickpea and chard sauce? OMG definitely gold.
That’s a deep pull and one of my secret favorites. The balsamic ties it all together
Sweet story! I love making sauce. My mom kept me out of the kitchen unless I was doing dishes. I learned to cook later in life, but my sauce I am told is amazing. Even my brother prefers mine over my moms 😳 We like red sauce on the sweet side.. but I love all sauces and ALL pasta!
It’s the only way to live!
Spaghetti is the ultimate comfort food Michelle. Neck and neck with a good soup.
I fully agree