Welcome to A standing reservation! Thanks for reserving your table. If you’ve found your way here via pure luck and haven’t already reserved your standing reservation, pencil yourself in the book and we’ll be sure to serve you up something good:
The queue that is life
I’ve been receiving a lot of these messages as of late. It feels like everywhere I turn I’m waiting in yet another queue. Whether it’s in the area of bureaucracy or tech troubles, you’re looking at the queen of “press 1 for more options”. Maybe I’m just being dramatic or maybe you too are experiencing some roadblocks right now? I hope you’re not, but if you are, then you’ve got a friend in me but also, “press 2 to repeat those options”.
Let me explain. About a month ago, I was due to begin working at my new job in Rome. Yes, THE Rome as in Rome, Italy. I’ve been manifesting this job for quite a number of years now and the days are finally upon me. Except they’re not because my passport is sitting on someones desk somewhere waiting to receive a pretty sticker that gives me the right to live and work in Italy. Let me make one thing clear, I am beyond grateful to have opportunities like this AND such a strong passport that allows me to move and travel freely. It’s a blessing that so many do not have. So, here I wait. Patiently, in the queue that is life. Rest assured, once that passport is in hand, your girl is jetting out of these grey London clouds and into much bluer, Italian skies.
The eternal queue…I mean, eternal city!
With all the optimism in the world, I’d like to say that as you’re reading this, I’m already in Rome, cooking and walking its cobblestoned streets I sometimes call home. But, if bureaucracy has won again this week, then we’ll just keep on keeping on. Which means, still hoping for the best and cooking - always cooking. (spoiler alert, I’m still waiting on the visa and the forecast in London looks like rain until next Thursday so that’s cool.)
What awaits me in Rome is my latest job as a cook/intern at the Rome Sustainable Food Project. The Rome Sustainable Food Project which goes by RSFP, was founded by Chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse 15 years ago. Based on the premise of farm-to-table dining and the slow food movement, the kitchen feeds the members of the Academy as well as friends of the Academy. Seasonal and sustainable are the core values of the kitchen. With produce coming from the vegetable garden on the Academy grounds as well as sourced from local farmers; the RSFP kitchen focusses on Roman and Italian cooking techniques. Sitting beautifully a top Gianicolo hill and overlooking all of Rome’s gems, this kitchen is a place that I hope will inspire and push my culinary journey further towards my dreams and goals. I look forward to bringing you all along for the ride.
Read a bit more about Alice Waters and the project in Travel + Leisure.
giovedì gnocchi
Thursdays are for gnocchi in Italy. I learned this quickly when my Roman boyfriend (you’ll hear references to him often here) responded to my pronunciation of “giovedì” while practicing my days of the week with, “gnocchi!”. And so he explained giovedì gnocchi, venerdì pesce, sabato trippa - Thursday gnocchi, Friday fish, Saturday tripe. Recently, when I asked him, “but, why giovedì gnocchi?”, he responded with a classic Italian…‘boh!’ (if you know, you most certainly know). I knew about fish on Fridays as this was something we grew up with in my house - mostly around lent when we weren’t allowed to eat meat on Fridays - lots of tuna sandwiches which didn’t help me win any sort of popularity contest at the lunch table.
Those days of practicing lent are long gone for me now but I do miss that feeling of knowing we’d probably be getting take out pizza on Friday nights. But no, not in Rome. In Rome you were most certainly eating a fish dinner on Friday and this is something I can get behind. But back to the gnocchi and its reason for being so popular on Thursday. Some Google sources tell me that it goes a little something like this. Because most families in Rome were Catholic and practicing meatless Friday’s out of respect for Jesus’s crucification on Good Friday, Thursday and Saturday needed to be filled with meals of high caloric substance. Gnocchi, if you’ve ever tried them, are indeed filling and just few of these light yet dense pillows of pasta go a long way. Saturday is for tripe, generally known as being ‘the poor mans cut of meat’, and has high amounts of protein as well as nutritional value (loads of B12!).
Now-a-days, you don’t have to be a devout Catholic to practice this style of eating. In fact, many people are not, my boyfriend and his family included. This is yet again another example of the subtle yet not so subtle strands of tradition and religion that are woven into the fabric of the Italian culture. It’s just “what we do” responded my boyfriend as I tried to poke holes in this simple yet complex eating habit. But with all this said and both gnocchi and tripe surrounding “low” protein Fridays, it seems to me that Romans were and still are eating good! So let’s do this, shall we? Giovedì gnocchi coming right up!
Follow along on Instagram for more recipe ideas and probably a few pretty pictures.
Gnocchi alla sorrentina
There’s only 2 of us in our flat but this recipe serves about 4-6 (depending on who’s eating). Because making fresh pastas is a labor of love and time, I freeze whatever we don’t eat that night so it’s prepped and ready for the following giovedì gnocchi! This is a warm and comforting dish that I hope will treat you well through these damp days of early spring.
As a guide, we usually eat about 70-100g of pasta per person in Italy. And yes, they measure and for good reason. No one is eating leftover pasta (unless its frittata but i’ll save that for another post). For gnocchi, we’ve measured out about 100g per person. I usually throw a few extra in there - they’re just too good not to sneak that extra bite.
Ingredients
For the gnocchi:
1kg - Floury potatoes (yukon gold, red, russet)
300g - 00 Flour or All Purpose/Plain
1 - medium egg
Few pinches of salt
Semolina for dusting - if you don’t have, using your flour will do
Tomato sauce:
1 can tomato passata or whole tomatoes and their juice
1 clove of garlic
few sprigs of basil
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Accompaniments:
200g - Mozzarella (about 1 large ball)
60g - Parmigiana Reggiano
Special equipment:
Potato Ricer - easy enough to find on Amazon or a home store but if you don’t have one you could use a sieve or a colander and apply pressure to create the same effect. But trust me, this nifty tool does wonders.
Method:
Gnocchi:
Wash but don’t peel your 1kg of potatoes in boiling water for 30-40 minutes or until tender when poked with a fork. Meanwhile measure out 300g of flour onto a clean surface (or in a bowl for minimal clean up) and create a well. Once your potatoes are cooked, drain well and while still warm (don’t burn yourself on a hot potato) push the potato through the ricer and into the well of flour. The skin will stay behind in the ricer and what you’ll be left with is fluffy potatoes. Add 1 egg and a few pinches of salt to the well. Combine and give the dough a few kneads. Do not over work this dough - the process of combining and kneading should be fairly quick - just until everything is uniform and compact in a dough ball. Cover with a cloth.
Prepare a sheet tray or clean area of counter space with semolina or flour - this will be your landing spot for your gnocchi. Cut a portion of dough from the dough mass and begin to roll into a cylinder or snake shape - about 3/4-1 inch thick. From the long cylinder of dough, cut pieces again about 1 inch to create your gnocchi. Do this until you’ve finished all of your dough.
Sauce and assembly:
In a pan, heat up 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil with 1 clove of garlic. Once that becomes aromatic, add in your canned tomatoes, salt and few leaves of basil. Put a dash of water into your can of tomatoes to release any leftover tomato juice - pour this tomatoey water from the can into the pan along with the other ingredients. Let this simmer and cook down for about an hour or until the flavors have richened. You can cook this for less time, but make sure that most of that additional water evaporates so you’re left with a concentrated sauce.
Preheat your oven to 450°F/230°C.
Have a baking dish ready. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Once your water is boiling, drop your gnocchi. Fresh gnocchi will cook very quickly and in about 2-3 minutes will rise to the top and let you know they’re done. Fish them out of the water and into the pan of your tomato sauce. Pour your gnocchi into a baking disk and dot with pieces of torn mozzarella and a sprinkle of parmigiana. Bake for about 10 minutes at 450°F/230°C and then switch your oven to broil and bake for another 5 minutes.
Serve pipping hot and garnish with a few extra ribbons of basil. Enjoy!
Until next time at a standing reservation…
With love & snacks,
Paige
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Need a happy moment?
This is a photo of the parking slots at the airport in Rome where you’re meant to quickly drop off or pick up family/friends AKA ‘Kiss&Go’. I’m from New Jersey - now imagine the arrivals and departures areas at Newark airport or JFK airport…fuhgeddaboudit!