In the main square of Itri, in the piazza where you will find the 11th century church, you will also find a restaurant with the unusual name of Fra Diavolo. Fra Diavolo was the nick name that was given to Michele Pezze, a local Itri boy born in 1771.
This is Classic Italian Ragu, the “Saturday Sauce”, the slow cooked traditional meal for lunch with family on the weekend. It’s served with Tagliatelle, not spaghetti and it doesn’t have garlic, basil or oregano.
Spring 2020 will go down in the history books as a year not to be forgotten. One benefit from the global pandemic was that many of us could head to our gardens for solace. During the Pandemic, I found myself living in an Italian Villa in Southern Italy.
This is such a simple recipe, I learned it before the quarantine started when friends could still stop by and whip up an informal lunch together. My friends Davide and Giulia came by and wanted to prepare lunch for us. We stopped by the little local market before heading home, Giulia perused the pasta isle carefully, looking for the perfect pasta.
You can’t visit Italy’s seaside without stopping into a waterfront restaurant and ordering a plate of Fried Calamari to be enjoyed with a squeeze of lemon and a view.
Despite the Coronavirus induced “quarantine”, this has been the best Spring we have had in Italy! The two previous years it was very rainy and cool. I remember “arctic blasts” coming from Russia two years ago in March and “Dirty” rain from Africa in April! The “dirty” rain seemed to continue day after day as it doused our car and laundry on the line with red mud.
The other day I saw a post from a friend, she was eating an Éclair, and I thought, “Wow! It’s been a long time since I have made Cream Puffs….” of course Éclairs and Cream Puffs are made of the same Choux Pastry but did you know that Mexican Churros and British Yorkshire Pudding are also creations made from Choux pastry? All of these pastries sound quite exotic, foreign and difficult but actually they are not hard to make at all.
As the world outside struggles to come to terms with the global pandemic, I also must come to terms with staying at home. I have always been a girl that likes to “get up and go” but as you know, I am “The Homestead Traveler”, so a part of me also loves to stay home to garden, cook and create.
This tour is for the Rome as the Apostle Paul would have seen it during his travels to Rome during his first and second missionary tours. This was considered the Classical Period of Rome. At Acts 25:6-12 Paul appeals to Ceasar when the Jews try to kill him. “Then Festus, after speaking with the assembly of counselors, replied: “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you will go.”
As Italy continues to unfurl it’s natural beauty before our eyes, we slowly see the precious treasures around us. Our Villa in the countryside of Central Southern Italy provides a new and exciting bounty in each season. No need to import vegetables that have traveled more miles than me!
