Pasta Sunday

   I was raised, like most Italian Americans, eating a huge meal on Sundays.  Some families may have had several courses, which always included pasta.  My family always had just pasta, therefore we named it Pasta Sunday.   When I moved in with my husband a few years ago, I of course brought my tradition of Pasta Sundays with me.  It may have seemed weird since we were living in England at the time, but in fact it was perfect.  Every Saturday there was a market in town with very fresh produce.  Better then anything you can buy at the supermarket.  So every Sunday I would make a huge dinner with Saturdays purchases.  Eventually, my husband told me that's why he had gained so much weight after we met.  After we moved to Japan, I stopped Pasta Sundays.  And of course Pete missed them. So last night I made huge dinner.  A traditional Pasta Sunday with salad and bread with olive oil just like if I was home.
   I made a dinner that Ive made a few times before, but I added something extra!  I made a tomato sauce with olives and eggplant.  My husband loves olives so I always like to add them when I can.  This sauce is similar to a putanesca but I like it much better.  For this thick sauce you need a short pasta, so I made rigatoni.  Before I added the sauce I crumbled some ricotta on top of the pasta.  The hot pasta sauce melted the cheese, and I topped it with fresh basil.  It looked beautiful!
   In fact this dish was remarkable!  It was probably the best sauce I have ever made.  My husband said it was the best pasta Sunday ever!  I don't normally comment on how good my food is.  Usually I will just say its not bad or its pretty good.  But this was great!  I actually impressed myself.  Maybe this Italian girl can actually cook Italian food!
  The only sad thing is that I didn't take a picture.  I was too hungry or blinded by the food to take a photo.  Halfway through the meal I thought of it.  That's usually how it goes with me.  I forget until I have eaten too much of it to look appetizing to anyone else and I take a picture.   I will just have to make it again soon and take a picture and have an updated post.