It’s Just That Kind Of Day Pasta

It was just one of those kind of days.  The warm Autumn sun and the crisp breeze blowing gently enough to make small cyclones of multi colored leaves scatter about.  The kind of day you want to savor knowing what is just around the corner.  That kind of day brings out the 100% Italian in me that says, “today we eat pasta.” 
I love coming in from the chilled air to have the smell of onions and  garlic frying in the pan. It  makes your mouth water upon entering the house.  Then you hear the hiss of the tomato paste as in meets the hot olive oil.  Grandma Falco always said, “fry your tomato paste  before you add the water to your gravy.”
I made my Grandma Falco’s “gravy and macaroni” for tonight’s dinner.  I always start with her recipe for gravy   sauce, then tweak it a little, I like it a hint spicier.  I used a macaroni pasta I found at Wegman’s called Riciolli, which looks like tight curls.  It was not a whole grain pasta which I usually make, it was a semolina pasta.  I get these every once in a while for a fun treat.  Most of the whole grain pastas don’t have as many fun shapes.  I let my sauce cook for 2 hours, then when it was perfect tasting, I added 1 bag of mostly thawed vegan meatballs.  Now before you non-vegan’s make that face, they are delicious.  They are light and tender with just the right amount of garlic and parsley.  Like I said, I am an Italian girl who would never eat a meatball that someone other that a grandmother made.  I spent my whole life only knowing my grandmother’s meatballs, until she taught me the recipe and I made my own.  These are really good--- trust me.
Once the pasta was al dente, about 7 minutes, I drained it from it’s salty oily water and added it to my cast iron pot of sauce.  I like to make a topper for Andy’s pasta.  He loves my fried olives and capers for a bit of bitter bite on the sweet and spicy sauce.  
I  always make a nice salad on the side.  If I didn’t, I would eat way too  much pasta.  I have to say, this was one of my best sauces.  I have made sauce, a lot.  Almost every Sunday since I was 18.  It was perfect.  When Mya walked in from school, she said, “Mommy, it smells so good in here. When are we eating?”  She even passed up her afternoon snack so she could wait for dinner.  She ate a full plate of pasta and a few meatballs and left if completely empty.  Not a noodle on the plate.  Then she asked if I could heat it up for here in the morning and put it in her Thermos for her lunch. 
There is nothing in the world that satisfies me more than feeding my family a meal that they really enjoy.  It makes me so happy. 

Now that is a lot of pasta!


My fried olives and capers.

Ready to serve.


Grandma Falco is going to be 95 in about 6 weeks, she still loves her macaroni and gravy!