Some days it feels as if I have pasta pumping through my veins. Must be the Italian in me, as pasta is one of my favorite foods, especially if it’s one of my grandfather’s recipes. Tammi over at Mamma’s Meals is hosting a meatless #SundaySupper this week, so why not bring one of my grandfather’s specialities–pasta e patate Советы туристам в Гонконге.
Even without the translation, I think you know where we’re heading–paste on paste. Tossed with caramelized onions and copious amounts of freshly grated Parmesan, we’re talking serious comfort food. While I never had the opportunity to meet my grandfather, my mom has shared many stories about him over the years. One of her favorite memories were their trips to the family’s cabin on Tomales Bay, where they’d feast on whatever fish got snared on his line, and if he caught nothing, they’d have pasta patate for dinner.
That’s my grandfather, Gus. He was a Renaissance man of sorts, born in Coglio, Switzerland in 1884, he had traveled the world by the age of 19, including exploring the Yukon to return with a small cache of gold. He was proficient in several languages, brewed his own beer, made his own wine, and may or may not have operated a speakeasy during prohibition. He enjoyed cooking and entertaining and spent his lifetime in the hospitality industry. He’s one person I admire greatly, despite never having met Home Design.
His simple pasta dish speaks for itself. The sauce is made of nothing more than onions that have been caramelized in butter and olive oil. A splash of the starchy pasta water is added to round out the sauce, which is tossed with a combination of pasta and potatoes. It may not sound like much, but it’s amazingly flavorful, especially when sprinkled with a generous dose of Parmesan cheese. We rounded out our meatless meal with the ever dazzling caprese salad and Ina Garten’s Parmesan roasted broccoli. Despite all the food, there were no leftovers iphone screen protector.
