I purchased 2 books by Luca Pappagallo, as it is nice to have the cookbooks on the shelf, not just internet for inspiration. And what a pleasure to flip through a beautiful recipe book with a cup of tea while making a shopping list for next day!

This was our lunch today. It was a busy and exciting morning, Florek has booked flights and hotel in Catania, where we’ll be holidaying in less than 3 months time. The top of my travel wish list is happening! We will take the trip towards the craters of Etna, a major thing on my bucket list, I was booking it while the tomato sauce was spitting all over the stove.

I had no anchovies, the mistake which I will fix this afternoon. Luca started his sauce by chucking some anchovy fillets onto the olive oil, some garlic, then passata. I added some fresh tomatoes and a chopped shallot, because why not indeed. Aubergines were roughly chopped and fried until deep golden, in a separate pan. When the tomato sauce was seasoned and happy looking, a bunch of green olives went in, then the melanzane, a bit of oregano and it was ready to welcome the pasta in, straight from the water, the only right way!

Delicious, will be made again, this time with anchovies and maybe a different pasta shapes, not spaghetti. 🙂