MARZO ITALIANO!!!!

dudes,
i'm doing a thing-
yeah.
marzo italiano.
that's it.
italian-style march madness, for my mouth.
uh-huh.
i'm gonna go ahead and eff around with making a new something,
a la italia, a la prima, for dinner every night for a little while.
until i freak out, or i start to slack and just make pizza, instead.
that's a technicality, and i won't allow myself to get that lazy.
whoa.
take it easy- i'm not saying there won't be pizza.
don't be dumb.
i'm saying there won't be mostly pizza.
saying no to pizza is NOT a thing.
nut in the interest of diversifying my suppertime seance
with the ghosts of my ancestors or whatever,
i've gotta get into some other other sh!t.
but,
before any of that happens,
we've gotta start somewhere.
-
my friend carlos works right around the corner,
so it's a simple matter for him to just come on over immediately after work
and munch up on some fresh-to-death foodstuffs,
i was gonna go easy,
have some soup, and relax.
instead,
the soup will reincarnate as ribollita tonight,
and my buddy and i got into some heartier carbohydrate overloading.
yup.
neighbors,
i started the month off with a reliably rad track one side one banger:
fettucine and m(wh)eatballs!
check the teleport:

c'mon!
i need a bigger table.
i do.
i got the good light,
but now i need the big table.
it's a never-ending process in progress.
the pasta was perfectly al dente.
the sauce?
well,
all the nanas of the world would be proud.
slow-simmered all damned day.
first, the heat was high,
starting with the onions,
and the paper thin minced carrot,
sauteed into translucence in olive oil,
then the sizzle of an added diced plum tomato,
with a splash of red wine vinegar to deglaze the sticky bits off of the sides-
there's oregano, basil, parsley, sage, and crushed red pepper-
nootch,and GPOP figure into the mix, too.
but,
the cup and a half of crushed tomatoes,
with half a cup of broth to kee it molto juicy,
are what realy activate the flavors, after the temperature drops to low,
over a light simmering flame.
friends,
SAUCE is key.
what?
of COURSE i left the wooden soon right in there.
what do you think i am?
an A*-hole?
rules is rules,
and every good little italian boy learned that from his grandmother.
i'm no exception.
only,
i didn't know i'd have company, or i'd have made twice as much.
as it was,
a family-style sauce-and-'roni stir-up started us off,
with a scoople of exxxtra sauce on top,
because we aren't dumb,
and we aren't trying to have weak 'ccine, either.
now,
there's olive-oil grilled homemade sourdough there, for dippin' and scoopin'
and helping twist that pasta onto a fork.
why use a spoon when you can use food, bro?
that's less dishes, and more delicious.
expert.
and of course,
it wouldn't be the same without those big burly balls in your mouth.
oh, stop it.
for realsies, though-
this batch of tempeh-seitan roundies really went to eleven.
i started with one small sweet onion, and a clove of crushed garlic in oil,
and let that soften up a bit,
before i added half a brick of tempeh.
i don;ty know how much it was,
but it made about a cup of finely chopped bits.
that stewed away with 1/2 cup of crushed tomato,
and 1/2 cup of broth, until it was all one big sloppy mess.
from there,
3/4 cup of wheat gluten,
plus allllll the spices,
and nootch,
lots of crushed red pepper and black pepper,
and fresh flat leaf parsley, brought it home.
make sure it's all mixed really well,
and when formed into balls. take a quick peek, and see if any of them
have clots, man.
you don't wanna get the one with a dirty clog of parsley that causes it to fall apart.
that's not cool.
-
i let mine set up for an hour or two,
(i had eight decent sized jauns to show for my effort)
and then steam-baked them, covered, in a deep but small pan,
with olive oil, and a quarter cup of broth.
i gave 'em 20 minutes,
removed the foil covering,
dropped some sauce on each,
and put 'em back in for another 'nother 10.
what's the verdict?
well,
i'm thinking about getting one of those weird pepper/horn charms for a chain,
and i'm hoping my chest hair gets thicker.....
yuuuuuuuuuuuup.
THAT'S how molto italiano this dinner was!!
***********
i'm too pressed for time.
i was baking all morning.
bread and cake an' that.
i can't wait to tell you all about my DONUTS.
but,
i have to.
i need more time,
because i don't see myself making less food.
it's all really happening, and it's more than i can fit in a day;
never quiet, never soft....