Weekend Things 🍝 Chapter 3
Lots of meat, lots of sauce, and a chicken salad sandwich
Welcome to Weekend Things - a new section of the Slutti Spaghetti newsletter! I am so excited to share this little round-up of slutti dishes, places, tunes, and surprises from the weekend to help get you through your Monday slump. It’s an easy read, with bits to bookmark, inspire, or just make you giggle. *If you are a more visual person so to speak, you can head to my Instagram where my highlights feature all the photos from the weekend!*
Author’s note: For those of you living in America, this Tuesday is indeed a Monday. The 3 day weekend has come to a tear-jerking end. And for those where today is just well Tuesday, I am sorry you’re receiving this Weekend Things a day late. It’s worth the wait, though…
Friday I landed in the fuchsia sunrise of Rome, catching eyes with the formidable cupola of San Pietro, iridescent in the distance. It caught my eye like an old lover and held my gaze like a steamy hot pizza. An invigorating buongiorno after crossing timezones and binge-watching the last season of the funniest TV series What We Do in the Shadows.
The weekend thus commenced, with me eating and drinking all my feelings as I finished my thesis on restaurant food waste in Rome. But, don’t worry - I still made time for all the food and beverage things, both exciting and of course slutti…
Things eaten
3 study eats and a lie
A 3 kilo Uruguayan meal. Ok, I admit - this isn’t from the weekend, but Thursday (still the weekend if you took off Friday, right? I know a lot of you slacked that day anyways.)
Before my flight to Rome, I had a mega Uruguayan feast at Pizzara’s on Bergenline (in Union City, New Jersey.) Just like Argentina, Uruguay also experienced a wave of Italian immigration. So, naturally, they had pasta on the menu. But, I cannot resist good rice and beans or maduros (fried sweet plantains.) With grilled meat the Uruguayan specialty (I went for chorizo and asado or short rib), I was full and ready to pass out on my overnight flight.
Domenica/ Sunday RAGÙ - The ‘throw it all together and make it magic’ kind of ragù. Brown your meat, add your aromatics (soffrito is all you need, with bigger carrot chunks if you want it to be extra Roman,) a good jar of tomatoes, and then let it all simmer until it smells like the divine intervention your hungover body needs. Or, in my case, the revival needed by my very few brain cells left to write my thesis.
This ragù features pork sausage, pork ribs, and guanciale, but you can make it with whatever red meat or pork you have because ragù isn’t about perfection, it’s about love.
4 Trapizzini. You know impulse buying? When I am under deadline pressure, I impulsively order an embarrassing amount of food for delivery. In this case, 4 Trapizzini… for one person. I do not regret it.
Trapizzino gusti or types/flavors listed below:
Parmigiana di melanzane: Eggplant parm
Trippa alla romana: Roman tripe stewed to heavenly goodness with tomato and mint
Bollito Picchiapò: a classic, under-the-radar Roman beef stew I made back in December, more details here!
Pollo alla cacciatora: the OG Trapizzino, and honestly always the best. Aromatic, juicy, and always a little zesty. Just the little kick you need to organize your citations…
Pizza of course. The best pizza rossa is at Panificio Marè, at least for me currently. And, yes that is a chicken salad sandwich nestled underneath. Italians love mayo and insalata di pollo. Eating it on fresh pizza bianca really puts sad American supermarket white bread to shame.
Things sipped
A little rosé to help with my creativit-ay. Masterpieces are not written without creative lubricants, am I right? Especially if it’s another masterpiece by Emidio Pepe - the incredible Abruzzese producer making stellar Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and the very special Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo - a rosato or rosè style wine produced with the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo grape. Its deep berry flavors, incredible zest, and structure make it not only one of the best rosatos but also one of the most age-able. This 2019 vintage was singing, and I was too after a couple of glasses.
And, a lot of Nepi. I was studying and writing, remember? Learn more about Rome’s little water secret in my previous Weekend Things.
Things repurposed
Two leftover pasta boxes. Don’t be afraid of different cooking times. For the Sunday ragù, we used leftover rigatoni and paccheri because you can’t waste a single piece of pasta from Benedetto Cavalieri - an incredible Pugliese dried pasta (also available in the U.S.!) Remember - Sunday ragù is about love, not perfection. So if you use a mix of pasta and maybe a pacchero or two breaks, don’t let it get you down. It all tastes the same well going down!
Things lost in translation
We all have a friend who needs to chill. Here’s where to send them.
(Maybe the best bar name ever.)
Gladiators ate…burgers?
Don’t talk, you’re still #chewing
Things I listened to
To be honest, the Caesar-inspired playlist from my Ides of March newsletter is the best hype playlist - whether it’s for an intense workout or thesis researching session. It pumps you up enough to conquer Rome, and I don’t say that because I made it.
So, how was your weekend?
Share with me all the juiciest details of your pasta or other food & beverage adventures this weekend, even if it was a really good pint of ice cream on the couch.
Until the next slutti newsletter and next Monday’s (I promise, Monday) weekend things!
Xx,
Victoria