LEE Conetta is Glasgow food royalty. For her regular column in the Glasgow Times, she shares fantastic recipes and memories of her life here in the city and her travels to Italy and beyond.
This time, she reveals how a holiday meal turned into an embarrassing fuss for her mother, and whips up a tasty and versatile pasta dish.
MY mum and dad used to go on holiday with my Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Lena.
They had a shop in Dunchattan Street, just off Duke Street in Glasgow and an ice cream van called The Golf Hill Café which their son Bertie drove around Cranhill.
Jimmy and Bertie were very well known in that district. Auntie Lena often gave away more sweets than she sold.
Their holidays were often to Italy where they would meet my Uncle Stephen, who was studying to be a doctor at the College of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
One time, they met in a seaside town called Terracina. They went for lunch in the Grand Hotel on the seafront, which served classic dishes such as today’s recipe, pasta e fagioli, or ‘pasta with beans’.
Uncle Stephen felt his Italian residency gave him a certain status and was keen to use his knowledge to take the lead in ordering.
Despite being a non-drinker, he selected two identical bottles of Chianti, one for each couple. My Uncle Jimmy was a bit of a joker. He had just bought a new shirt and on the collar at the back was a label - Marco Puro.
When no one was paying attention, Uncle Jimmy removed the sticky label from the back of his shirt and placed it above the label on one of the wine bottles. When my mother spotted this, she was incensed – believing that the Italians had tried to palm her off with an inferior wine.
She proceeded to call over the wine waiter and lambasted him. “Why have you given me a lesser bottle? My brother-in-law has a Marco Puro – I want the same,” she ranted.
By this time Uncle Jimmy was feeling a little sheepish and unsure whether to confess or just keep quiet. The wine waiter apologised profusely to my mother and sent two waiters down to the cellars to bring up all the wine of that make, to demonstrate that there were no such bottles.
By this time, Uncle Jimmy was nearly under the table with embarrassment. The waiters brought up all the wine and the head waiter, scratching his head, was at a loss. “Senora, I cannot understand how this has possibly happened,” he said.
By this point, most of the other diners were giving their full attention to the spectacle and wondering what on earth was going on. Uncle Jimmy finally realised he would have to confess.
No-one was very impressed initially, but everyone did come to see the funny side of it in the end – everyone, that is, except my mother….
This recipe came from Foggia, Italy. It’s the Neapolitan way of cooking the dish and it is very versatile.
Buon appetito!
READ MORE: Glasgow's Mrs Conetta on the joy of family parties post-Covid
Pasta e Fagioli
INGREDIENTS
1 can of cannelloni beans
1 can of chickpeas
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of chopped or grated garlic
1 large chopped onion
2 celery stalks, chopped
500g ripe vine tomatoes, chopped
4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock.
Half a teaspoon of oregano
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of salt
Half a teaspoon of pepper
A packet of spaghetti – broken into 1 inch pieces
METHOD
In a large pot, combine the two types of beans then add the garlic, olive oil, onions , celery, tomatoes with their juice, two cups of water and the stock. Bring to the boil and add the oregano, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Turn down the heat and simmer for one hour.
Fill another large pot with water, bring to the boil and add some salt. Add a teaspoon of olive oil and the spaghetti, cook until al dente, around seven or eight minutes.
Drain the pasta, and add to the simmering soup, just a few minutes before you’re ready to serve.
Serve in soup bowls with a loaf of good Italian bread. If you wish, serve a bowl of crushed hot red peppers to the table – some people like to add this to bring a little zest to their soup.
Other variations can include adding meat - for example, Italian sausages would work well on a cold day. Sauté before adding to the soup and it will bring a lovely rich flavour.
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