Arrivederci Italy

This will be our last italian blog. Tomorrow, we will say goodbye to our wonderful italian family who have taken us under their wings and become such good friends. It seems like I have known them all for a very long time. I will miss Italy more than I would have imagined. I really feel at home and yet it is time to leave. I dont feel like such a stranger any more even though my italian is still very limited. We have got the hang of the little things that seemed rather daunting at first - driving and directions, the fact that in some cafes you pay at the counter for your food and then take the receipt to the bar, that you need to weigh your fruit and put a sticker on it in the fruit and veg section of the supermarket instead of plonking it down unmarked at the cash register like I did my first night here. Now I can order un etto di proscuitto cotto (100 grams) with confidence or try and answer the dozens of people who have asked me questions about Lily while we've been here. Mostly they are older ladies or young girls, but today a young man asked me how old she was and when I replied he pointed at his girlfriend and said something that I think meant he was ready for a baby! I cant imagine a 25 year old Aussie guy saying this to me!

But family is so important here and I feel like I have become such a part of this wonderful extended family. We have been very generously welcomed by the family at Rastignano. We are so grateful to Nonna Maru for making us so welcome and letting us stay for so long. We hope we havent been too noisy! Lily will miss her nightly trips downstairs to see la Nonna and all the little things she likes to play with in Nonna's home. Many thanks to Toci and Sergio for the many delicious meals and happy afternoons spent at their home and to Susy and Sissi and their wonderful families for making us so welcome - I cant wait to send Susy some photos of MY pizzas after all her cooking lessons. And this trip would not have gone nearly as smoothly had it not been for Nonno Piero and every thing he has done for us - grazie mille. It has been wonderful to see your new home at the convent and a delight to meet Lily's new Nonna Silvana. Can you tell I just dont want to leave? I'm already thinking about what we'll do on our next trip here!

Just before we went to Venice, we had Sunday lunch with Toci and Sergio as we often do. Sergio made Zuppa di Fagioli (bean soup) and I made it myself when we returned from Venice. Its a very easy soup to make and the beans give it such a wonderful rich colour. My recipe was a little different with a few less beans and a few extra vegies for Lily but I thought I would share the recipe as I know it is a soup I will be making again and again.

Zuppa di Fagioli

I used two 400 gram tins of fagioli borlotti (borlotti beans) but Sergio used three. You could use fresh beans but, of course, you'd have to soak them. I strained and washed the beans and put aside half a tin. Then I mushed up the 1 1/2 tins with a fork. To this, I added some chunks of garlic (I used 4 cloves but Sergio used 7 or 8 I think and next time I will probably use 6 - it could have stood a touch more garlic) and lots of parsley - about 3 cups (and of course, it has to be italian parsley - the flat leaf kind). Then I mushed all of this up with the bamix, adding about half a cup of water to mix it. Then I put in some tomato passata (the tall jars of crushed tomato). I used the chunky kind and put in about 1/2 the jar - I think this was a little too much so I'd probably put in about 1/3 next time. Then I added the rest of the beans, 2 cans of water, one sliced carrot and some sliced celery - Lily's favourite vegies at the moment. Sergio tells me you can also add potato. About half way through cooking, I decided it wasnt salty enough so I added a big chunk of grana (parmegiano reggiano) to give it some extra flavour instead of salt. When it was almost done I added some fresh pasta and cooked it for another 10 minutes or so - Sergio tells me that traditionally you put in a kind of pasta that is cut into all different sorts of shapes and sizes - I think its called maltagliati - at least that's what I think I put in. I cooked it for as long as Lily was asleep which was about 1 1/2 hours and then we ate it because we were all too hungry to wait for it to cook any longer. This is what it looked like the next day when I had scandalously watered it down a little to make it go far enough for a second day's lunch (I probably wouldnt do that again either!). Sergio also said that when you eat it, you should break up bread and add it to your bowl - it makes it even thicker but very very tasty.



And so we say arriverderci to our family, to Bologna and to Italy. I hope it will not be too long before we see you all again.






Lily and Martina - her favourite cousin


Of course, the upside of all this is tomorrow we are going to FRANCE!