Many of my favorite dishes are the ones that have the ability to transport. You inhale, take a bite, and suddenly you’re not sitting at your kitchen table anymore, you’re off exploring the world or being whisked back a couple of decades and remembering a dinner you ate half a lifetime ago.
This soup is one of those dishes; it’s a soup that transports. As soon as it started to simmer, I breathed in, and thought, “ahhh…Italy”. While it’s not a replica of any dish I’ve eaten on Italian soil, the smell of squid and artichokes bubbling away in white wine and too much/just the right amount of olive oil smelled so unmistakably Italian. Immediately, I was flung from my dreary Minnesota kitchen, into the warm Mediterranean sun.
Growing up, my mother would religiously (pun somewhat intended) boil off a dozen eggs every year on Good Friday. We’d color them, put them in our Easter baskets, and come Monday morning, toss them all in the trash. Well, not quite all–I’d usually work up the courage to try one, gag, and vow to never subject myself to another and one of my brothers would inevitably hide a couple in my closet to be discovered later in the week.
I’ve been really into brunch the past few weeks. Life has felt a bit frantic lately and carving out time for a leisurely morning meal on the weekends is a good way to make the day at least feel like it’s stretched out in front of you, even if the minute your plate is empty you’ve got to run off and go about other business.
Twice last week I had the good fortune of running across a recipe that I couldn’t wait to try and, more remarkably, I actually had all of the necessary ingredients for each recipe on hand and ready to roll. My luck continued from there, as both recipes turned out every bit as good as I had hoped and will undoubtedly work their way into my repertoire.