So I decided to try another recipe from one of the Sicilian cookbooks - pasta with sausage and pistachios. My test subjects shadowdaddy and wechsler pronounced it "gorgeous," or at least that might have been what they said around the general gobbling (I'll assume the fact shadowdaddy biked into work and back didn't influence that much, though I think it is why he scraped out what was left from the bowl). J said it really seemed to want to be eaten at an outdoor cafe with a view of the Mediterranean, but, well ... at least it's warm enough outside that I could open the windows this afternoon.

Anyway, for those interested (it's really easy!):

Pasta with sausage and pistachios recipe

400 g pasta (enough for 3 or 4 - I used medium shells)
400 g sausage (I used about six Italian sausages for three people )
1 onion, finely chopped
60 g of pistachios (I'm afraid I didn't measure this either, I just added a bunch - probably a quarter cup)
a "packet" of cooking cream (I'm not sure how one puts cream in a packet, but I think what I used was about half a cup)

Cook the onion with a little water, then add the sausage (chopped) and brown them up. When they're done, add the pistachio (crushed). Boil the pasta until cooked, drain it, then add it into a tureen (I used the bowl I bought with spikeylady in Madrid - good memories!) with the cream and sausage/nut mix. Serve hot. (Note: I think you don't want this too wet, so add about the right amount of cream to kind of lubricate the noodles but not leave puddles in the bowl. I also suggest putting some nuts on top to make it look pretty.)

This is right next to a recipe for a pasta with courgette "sauce" that's right tasty, and is followed by four pages of rabbit recipes. I've got to say, bringing back home cookbooks was really the best idea ever.

Tonight (what's left of it): pack for Barcelona, and drink cider. :-)