September 14, 2005

What, no fucking ziti now?

One of my very favorite Sopranos quotes. It came to mind this morning as I was preparing Average Jane’s recipe for Baked Ziti . I am going to visit a friend who just had a baby and this was the perfect dish to take. This dish has saved my ass so many times! Why? Well, sometimes it is difficult to know what to cook for Americans - I am most comfortable making Indian food, but many Americans find Indian food to be too funky or too spicy. Conversely, when we have Indians over for dinner, I feel silly making THEM Indian food - you like to treat your guests to something different than they can cook themselves, right? Therefore, this ziti has been the perfect solution. Furthermore, this recipe can easily be tailored to your guest's individual tastes - spicy vs. non-spicy, vegetarian vs. "food-with-a-face". It just so happens that my friend is BOTH Indian and American (she was born here, but her parents are from India), and she loves spicy AND meat, so this batch of ziti was particularly fun. I got to throw in lots of red pepper and turkey sausage which makes it so yummy that you want to marry the damned thing. Finally, there is something about taking a huge pan of steaming ziti out of the oven that screams to your guests "Welcome! Have a seat and dig in!"

Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing my friend - she has a very positive, relaxed attitude towards the whole baby thing. Also, I know I won't be subjected to any miserable labor stories, thank god.

Have a good Wednesday!

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