Piero, the Cook

Chef Piero aka dance instructor decided to show his hidden talent and made Marinara Sauce. He did acknowledge that this was his nonna's recipe.  The dinner after our Italian class was a team effort. Piero not only made the marinara sauce but since he wanted to add variety, he made a very simple butter and cheese sauce.

Sandi made her special salad with everything in it except the kitchen sink. I cooked the pasta on the trusty pasta boat and also made the dessert which was a Rum Cake.

We could hardly wait till dinner. We almost wanted to cancel the Italian class and just go for the dinner. The salad was great as usual except for something which I thought was a red bell pepper. I had a big piece. At first it was a bit tart then all of a sudden it's like a volcano erupted in my mouth. Strange noises came out of me, like I was Linda Blair in the movie Exorcist. Both Sandi and Piero looked at me and thought I was exaggerating. Had a sip of wine which didn't do anything so I grabbed Sandi's ice water and started drinking. When I was able to talk, I told them something was very hot & spicy. Piero, who loves peppers and can tolerate "hot" tried it and even he thought it was too hot. Sandi then didn't want any but we insisted she try it; after all she served them to us! She had a tiny bite and couldn't believe how spicy it was. The rectangular red object on the right lower corner of the picture above was the hot pepper.

Both pasta dishes were very good and they complemented each other. The little bit of tartness of the marinara was enjoyed even more after a bite of the buttery shells that literally swam in butter (good butter). Both pastas were blessed with lots of Parmesan cheese which made us deliriously happy people.

My rum cake was perfect according to Sandi. Piero and I thought it could have used more rum! It was supposed to be served with whipped cream. Sandi had another idea. She served some salted caramel truffle gelato. In order not to hurt her feelings, I had a small serving on the side.

This was not a very healthy dinner to say the least but at least we had a salad. I was hoping that the spicy pepper I ingested not only burned my esophagus but hopefully some fat along the way.