So Many Dishes

Change happens. Circumstances change. And sometimes that means that traditions change, too. But they don’t need to be left behind completely.

For many years, we belonged to a church that put a strong emphasis on the entire Triduum, the time from the evening of Maundy, or Holy, Thursday, through Good Friday, the Saturday evening Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday services. As a church musician, it was a busy, intense time. In one sense, I miss the challenge of singing the Exsultet, a six-minute long Gregorian chant that I was asked to cantor, but I don’t miss the exhaustion that I would feel by the time we came home from church on Easter.

For me, the highlight of the weekend was dinner on Good Friday, between the two services that day, mostly because we hosted a group of friends for dinner. For more than 20 years, we’d have what seemed to be an ever-growing number of people to a rather unique pasta party.

It started in 1990, the first Easter that we were living here in Wellington. As we were leaving the church to head home to eat between services, we discovered that several people from the music ministry were going to stay at the church and order pizza. Our house was just a five minute drive away, so we invited them to join us for the quick pasta meal we had planned. I don’t think we told them that we were making an artichoke sauce. They accepted the invitation, so Ken dropped me at home to start cooking while he ran to the store for another pound of spaghetti and an extra can of artichoke hearts. The sauce was super simple, but one our kids loved: lots of olive oil, garlic, artichoke hearts, lemon juice, and basil. Somebody brought a loaf of bread, and we had a really enjoyable dinner before heading back to church.

The next year, we talked about how much fun we’d had the previous year, and decided to invite the same friends, plus a couple others, to join us again between the Good Friday services. Suddenly, it became a tradition, with more people joining us each year. I’d make the artichoke sauce, plus some sort of red sauce. A couple friends would bring salads, and others would bring bread. There was always plenty of wine. We’d eat, drink, and laugh until someone finally said, “do you think we need to get back to church?” Then we’d scramble out. For several years, a friend’s husband would stay and clean up. Those were great years, when I’d come home to a clean kitchen!

I know that leaving that church was the right decision for us, but each year, on Good Friday, I recall those memories of friendship, fellowship, and the blessings of a shared meal. Last year, I made the artichoke sauce for the first time in several years. Tonight I made one of the red sauces that made a Good Friday appearance, vermicelli Syracuse style.

This is one of my absolute favorite pasta sauces. It includes eggplant, roasted bell pepper, and anchovies, plus capers and Kalamata olives. There’s some prep involved, since I roast my own pepper, plus I peel and salt the eggplant. But once you start cooking the sauce, it’s easy to put together. There’s enough sauce for one pound of pasta.

Vermicelli Syracuse Style

• 1 medium eggplant
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled and smashed
• 1 28- ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, fire roasted preferred, lightly drained
• 1 bell pepper, roasted, peeled, and sliced
• 1/2 tin flat anchovy fillets, soaked in milk and drained
• 1/3 cup Kalamata olives
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Ground black pepper to taste
• 1 pound vermicelli or thin spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
• Grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Peel and cube eggplant. Place in colander and sprinkle liberally with kosher salt. Let sit for 10 minutes, then rinse, drain, and dry on clean dish towel, patting with towel to dry thoroughly.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and brown. Remove garlic. Add eggplant cubes, then add crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes. Stir, bring to a simmer, cover, and cook 10 minutes.

Add roasted pepper, anchovies, olives, capers, basil, and ground pepper. Stir, cover, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve sauce over cooked pasta, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Serves 4 to 6.

Happy eating!