Appetizing Muse

Last Saturday I was watching 30-Minute Meals with Rachael Ray, and was intrigued by her combination of recipes:

• Spaghetti all' Elsa

• Roasted Sausages, Peppers, & Onions & Cheesy Bread with Black Pepper

Both recipes are from Rachael's Mum, Elsa Scuderi.

Spaghetti is my mother's favorite dish in the world. When I was a kid and my Dad went out of town on business, Mum would make a big batch of spaghetti with a huge bay leaf that would last for days. We would literally eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and somehow or other I always ended up with the damned bay leaf on my plate.

As I grew older, I turned from the dish gradually and then again during my second marriage to an Italian whose mother made one of the worst tomato sauces I've ever had the misfortune to sample. Every time we went to dinner at her house, the same slop would appear on the dining table. It wouldn't have been so bad if she put the sauce and pasta in separate bowls so people could build their own plate, but she dumped the two together making it one unappetizing mess. The flavor of her sauce was unimpressive as well. I'm surprised I wasn't put off by pasta and tomato sauce for life after that ten-year sojourn into culinary mediocrity.

However, in recent years I have found my taste for spaghetti, lasagna, et al returning. I like variations of the dish, but I prefer Italian-sausage-based sauces. Rachael Ray's dish didn't actually have sausage in the sauce (it was baked separately), but if I were to make the dish I would add the meat to the sauce. I also like to include sliced mushrooms and black olives for extra texture and taste.