Feels Like Home

I suffer from Sunday night blues. There’s nothing more depressing than the end of a weekend – especially a beautiful summer weekend. Sometimes the blues start the moment I wake up on Sunday morning, when I realize there are only 12 more usable hours of the weekend left (six, depending on how late I’ve been out the night before). Luckily, there are several remedies for the end of the weekend blues. I can’t avoid Monday morning, but I find brunches, walks, yoga and movies to be highly curative pastimes. You know what else is? A great dinner. If you’re like me, Sunday night dinners remind you of big family meals, when everybody gets together. Sunday night dinners are fun and easy, as if you’re telling the weekend, “We ain’t through yet.” There are no rules to the Sunday night dinner, but I’d like to institute one guideline: the food should complement the company, not the other way around. In other words, it should not be a stressful activity for the cook.



Sunday night dinners have always been my dad’s thing. He plans them for days, and gets to the supermarket as soon as it opens Sunday morning. He’ll usually make something simple, like steak with spinach and baked potatoes, or barbecued chicken with fresh corn. My dad cooked Sunday night dinners for as long as I can remember. When I was in elementary school, his weeknight dinners usually consisted of peanut butter and Ritz crackers, with a Mallomar cookie for dessert. Dad got home long after we had eaten dinner and gotten ready for bed (though we always waited up for him). I think his initial love of the Sunday night meal came from that day being the one day during the week when it was guaranteed we’d eat dinner as a family. And now that he has plenty of time to cook, I still know how much he savors a meal with all of us. What I love even more than my dad’s cooking is that he knows who he’s cooking for. My mom, brothers and I never needed anything fussy. We were just happy to have our dad at the table. But at the same time, his food was – and is – consistently great. It’s perfect in its simplicity, flavorful but never overpowering. Full of life but not overbearing, just like him.



And that’s what I love about this dish. It’s the kind of dinner you’d want to have on a Sunday night, and in fact I’ve only ever made it on that day of the week. It’s true comfort food: hearty, warm and delicious. Maybe that’s just my mentality about pasta in general, but something about this dish keeps me coming back for more. Served with a good glass of wine and some nice company (be it a boyfriend, a best friend or anyone you love) it just makes Monday more bearable. No matter how far away you are from your family, this dinner feels like home.



Cavatelli with Spicy Sausage and Broccoli Rabe
Adapted from French Women Don’t Get Fat

Ingredients
1 box Cavatelli or other small pasta, such as Orecchiete
1/2 lb spicy sausage, removed from casings
1 lb broccoli rabe (be sure to trim the edges generously)
2 Tbs olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 to 2 C tomato sauce
1/3 C Pecorino Romano Cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste
Sprinkling of red pepper flakes
Chopped fresh parsley

Fill a large pot with water, and salt generously. Bring to a boil and cook pasta (about 8 minutes). Add broccoli rabe to cooking pasta and let everything boil for another three minutes. Drain, and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet and add onions and garlic. Simmer until the onions and garlic are softened and browned, about five minutes. Add sausage, and, breaking into bits with a wooden spoon, cook completely – about five to eight minutes. When sausage is cooked, add the pasta and broccoli rabe to the skillet. Stir to combine (you really want the pasta to soak up all the pan juices). Add tomato sauce and heat through, about 2-4 minutes. Garnish with the cheese, red pepper flakes and Parsley, and serve.

This meal feeds about 4 people, but Dave and I love making it for just the two of us and saving the leftovers. I reheated it last night and added some fresh chopped tomatoes and a bit of Feta cheese.