My Version of Black Pasta

the finished product

Just this afternoon, I finally decided to cook black pasta for snacks.  Since it was already nighttime then, it became my dinner.  ;)

bought in Rome for 8 euros

I admit it wasn't as yummy as the one I tasted in Rome but I'm sure  next time I'll be able to cook it close to perfection.  Here are the ingredients that I used:

olive oil
pasta nero
garlic
onion
squid
chili
squid ink

I wasn't quite impressed with the squid ink.  It was not that tasty.  The original squid ink is still the best.  Next time, I'll put in more squid and add original squid ink and.. what else?  Help me, please!

Cravin' for Nero Pasta

I've been to Italy for a few times already.  And I thought that my sole favorite Italian dish is Frutti de Mare.  That changed when, during our most recent deployment, we dined in a restaurant, which was literally just a few steps away from the place where we used to stay.  It was my first time in that restaurant and my first time to taste nero pasta.  By the way, "nero", in Italian, means black.  It was so yummy that I did not mind being told by a Director that the squid ink painted my lips black.  I thought that she was joking when she further said that I was wearing a Gothic lipstick!

Nonetheless, knowing that I enjoyed my pasta so well, my seatmate gave me a quick cooking lesson on nero pasta dish.  Thanks to her simple recipe, at that moment, I couldn't wait to buy and take home as much nero pasta as I can.  Sad to say, not all grocery stores in Rome have nero pasta on their shelves.  In my recollection, there were only three grocery stores that sell nero pasta, one of which is Conad City (but not all branches!).  And take note, nero pasta is so expensive compared to other pasta noodles!

By the way, frutti de mare and nero pasta are both served with seafoods - shellfish and squid, respectively.  My love for seafoods explains why the aforesaid dishes are my favorites!

I haven't tried cooking nero pasta yet.  It's been almost a month since I received the box containing, among others, my priced nero pasta.  Just looking at the packed noodles brings back memories of how tasty the dish was.  Perhaps this weekend, I will have the privilege to challenge my culinary skills (or incompetence) and hopefully savor what I am craving for right now.  Perhaps this weekend.. ;)

USB

Just last month, my kitchen faucet broke off which prompted me to take a leave from the office and run to Ace Hardware. Since I also wanted to replace my other kitchen faucet, I decided to buy two faucets at a time. :(

Few days ago, I already knew about the promo offered by Ace Hardware for a free USB with a minimum purchase of P3500. Hence, when I found out that my purchases has accumulated to only P3k, I went back to the shelves and looked for something to spend on just to qualify for a free USB. Alas, after 30 minutes of what I thought to be as an endless searching, I finally settled for two food containers.

When it was my turn to redeem the USB, the kikay in me chose the one with a bulky hammer design over that of a simply slim screw driver. In the advent of terabyte memory gadgets, I was still happy going home with a 4GB stuff in my bag as I know it could keep at least 6 movies that I long to watch about. ;)