Holidays of Long Ago, a Mortar & Pestle and a Simple Pasta Sauce

Years ago, when I was much younger, I'd just finished university and went on the obligatory backpacking trip with my best friend and then we lived in London. Just before we went back to London to get jobs, and find a flat, our summer through Europe ended with a couple of weeks in Italy. We were making our way down to Rome and stopped in a small hill town in Tuscany called San Gimignano.

My savings had almost run out but, somehow, I found some spare money to buy myself a mortar and pestle! I did. I remember having delicious Tuscan bread (no cheese, just bread) and a bottle of water for my lunch so that was probably how! I was in my early twenties and so I would say a mortar and pestle was not the top of the list for most people my age but I was already slightly obsessed with cooking and food. Thank God it was the end of the trip because even though it was small it was bloody heavy. So I constantly moved it around in my backpack as I traipsed around from hostel to hostel. I cursed the purchase but all these years later I wouldn't be without it.

We settled in London, found a tiny flat … and then the first meal I cooked I used my new mortar and pestle to crush the garlic for green beans and potatoes and roasted peppers. We were in bliss!

Here are some pics from that time and a cookbook I bought in a tiny bookshop just off Covent Garden.

I often use the mortar and pestle to crush garlic rather than the microplane and all these years later I still make tomato sauce for pasta every couple of weeks. I don't use a recipe, just oil, an onion, garlic and a couple of tins of tomatoes (depending on how many I am feeding) and then my trick is to cook it for a long time on a low heat. Have you ever made this iconic recipe for tomato sauce from Marcella Hazan?

I love a sauce made in summer with fresh tomatoes; then I make a huge pot. But I find you need to stir more often because for some reason fresh tomatoes tend to catch more readily than those from a tin. When I make a fresh tomato sauce it reminds me of a dish my mum used to make which would have reminded her of home. I only realised this on that holiday because my aunt made me a similar dish. 

At times, depending on how busy life is, I have been known to grow my own tomatoes. Actually, honestly, they just take care of themselves. Just remember to water them nearly every day, and definitely plant borage and marigold plants amongst the tomato plants, and you are set. This is a haul from a few summers ago.

My mortar and pestle sits on my kitchen bench. Over the years I have bought every kitchen gadget under the sun, but my mortar and pestle is the one thing that has never ever been put away in a cupboard. It takes me back to being a young woman, happy adventures and memories of people and meals that I have made over the years. It's just a kitchen utensil but I love that little lump of green Italian marble because it is so much more to me.

Make some pasta for those you love. They will love you for it. And next time you’re on a holiday buy something unexpected. I did.