An adaptation of a traditional Neopolitan stuffed peppers recipe, juicy tomatoes overflow with a comforting aubergine, olive and anchovy filling
Usually our lesson took place in the living room, at a big teak table with a felt cover, under a wall of books, many of which appeared to be legal. But every few weeks, when my Italian teacher’s husband was working at home (consulting the books, I hoped), we had our lesson in the kitchen. It was not a big room, with fitted units on all four sides, and brown-and-orange tiles on both walls and floor, making it seem even smaller than it was. Nevertheless, it managed to fit a square table with a Formica top, two chairs and two stools. And that is where we’d sit and go through verbs or read simplified newspaper articles about unsolved murders.
If I hadn’t liked my teacher so much, I might have found that room claustrophobic. But I did like her, as well as the verbs and the murders and the tiles, so I loved being in her brown kitchen. She would always make us tea, which, when we were in the living room, meant she disappeared. Sitting at my teacher’s kitchen table, however, I could watch as she boiled the water in a pan, and used a step stool to reach the teapot and bone china cups. She took milk in her tea, a habit she had picked up when she lived in Bradford as a young woman, she told me, along with a fondness for malted milk biscuits.
Discover Rachel’s recipes and many more from your favourite cooks in the new Guardian Feast app, with smart features to make everyday cooking easier and more fun
Continue reading… An adaptation of a traditional Neopolitan stuffed peppers recipe, juicy tomatoes overflow with a comforting aubergine, olive and anchovy fillingUsually our lesson took place in the living room, at a big teak table with a felt cover, under a wall of books, many of which appeared to be legal. But every few weeks, when my Italian teacher’s husband was working at home (consulting the books, I hoped), we had our lesson in the kitchen. It was not a big room, with fitted units on all four sides, and brown-and-orange tiles on both walls and floor, making it seem even smaller than it was. Nevertheless, it managed to fit a square table with a Formica top, two chairs and two stools. And that is where we’d sit and go through verbs or read simplified newspaper articles about unsolved murders.If I hadn’t liked my teacher so much, I might have found that room claustrophobic. But I did like her, as well as the verbs and the murders and the tiles, so I loved being in her brown kitchen. She would always make us tea, which, when we were in the living room, meant she disappeared. Sitting at my teacher’s kitchen table, however, I could watch as she boiled the water in a pan, and used a step stool to reach the teapot and bone china cups. She took milk in her tea, a habit she had picked up when she lived in Bradford as a young woman, she told me, along with a fondness for malted milk biscuits.Discover Rachel’s recipes and many more from your favourite cooks in the new Guardian Feast app, with smart features to make everyday cooking easier and more fun Continue reading… Food, Italian food and drink, Main course, Bread, Vegetables, Tomatoes
