Gourmet Dinner for Two

Coming home on the train last night I was imagining what I was going to cook for dinner. I decided on roast tomatoes and cous cous. I could taste the light and fluffy yellow cous cous, prepared in vegetable stock, mixed in with peas, carrots, capsicum, and creamy fetta. Once home I sliced two tomatoes, drizzled them in the dark balsamic and light olive oil, and liberally sprinkled the juicy red half-moons with salt and pepper. Next step, to the cupboard to claim the cous cous. But when I got there, the cupboard was bare. Well, not quite bare, but bare of cous cous. The sadness! 


Luckily for me, my wistful taste buds and I have spent the last week reading Frances Mayes' mouthwatering memoir “Under the Tuscan Sun.” Oh how I wish we could all jet off to Tuscany every summer to restore an ancient farm house and fill it with ingredients picked up from the local town or back(vine)yard! Even as a vegetarian, Maye’s descriptions of chickens roasted with 40 cloves of garlic (40!!!!) and endless variations of bruschette, and hazelnut ice cream have made me a salivating wreck on Sydney’s buses and trains after work. 


So, with Frances Mayse and her Tuscan kitchen on my mind, I turned to the classic staple, pasta. I roasted the tomatoes, along with some diced potatoes, garlic, and onion until they were all sweet and soft. Along with a generous helping of kalamata olives, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkling of oregano, I tossed them through a batch of pasta. Mmm hmm! And there’s still enough left to take for lunch this week. Ah, heaven. Thank you Frances Mayes!