Easter in Stilicone

We got up very early that Sunday morning. It was the first Easter day we had ever spent in our new flat in Via Flavio Stilicone and to celebrate we invited our closest relatives to lunch: my father, Marta’s aunts, her cousins, a number of people too large for the space we had available.

We did the shopping in the days immediately preceding Sunday and from Saturday afternoon Marta began cooking nonstop the various dishes we decided to offer: vegetarian starter, tomatoes with rice, leg of lamb with potatoes for the carnivorous gourmets, tuna salami for those who preferred fish to meat, various types of cheese, stuffed peppers, two savoury pies filled with cheese and vegetables, mushrooms, peas, fresh salad and to finish a very rich dessert, which would have surprised everyone: three large discs of sponge cake soaked in rum, filled with custard and covered with melted chocolate. In short, a very assorted meal, with many colours and flavours, that would have satisfied the eyes and the taste of all our guests.

Marta cooked until late in the night, but could not prepare everything, because not everything could be cooked or prepared in advance. Therefore, we got up very early on Sunday morning. We had to cut the potatoes, cook the leg of lamb and the tomatoes filled with rice, prepare the starter dish, wash the salad, prepare the cheese plate, cut the tuna salami and decorate the slices with gherkins, olives and small tomatoes. We also had to sort out and clean the flat, especially the kitchen where we had to create as much space as possible, both to place the many serving dishes and to be able to move around easily.

As the leg of lamb was very large and would take a long time to cook, the baking tray containing it was the first to go into the oven that morning. We would bring the meat almost to the end of its cooking time and put it back in the oven a little longer just before serving it.

In order to give the leg a good flavour, the night before Marta flavoured it with garlic, oil, rosemary, salt and pepper and left it to rest in the fridge, covering the pan with foil.

On Sunday morning, we put the pan in the oven without the tinfoil to prevent it from steaming. However, without that cover, we had to be careful that the leg did not dry out, as sometimes happens when baking without a lid.

I thought it would be useful to brush the meat with oil from time to time, just like great chefs do. I went to the store room where I had stored a new paintbrush, bought a few days earlier to paint the wicker baskets we were making. Luckily we hadn’t opened it yet, and the tool, although not really meant for use in the kitchen, turned out to be very useful.

I took it out of the plastic wrapping, washed it, and after letting it dry I used it to brush several times the surface of our lamb lag with aromatic oil, until it took on a golden-blonde colour.

Then it was the turn of tomatoes filled with rice. They were very beautiful and in the large baking pan in which they were neatly placed, they really made a great impression.

At a certain point, to check if they were cooked, Marta opened the oven door and pulled the baking tray forward. Perhaps because she had burnt her hand or because the tray was too heavy, the fact is that the pan lost its balance and tipped upside down onto the oven glass.

Oil, rice and tomatoes scattered on the glass and on the floor. Some fell apart, others were saved. The shock and disappointment were great, but we did not lose heart and decided to save what we could. We carefully placed the tomatoes that had survived the fall, back into the tray, recovering a good number of them.

The ones we had to discard ended up in a container at my request. I would have eaten them the next day. After all, our flat was always so clean that eating something that had fallen to the floor was not really a problem.
Marta cleaned the floor and the oven door well and the tomatoes resumed their cooking.

Towards 1 p.m., one by one, our relatives began to arrive and the little space left on the various pieces of furniture was filled with the kind gifts brought by our guests: Easter cakes, wine, pastries, flowers and chocolates.
We ate our fill, no doubt crammed around the one rectangular kitchen table, but no one complained and everyone enjoyed themselves and was satisfied.

The tomatoes filled with rice that arrived on the table were however more than enough. Like everything else, they were excellent and not a single one remained. At the end of the meal Marta told the story of the misadventure and everyone laughed. I don’t know what was so funny, but what had just seemed to be an irredeemable tragedy turned out to be a source of fun and satisfaction.

We had a wonderful Easter day, talking and joking, and in the evening our guests left happy and satisfied, congratulating us on our flat, which was very small but very cosy.

And this fully repaid our efforts to organise a beautiful day and the loss of some tomatoes which were not completely lost because, as I had planned, I ate them in the following days.