Mangia! Mangia!

Mangia! Mangia!  As a child, my heart did a somersault whenever I heard my Italian grandmother intone Mangia! Mangia!, usually accompanied by a stream of Italian sweet nothings and the aromas of another delicious meal.  

Several months ago the children and I began talking about our favorite food memories. We discovered that many of us have a fondness for Italian cooking, particularly pasta.  Soon the children were clamoring to make spaghetti and meatballs in the studio.  Weeks passed but I didn't forget.

On February 28th, we celebrated our Italian gustatory infatuations with a delicious day in the studio.  The experience was complete with Italian music, red-checkered tablecloths, flickering-battery powered candles and all the fixings to create your own spaghetti masterpiece. (We called them nests in honor of our ongoing bird studies.)

It was a huge success!

A heartfelt thank you to Caity Barton who generously prepared meatballs for the whole school to enjoy and donated all the fixin's for spaghetti-nest making AND a second helping of gratitude to Nikki who donated an additional batch of gluten-free pasta for those of us with food sensitivities.

GRAZIE!

If you would like to try it at home, Caity shared her meatball recipe with us:

Gluten Free, Pork Free Egg Free Recipe

1/2 pound of ground beef

1/3 cup gluten free bread crumbs

1/3cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon dried Basil

1 teaspoon dried Oregano

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

Traditional Meatballs

1/4 pound ground beef

1/4 pound ground pork

1 egg

1/3 cup bread crumbs with Italian seasoning

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon dried oregano 

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

Bake in a preheated oven at 400 for 20 minutes.
Buon Appetito!