After the malaria lecture on Thursday evening, Jane and I decided to eat out and ended up at the branch of Carluccio’s on Little Clarendon Street in Oxford. We had some pasta dishes and then biscuits and coffee for dessert. Simple but well-executed and so now I’m inspired to have an Italian week at home. Jamie Oliver was one of Carluccio’s proteges and I’ve got Oliver’s Italian cookbook so that will give me a decent guide.

Last night we had spaghetti tetrazzini, which is a grand sounding name for a chicken, mushroom and pasta bake. Due to the available ingredients, I had to do a certain amount of improvisation (eg. pasta spiral instead of spaghetti, boiling chopped button mushrooms and onion skins rather than rehydrating dried porcini mushrooms to get a cooking liquor, fresh sage rather than fresh basil) but I think the result had an authentic spirit which probably wins out over slavish accuracy. At very least, it was delicious and I’d gladly cook it again!

I have some more ingredients due to be delivered this weekend and I am looking forward to a bella week!