The "No Carb" Italian diet

If you are Italian, then you know that Italian food is all about carbohydrates. We live, eat and breathe carbs. Everything we make involves some kind of doughy or starchy substance. Pasta, pizza, lasagne, gnocchi, risotto. I can go on forever listing all the carbs we love to eat. If you are fortunate like I am, then you also have an Italian grandmother (well I still have 2) and their cooking is filled with saturated fat, tons of cheese and of course..carbs. Whenever I have those days of wanting to eat less, I know not to go over for lunch to Nonna’s. First of all, it’s “Why are you on a diet? You look like a toothpick, you are going to blow away, I can’t even see you anymore..eat!”) Keep in mind it was 1 month after I gave birth, so you know I had had many extra pounds on my body. My grandmother’s did not see that, they thought I was the best I ever looked. Now you know, when an Italian grandmother tells you that you look beautiful, and says “now you’re good!” that means, (to put it politely...) chubby! In their eyes, you have to have meat on every possible inch of your body, but they are also very confusing, if someone is “too chubby” then they criticize and say it’s because they ate too much sugar and water as babies.
So let’s just say that you attempted to go over while dieting, my grandmother would have the table stocked with foods like, Stuffed eggplants (has breadcrumbs and cheese like crazy), Veal Cutlets (breaded and fried), Stuffed Ravioli (Pasta stuffed with ricotta), fried zucchini (breaded and fried), a huge tomato salad (dressed with half a bottle of olive oil), 3 different kinds of breads, and for desert, Zia Lina’s Panettone (made with 8 eggs and 1 cup of oil)..lol. There is no denying that you are going to eat like a queen, but because you are trying to eat light you pause. My grandmother asks me “what’s wrong? Sit down and eat before it gets cold”, I think, do I tell her there is more fat, cheese and oil on this table to fatten 1000 starving people? Or do I sit down and enjoy this feast? I hesitantly tell my grandmother I am trying to stay away from carbs..lol. OMG, she looks at me with this look like I just told her that the Pope is not really Catholic.lol...and she then she starts..”What do you mean? Shut up, sit down and eat! There are no carbs here, eat the ravioli”, and I say “Nonna, that’s carbs” she says “ok, then eat the Veal”, “Nonna, they are breaded with bread, and then fried”, she responds very madly “ok have some tomatoes with bread that’s diet food”..lol..she just doesn’t get it.
Italians believe that food is life, love and the reason we breathe. They make love to their food when they eat. It is something that must be enjoyed, and shared. Although I agree with the fact that we should love every bite, and I would choose a plate of my grandmother’s home made gnocchi (btw, the G is silent people..lol) than a frozen Lean Cuisine, but reality is, the food is fattening and we cannot eat grandmother food every day. I enjoy cooking “Italian”, but let’s lighten up on the amount of oil we use. Grandmothers are funny, they say, “Olive oil is the best thing you can have” yes it is healthy to have in small amounts, but try to explain to them that 2 cups of oil in every meal is not what nutritionists mean. They always have some statistic that they saw on RAI (Italian TV station) and then they repeat it.. “Do you know that if you have olive oil everyday with 2 glasses of wine, a loaf of bread and 10 baci chocolates, then you will live long like me..lol”..yes Nonna, I know, but everything in moderation. They don’t get the word moderation.
So the next time you feel like you need to lose a couple of pounds, then my advice to you, stay away from Italian grandmothers. They just don’t understand what a “No Carb” diet is..lol.
That’s my peace today!

Pasta e Patate
1/2 pack shell or ditalli pasta
2 potatoes
fresh basil
1 cup cooked sauce
1/2 white onion diced
4 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cups water
salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan, heat, add oil, onions and sautee, add potatoes and chopped basil. Cook for about 7 minutes, stirring constantly to not stick, salt for taste. Add sauce and stir for 1 minute, add water, let boil, add pasta and cook as directed. Potatoes should also be cooked. Add salt and pepper as needed. This should be more of a soup than thick.