Fusilli with Veal and Cream

Friday 22 November

While cooking all day for tomorrow's feast, Holt was rootling in the freezer and found a patty of veal scraps left from butchering our last veal breast, and a bagful of smoked plum tomatoes from who knows when.  So Barbara let him rest a while and made up a recipe on the spur of the moment for dinner. 

First, a pot went on the boil for fusilli.  She minced the veal scraps with a chef's knife and browned them in butter, adding the similarly minced smoked tomatoes and a big splash of tomato paste to break down as soon as the meat lost all its pink.  Then she deglazed with veal stock (again, fruit of the last veal breast) and finally added a big pour of heavy cream.  That simmered down until it was thick and the fusilli were done; they all got tossed in the pan, and topped with grated pecorino romano.

And lo, it tasted as if it were cooked by a nonna in Emilia-Romagna, instead of like something that had been at the back of the freezer for ever.