(photo: ingredients for our mafalde fish pasta include wild or standard dandelion greens, garlic, onion, salmon, and grouper)
When I speak to my mother on the phone each night (yes, don't snicker there's no way around avoiding your Italian mother) she inevitably asks me, "so, what did you make for dinner?" And while I often answer back with a southern Italian classic such as roasted eggplant and pasta XXX, there are nights when I mention an improvised dish inspired by what was available at the market.
When I speak to my mother on the phone each night (yes, don't snicker there's no way around avoiding your Italian mother) she inevitably asks me, "so, what did you make for dinner?" And while I often answer back with a southern Italian classic such as roasted eggplant and pasta XXX, there are nights when I mention an improvised dish inspired by what was available at the market.
The other night I responded to my mother's question by stating that I cooked mafalde (a wide flat pasta shape with ruffled edges and shape #77 in the Scordo Pasta Challenge) with wild dandelion greens, onion, garlic, cubed salmon and black grouper, and extra virgin olive oil. My mother's response went something like this, "ah, typical Vinny dish" meaning while I respect classic dishes I often improvise with weekday meals where I'm driven by 1., what's available at the market and in our pantry and 2., time!













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