“Wednesday Is Prince Spaghetti Day” was a commercial that ran nationally for 13 years. This ad became ingrained in the American public’s mind and Wednesday became the day to have spaghetti.
The first generation understood they were influenced by the ad. The next generation only understood this was the day mom made spaghetti and vaguely recalled it was an ad that influenced mom and this current generation just accepts that Wednesday is the day to make spaghetti for dinner they have no idea why.
This became true in my home as well but spaghetti was part of my DNA by the time this commercial was on TV.
I was raised in an Italian neighborhood. Half was Sicilian the other half was Corsican. Sunday dinner of course was Spaghetti and meatballs and that followed Friday which I always thought of as the dueling pizza day. Every Friday the elder women of the neighborhood made pizza. There was always a debate about which style of pizza was better. Corsican pizza which is made with a verity of cheeses including Ricotta and has sweet onions on it. It is almost like a tart rather than a pizza. Shhhh don’t tell anyone I said that! Meanwhile the Sicilian pizza is more of what everyone is use to eating. It does have a thin crust and the toppings are standard.
Personally I liked a combination of both and my family never chose which one they thought was the best we just enjoyed the treat of both kinds of pizza.
When one of the dueling pizza families would bring us pizza we would say wow this is the best and when the next dueling pizza family brought us their version we would say the same thing. Needless to say we were always well fed on Friday! My favorite today? Sicilian with all veggies and white pizza with Ricotta. I guess I never really chose did I?
Back to Wednesday being the day for spaghetti. I guess it still is in my book.
If I am in the mood I make my own sauce. It’s always Marinara sauce with anchovy paste ok you don’t like anchovies (personally I love them but then again that’s me) but have an open mind. It’s not the salty little fish it’s a paste it only adds a yummy flavor that blends with everything else and makes your sauce special! I start with cooking onions and garlic in olive oil then add tomato paste and fresh or canned tomatoes and yes anchovy paste.The spices include oregano fennel bay leaf salt and pepper. I always add wine and cook about three hours until it’s done. While the sauce is cooking I make the meatballs well to be honest I buy the meatballs since I don’t like them but I do cook fresh sweet Italian sausage and pork to add to the sauce later.
Does this seem like too much work? OK I will let you in on a little secrete. There are some great sauces out there. One is Ragu original. Did I say Ragu? Yes I did. I doctor it up with wine and bay it already had the fennel and oregano in it. If I have the anchovy paste I add that too and cook it for a few extra minutes to make it taste homemade.
The other sauce and my favorite is Franco Rinaldi. I can eat this sauce as is but usually I add fennel and wine. Cook for a few minutes and it also tastes homemade.
The spaghetti. I prefer is homemade( it was the first thing I was taught to make by my neighbor and my mom always asked me to make even many years later and at times I still do make it just for me) but its time consuming and you have spaghetti laying all over the house drying! If I by the already made spaghetti I like No Yokes spaghetti. It is not as starchy also of course Prince Spaghetti. But use the brand you like.
I always serve a toss salad with my spaghetti dinner if I am being traditional.
The other spaghetti dinner I love is (throw back to being Catholic and not eating meat on Friday) is marinara sauce over spaghetti served with a side of fish.
I got into eating this when I lived in Rochester and every Friday my family went to Ricci's Family Restaurant 3166 Latta Rd in Greece NY. But this is strictly a Friday dish as far as I am concerned so let’s get back to Wednesday.
This week I am going to have spaghetti with meat balls and sausage. I already have an antipasto salad in the refrigerator from last night (my friend made it for dinner for us). That will save me time and money.
.Sometimes it feels good to go back to family traditions. It’s like going home again at least to me it seems that way.
If you chose to join me in the traditional Wednesday Spaghetti day I hope you enjoy your own Prince Spaghetti Day like I will!
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