One of the many things I love about being back home is going to the local supermarket for the grocery.
There you will find a mind-blowingly vast array of all those Italian goods that we expats dream of when we are away from our home land.
Everything is there on offer, and nothing is extravagant or fashionable.
They are the everyday Italian staples that we pay a fortune for in Sydney when we buy then at selected and trendy delis in town.
Yesterday I bought 4 Ciabatta loaves for 1.77 Euros! It would have set me back 10/15 dollars back in Sydney, to say the least.
I also bought a large tray of zucchini flowers for 1.65 Euros and a large amount of fresh, delectable and already cleaned baby squid, for around 4 Euros. Why don’t I live here anymore?…
Oh, The Berlusconi Factor, of course…Anyway, back to lovelier thoughts…
Chop up two large spring onions, 1 small garlic clove, the tender bits of a small handful of parsley stalks and pan fry them in a few tablespoons of EVOO. After a few minutes, add two handfuls of chopped up cherry tomatoes and 5 sliced up zucchini flowers and your baby squid. Cook together for two to three minutes, then add half a glass of dry white wine and keep on high flame until the alcohol has evaporated. Turn the heat off, taste for salt and adjust accordingly.
You want to make sure you don’t overcook your squid or it will turn rubbery and horrible. A few minutes should do the trick.
In the meantime, drop 500 gr of Paccheri in a large pot of salted boiling water and cook for about 8 to 9 minutes. Then drop them in the tomato and squid sauce along with some acqua di cottura (pasta cooking water) and cook together for a few minutes. Sprinkle with coarsely chopped parsley leaves and serve immediately.
Silvia Colloca 
What a gorgeous recipe. I normally stuff my squids and need to do more with them. I normally make my own bread and when our tomatoes came in in the middle of a week my wife went to the bakery for Ciabatta, since I didn’t have time to do a starter. $5! I don’t think we pay Australian prices, but I do envy the markets you see in Italy and other European cities.