"Italians have a little joke, that the world is so hard a man must have two fathers to look after him, and that's why they have godfathers" - Mario Puzo, 'The Godfather'.

Father's Day is celebrated on 19th March in Italy on the feast of San Giuseppe or Saint Joseph, regarded in the Catholic church as the father of Jesus, he's the Daddy! It's also a public holiday and can fall on any day of the week.

Happy Father's Day to all our fathers, father figures and sons who will one day be fathers themselves....cheers x

Tis the season for aubergines if you live in the Mediterranean or have access to a shop – so that happily covers us all. Maura, having spent years living in Naples, makes proper Neapolitan melanzane alla parmigiana. It strikes me that although (capital letters/shouty-out) delicious, it’s not the best dish to make at this time of year (if you live in Naples or equivalent climate) as it involves standing in a boiling hot kitchen frying a lot of aubergines for a long time and getting very hot and bothered (sweaty even). Instead  you could be on a cool terrace sipping something delightfully chilled like my current fave Fiano in keeping with the dish geographically but only eating olives (the downside). It is a labour-intensive dish that is well worth the effort especially for us in our cool northern kitchens and it will instantly transport you to the beautiful Neapolitan coast.
Here is Maura’s recipe and her advice is to be generous with your ingredients (as with everything else in life!). Sofia would approve.