For recipe see Italy Revisited/Recipes/"Italian Pasta Dishes"

Dry two loaves of Italian country bread (takes about two to three days; bread shouldn't be overly dry). Remove crust if desired, and then grate, but not to thinly, rather, use the larger holes. Alternatively, buy and use unseasoned bread crumbs.

Heat up vegetable oil (in Italy olive oil was used for this recipe, but my mother always used vegetable oil after she arrived in Canada, preferring it to olive oil).

Heat vegetable oil, using a glove of garlic to indicate how hot it is; once the glove is burned remove it, and add honey. Lower temperature.

Stir oil and honey for awhile (about 5 minutes -- of course, my mother does it for 10 to 15, but I don't believe it's necessary).

Reduce temperature; add raisins, finely chopped

parsley and salt, stir for a minute or so; turn heat off.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions and drain.

In a large bowl toss the spaghetti with half a cup of the prepared sauce.

Fill a plate with the tossed spaghetti and add more tossing.

This dish can be served warm or cold; in Italy, it was often served cold, and eaten with one's hands.

My maternal grandmother was a devotee of Saint Joseph (She believed the Saint himself once saved her life). So, this recipe is rather special to me. Even though Maccherone San Giuseppe is not a dessert, it's a main meal, still, there is honey in it, so the dish is rather sweet. In Italy olive oil was used for this recipe, but my mother prefers vegetable oil for this dish, and that's how it was always done at her house, and that's how I do it. At my mother's house this dish was only done for St. Joseph's feast day. However, my Zia Rosina tells me, that in other households in our home-town, this dish was actually served three times a year: on the Feast Day of Saint Joseph, on Christmas Eve, and on Holy Friday. Recipe photo was taken by the contributor.

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