Is this a thing? Ordered spaghetti and meatballs and came with an unexpected addition at a local Italian place

by doctrdeath

28 Comments

  1. WithASackOfAlmonds

    ![gif](giphy|pPhyAv5t9V8djyRFJH)

  2. Horror-Zebra-3430

    the way the sauce separates and has the pasta sit in a puddle of lukewarm water is kinda outrageous, ngl

    like that’s not how pasta is served

  3. Mrteamtacticala

    Are you French? Because oof (oeuf)

  4. Repulsive-Bit-5107

    It does have the look of something that’s accidentally managed to roll onto a plate.

  5. insbordnat

    Any place that serves spaghetti with sauce dumped on top like this is total dogshit

  6. DanimalPlays

    From the dry noodles with sauce on top to the egg to the container of mustard in the background… I do not feel like this is an Italian place.

  7. Barbarossa7070

    ![gif](giphy|xjlC6nomocZhVXuZgM|downsized)

  8. bendar1347

    If it wasn’t for the real plate, I would say this is a meal you get in jail.

  9. doesntmeanathing

    Wherever “local” is for you, I think you have to move.

  10. My wife and I honeymooned in Italy, and at one restaurant in Sicily they gave us each a hard boiled egg when we sat down at the table. We were confused and asked what the egg was for, and our server looked at us like we were idiots and said:

    “It’s to eat.”

  11. Downtown_Fisherman27

    Dated a chick whose Italian grandfather made jars of sauce for the family on the regular. Always came with a hard boiled egg. Could be a thing….

  12. funkraider

    When I saw the picture I was hoping it was misshapen burrata but… 🙂‍↔️No.

  13. Healthy_Swimmer5418

    Please tell me that is a ball of buffalo mozz and not an egg

  14. YupNopeWelp

    I asked the Google machine about it. I came up with [this 2022 article on *Delish*](https://www.delish.com/food-news/a41819725/hard-boiled-eggs-in-red-sauce/), in which the writer said it was a family tradition, however her family actually put already hard boiled eggs into their sauce. She didn’t know of other Italian American families who did it (although the piece read like maybe they cut their eggs, because they mentioned the yolk crumbling into the sauce).

    One theory she found was that it was a Great Depression substitute for meat, to add some protein to the meal. The writer’s grandmother offered that it was a substitute for meat on Fridays, but her great aunt just said that they did it because it tasted good.

    Upon advice from an Italian American heritage group, she Googled “uova sode in salsa di pomodoro” (hard-boiled eggs in tomato sauce), and found a lot of hits ([like this one, I imagine](https://migusto.migros.ch/it/ricette/uova-in-salsa-di-pomodoro)). Your egg looks like it never met the sauce until it got plopped on the plate, however.

    Without knowing for sure, I suspect that someone who no longer understood their own family’s tradition tried to continue it, by plopping that egg on there.

    Did you try a bite of the egg with some sauce and pasta? If so, was it any good?

  15. whycantigetwhatiwant

    ![gif](giphy|E0VriXFYLSexVidg22|downsized)

  16. Master_Butter

    A place near me includes an egg with most pasta dishes. The owner says it is a reference to the Great Depression when most families couldn’t serve pasta with meat regularly, so they served it with eggs. No idea how true that is, but it makes sense.

  17. CoppertopTX

    Not enough budget for braciola, but they did have the eggs.

  18. MrBrink10

    ![gif](giphy|xjlC6nomocZhVXuZgM|downsized)

  19. Trekgiant8018

    I put hard boiled eggs slices in my bracioles with the cured meats then braise them in Sunday gravy.

  20. bagofpork

    I posted a red sauce sauce I made in one of the food subs years ago. It had hard boiled eggs, as that’s a really common regional addition here in Western NY. It’s something I had never done before moving here, but I like to try foods the way people in specific regions eat them.

    People **RAGED** about it. They were insulted. They were angry. They quoted the Sopranos a lot.

    They refused to believe that it was a regional thing, as well.

    Like… why would I make that up?

  21. xacesfullx

    No proper Italian restarant serves plain pasta with the sauce dumped on top of it mate. Find another Italian restaurant.

  22. Basic_Two_2279

    They offered you an egg in these trying times.