Today Katie made us take the Enneagram test to see what type of person we are. I’ve taken Myers-Briggs type indicator tests loads of times before (I’m always ENFP) but it’s the first time I’ve done this one.

Apparently, I’m The Romantic (the Four). According to the site, that means…

Romantics have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.

How to Get Along with Me

* Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
* Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
* Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
* Though I don’t always want to be cheered up when I’m feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
* Don’t tell me I’m too sensitive or that I’m overreacting!

What I Like About Being a Four

* my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
* my ability to establish warm connections with people
* admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
* my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
* being unique and being seen as unique by others
* having aesthetic sensibilities
* being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me

What’s Hard About Being a Four

* experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
* feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don’t deserve to be loved
* feeling guilty when I disappoint people
* feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
* expecting too much from myself and life
* fearing being abandoned
* obsessing over resentments
* longing for what I don’t have

Fours as Children Often

* have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
* are very sensitive
* feel that they don’t fit in
* believe they are missing something that other people have
* attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
* become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
* feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents’ divorce)

Fours as Parents

* help their children become who they really are
* support their children’s creativity and originality
* are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
* are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
* are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

This recipe is foolproof. If people don’t like it, they are either vegetarian or stupid. Obviously this is not suitable for anyone on a diet, as – if you make it the way I do – it contains the calorific equivalent of an entire week on Weight Watchers. Ish.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

400g pasta shells
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 – 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
Large jar of passata or cheap tomato pasta sauce
Half a large pack bacon offcuts cut down to tiny pancetta size chunks
Generous handful of actual Pancetta (optional)
Tub of full-fat mascarpone cheese (half fat is for wimps)
Mixed herbs
Oregano
Black pepper
Olive oil

Method:

1. Heat 1bsp of olive oil in a pan and when hot add the chopped onion and crushed garlic and a generous sprinkling mixed herbs. Fry until softened.
2. Add in the bacon and (optional) pancetta. Cook gently until the juices are running out into the pan.
3. Add the entire jar of pasta sauce to the mixture and bring to a simmer.
4. In a large saucepan, cook the pasta according to the instructions.
5. While pasta is cooking, keep gently stirring the sauce, allowing it to thicken. Add herbs, pepper and oregano to taste.
6. When pasta is cooked, take off the heat and drain.
7. Just before serving, reduce heat on sauce and stir in Mascarpone cheese one tbsp at a time, allowing it to melt into the saice. Add as much as you like to taste – approx 5 tbsp should be plenty. The sauce should be thick and creamy, with big chunks of bacon and onion.
8. Serve one of two ways – either stir the sauce through pasta first, or spoon it on top and allow people to mix themselves.

Enjoy!