spaghetti_anchovy_chili_parsley

This is another example of the stock Italian guy’s ‘midnight pasta’, or spaghettata di mezzanotte, but I’m thinking more and more that it’s not just a dude thing, and not even just an Italian thing. Everyone needs a go-to, at-home dinner concept, and this is a pretty good one.

This is one version, published by the Times in its ‘NYT Cooking Recipe Box’.

My description is directly below; it’s what I served the two of us last night at my own dude’s suggestion.

  • approximately 10 ounces of Setaro spaghetti chitarra from Buon Italia boiled, but only until pretty firmly al dente, then tossed with a sauce made of 4 plump rocambole garlic cloves from Keith's Farm, roughly chopped, cooked in about a third of a cup of olive oil over low-medium heat until softened and beginning to brown, before adding to the pan 3 salted anchovies, well-rinsed, and mashing them with a wooden spoon, plus half of one dried Itria-Sirissi chili (peperoncino di Sardegna intero) from Buon Italia, several tablespoons of chopped parsley from Paffenroth Farms, and a little of the pasta water, all simmered for a few minutes while the sauce was slightly reduced, the entire mix distributed in bowls and sprinkled with another few tablespoons of parsley
  • the wine was an Italian (Veneto) white, Boirá Veneto IGT Pinot Grigio 2014 from Flat Iron Wines & Spirits
  • the music was several pieces by Bruno Maderna, beginning with the magnificent 'Concerto per due pianoforti e strumenti' (1947–48)