Strozzapreti

Eastside Road, June 13, 2010—

WENT INTO THE STORE to buy some milk, noticed some organic Roma tomatoes, bought three of them as well. I had pasta on my mind.

I set a package of Rustichella d'Abruzzo's strozzapreti* to boiling in salted water, then halved the tomatoes crosswise, squeezed the seeds and juice into a strainer, chopped the tomatoes, chopped a clove of garlic and some marjoram from the garden.

When the pasta was done, in about twelve minutes — the weeks in Sicily taught us to undercook our pasta — I drained it in the colander, returned it to the pot, threw in the tomatoes, garlic, and marjoram, added a spoonful-sized plug of cream from the top of yesterday's bottle of milk, and messed it forth, grating some Parmesan on top and grinding on some black pepper.

Green salad.

Rhone-style blend, "Madam Preston," Preston of Dry Creek

*Strozzapreti: "priest-stranglers." Just about my favorite pasta shape, because the relatively thick pasta retains density after being cooked, and its pockets carry the sauce well.