penna rigata, garlic, chili, tomato, husk cherry, lovage, basil

Looks a bit like a corne copia, or in this case, a patera copia, but it was definitely, in the language closest to the vulgate that succeeded classical Latin, una deliziosa scodella di abbondanza.

It is very Italian, but it was conceived on 23rd Street.

  • eight and a half ounces of al dente Afeltra 100% Grana Italiano Penna di Rigata [sic] from Naples, via Eataly Flatiron, with a sauce which began with a little olive oil heated inside a large antique high-sided thick-walled copper pot in which 2 cloves of Keith’s Farm rocambole garlic were slowly cooked until they were beginning to color and soften, accompanied during that time by one whole peperoncino Calabresi secchia from Buon Italia, after which 2 small fresh habanada peppers from Alewife farm were added and briefly heated before the pasta itself was introduced into the pot, along with some reserved pasta water, everything stirred until the liquid had emulsified, and then a half dozen small halved Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio (yeah, they grow all over Mount Vesuvius) from Norwich Meadows Farm were slipped into the pot and moved about, seasoned with Maldon salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste, mixed with chopped lovage from Quarton Farm and a small amount of torn basil handed to me by Franca of Berried Treasures Farm, the pasta arranged in shallow bowls, topped with what Oak Grove Plantation’s Union Square Greenmarket stall labelled ‘Ground Husk Cherry Tomatoes’ (the fruits of this species of physalis, of the nightshade family, are also known as husk cherries, groundcherries, Cape gooseberries, just for starters), and drizzled with olive oil around the edges
  • the wine was an Italian (Tuscany/ Bolgheri) white, Antinori Vermentino 2016, from Garnet Wines
  • the music was the album, ‘L’immagine di Corelli’, featuring Arcangelo Corelli’s six violin sonatas from his opus 5 (published January 1, 1700), performed by Susanne Scholz on violin, and Michael Hell on harpsichord