The pasta incorporated water buffalo milk, and the wine that accompanied it was from the part of Italy associated most closely with bufala, the Maremma region of Tuscany.

Okay, maybe that’s not really relevant or important, but we like to think about these things, and both pasta and wine were delcious.

The recipe I used was inspired by the one on this site, but I shifted things around a bit.

• one ‘yellow shallot’ from Norwich Meadows Farm and one section of a scallion from Phillips Farms, both sliced, heated inside a large antique  high-sided copper pot until softened, a pinch of a crumbled lighter-orange-colored dried habanada pepper purchased fresh from Norwich Meadows Farm added, the heat turned up high and 3 ounces of chopped oyster mushrooms from the Bulich Mushroom Company stall in the Union Square Greenmarket tossed in and stirred for 3 to 5 minutes or so, or until their moisture had evaporated or been added to the pan (this time I had to add a little butter to keep the alliums from burning, half of a one-pound package of New York pasta, Sfoglini‘s spaccatelli (local organic durum semolina and organic hard red wheat flour, Riverine Ranch water buffalo milk, local water), from the buffalo farmers’ stall in the Union Square Greenmarket, cooked until barely al dente (6 minutes on this night), added to the pot along with most of a cup reserved pasta water and at least a third of a cup of grated 24-month-old Parmigiano Reggiano from the Chelsea  Whole Foods Market, the mix stirred for a couple of minutes over a medium-high flame until the liquid had thickened into a saucy glaze that coated the pasta, a small handful of Gaeta olives form Buon Italia and 8 or so fresh sage leaves from whole Foods added near the end, the pasta arranged in shallow bowls, some good Trader Joe’s Italian Reserve extra virgin olive oil drizzled around the edges, the pasta garnished with some micro purple radish from Windfall Farms
• the wine was an Italian (Tuscany) red, Sangiovese Maremma Toscana D.O.C., from our local wine store, Philippe Wines
• the music was a real treat: a recording of Dominick Argento’s delightful one-act opera, ‘Postcard From Morocco’, Philip Brunelle conducting the Minnesota Opera Orchestra and soloists Barbara Brandt, Vern Sutton, Barry Busse, Michael Forman, Janis Hardy, Yale Marshall, and Serita Roche Argento (Argento died this past Wednesday at 91)