This meal almost didn’t happen.

It wasn’t clear we were up to a full dinner until moments before I began cooking. What did it was a proposal for the simplest of pastas, aglio e olio, and then I went and threw an herb into it.

Simple; perfection.

• three plump still-fresh/juicy cloves of ‘Nootka rose’ garlic from TransGenerational Farm, chopped, plus a prudent amount of dried Itria-Sirissi chili, pepperoncino di Sardegna intero, from Buon Italia, heated inside a large antique copper pot until the garlic had barely begun to color, then 8 ounces of a very good Campania pasta (Afeltra 100% Grano Italiano Biologico Pasta di Gragnano IG.P. Artigianale rigatone from Eataly Flatiron), cooked al dente tossed in, together with about three quarters of a cup of cooking water, the mix stirred over high heat until the liquid had emulsified, some chopped thyme leaves from Stokes Farm stirred in, the pasta arranged in shallow bowls and drizzled with a little olive oil around the edges
• the wine was an Oregon (Willamette Valley) white, Chris Baker Willamette Pinot Gris 2018, from Naked Wines
• the music was from an album of the late symphonies of Giovanni Battista Sammartini (c. 1700-1775), performed by Alessandra Rossi Lürig conducting the Accademia D’Arcadia