This is one of the most satisfying meals in my modest portfolio; I owe it all to Mrs. Soccodato, whom I unfortunately never met, the non-Italian wife of my erstwhile Italian, West Village barber, Nic Soccodato.

• Setaro Penne Rigatoni, from Buon Italia, about 12 ounces, served with three quarters of the simple tomato sauce described in this post, in which I used 3 garlic cloves from Norwich Meadows Farm, one 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes, and 3 large whole leaves of Gotham Greens Rooftop basil purchased last summer at Whole Foods (which I had wisely dried and frozen between small squares of waxed paper and stacked inside a soft plastic sealed container)
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) red, Tenuta Rapitlà Nero d’Avola Campo Reale 2013
• the music was Q2 streaming, most notably including Uuno Klami’s ‘Northern Lights’