This is a formula for an almost an instant dinner, and it never has to be an exact repeat, thanks to the availability of one or another form of good fresh pasta (frozen, handily little more than an arms distance from the pot), a few fantastic cherry tomatoes (which aren’t fussy/time sensitive), and the possibility of drawing from a healthy variety of herbs or other oddments which can be found in a well-frequented larder.

The bit about the larder is pretty key in any cooking done at home. It really, really helps (makes it far easier, and more exciting) if you cook regularly, because, among so many other reasons, it means you don’t have to shop for as many ingredients to prepare a single meal, and because having stuff on hand pretty much compels improvisation.

• Rana artichoke- and ricotta-filled ravioli, from Eataly, with a sauce which began with sliced organic garlic cloves from Whole Foods warmed inside a good-sized cast iron enameled pot in a little olive oil, followed by the addition of 10 of ‘The Best Cherry Tomatoes’ from Stokes Farm, whole, but slightly punctured, which were heated until almost breaking down, with freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper added before the drained ravioli was added to the pot, some pasta cooking water introduced to the mix to emulsify the sauce while it and the ravioli were stirred up on top of the stove, the finished pasta served sprinkled with a generous amount of fresh milkweed buds from Down Home Acres
• slices from a fresh loaf Sullivan Street Bakery Trucio weren’t really necessary, but how else to be sure none of the savory sauce would be wasted?
• the wine was an Italian (Sardinia) white, La Cala Vermentino di Sardegna 2014
• the music was Jean-Philippe Rameau, ‘Concerts en Sextuor‘