Pasta for grown-ups. Also known as ‘midnight pasta’.

Pasta, lots of garlic, lots of anchovy, lots of capers, lots of olive oil: I’ve done this dish many times, sometimes offering a little variation. It’s a glorious treat, and it’s comfort food. Last night it was assembled strictly along the lines of the original David Tanis [version of a classic] recipe, except for one thing: Probably distracted by the excitement of my birthday lunch – and an edible – earlier in the day, I misread my own instructions, and proceeded to mix most of the parsley into the sauce before adding the pasta.

I also didn’t crush the peperoncini. I kept them whole, because this time I wanted to try for a different aesthetic (I love the casual look of a ruby-colored pepper on top of its ‘quarry’), and I was willing to accept some sacrifice in spiciness.

It wasn’t a disaster, but I want to say how much more satisfactory this so-much-more-than-just-satisfactory meal is if you toss the parsley in at the right moment (when there’s all that pungency, green and fresh makes for a good foil).

• the ingredients this time were 8 ounces of Afeltra 100% Italian grain pasta artigianale spaghetto from Eataly Flatiron, five rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm, Whole Foods Market’s good house Portugese olive oil, 4 rinsed salted anchovies, more than a tablespoon of rinsed salted capers, 2 whole peperoncini Calabresi secchia from Buon Italia, and several tablespoons of chopped parsley from Paffenroth Farm
• the wine was a Portuguese (Lisbon) white, Dory Branco 2016, from Garnet Wines
• the music was the album, ‘Il gioco Barocco del seicento italiano’, seventeenth-century Italian music performed by Ottavio Dantone, harpsichord and conductor, and the Accademia Bizantina

We’ve enjoyed this several times before, probably four since I began this blog, and it’s always a pleasure to sit down to, even more so for the cook, if he’s been busy or can’t come up with something more complicated, because it really asks so little.

I already knew about the ‘recipe’ and the tradition of guys cooking late at night that’s associated with it*, and I had already been assembling its ilk for years when I cut a printed version of it, by David Tanis, out of the ‘Dining’ section of the New York Times back in 2011.  The article’s titillating headline read, “At the End of the Night, Satisfaction“.  In fact, there may be an almost infinite number of variations to this meal, and most of them are likely to be equally seductive.

I don’t usually include a cheese; that might make it too sexy.

 

* actually, the recipe normally described as the only thing Italian bachelors know how to make for themselves is Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

 

• two thick stems of sliced spring garlic from Norwich Meadows Farm heated in a third of a cup of olive oil over a medium flame inside a large vintage copper pot until softened but not browned, 4 salted anchovies from Buon Italia, well-rinsed, added to the pan and mashed with a wooden spoon, followed by a tablespoon of Sicilian salted capers, rinsed and drained, and half a teaspoon Waldy’s Wood Fired Pizza‘s excellent red pepper flakes, the mix cooked for only one minute, the heat turned off until half a pound of pasta (Afeltra 100% grano italiano spaghetti, produced in Gragnano, from Eataly Flatiron), boiled only until still pretty firmly al dente, was mixed in along with, gradually, over half a cup of the reserved pasta water, the contents of the pot stirred over medium heat for another minute or two while the liquid was both emulsified and slightly reduced, then at least 3 tablespoons of chopped parsley from Phillips Farm were added and mixed in before the pasta was arranged in 2 shallow bowls and sprinkled more parsley, with a bit of olive oil drizzled around the circumference
• the wine was an Italian (Campania) white, Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina 2016, from Garnet Wines
• the music was the album, ‘Joan Tower: Instrumental Music’

I’ve cooked this simple dish many times, and it’s shown up on this blog three times before. It never fails to satisfy whatever either of us was looking for in a meal at the moment; usually it was when we didn’t have the time or patience to come up with something more complicated.

• approximately 8 ounces of Afeltra spaghettone, from Eataly, boiled, but only until still pretty firmly al dente, tossed inside the same pot in which it had cooked with a very savory sauce (created with 4 plump garlic cloves from Whole Foods, roughly chopped, cooked in about a third of a cup of olive oil over low-medium heat until softened and beginning to brown, 3 salted anchovies, well-rinsed, added to the pan and mashed with a wooden spoon, a tablespoon of Mediterranean organic wild capers in brine (from a Providence, RI distributor), rinsed and drained, half of one dried Itria-Sirissi chili, peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia), along with several tablespoons of chopped parsley from Eataly, an equal amount of chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, and a little of the reserved pasta water, then simmered for another minute or so while the sauce was both emulsified and slightly reduced, the mix distributed in two bowls and sprinkled with another few tablespoons of parsley and lovage
• the wine was an Italian (Sardinia) white, La Cala Vermentino di Sardegna 2013
• the music was the remaining part of Aulis Sallinen’s, ‘The King Goes Forth To France’, the scenes which we were unable to hear during dinner the night before.

It wasn’t yet midnight when we sat down to this pasta dish yesterday after returning from a performance of Robert Ashley’s opera-novel, ‘Quicksand’, at another ‘kitchen’, The Kitchen. The designation ‘Midnight Pasta’ is not my doing, but is rather inspired by its simplicity, the fact that all of its ingredients are staples nelle cucine italiane, and the speed with which it can be prepared (20 minutes or so).  The affectionate name, in Italian, ‘spaghettata di mezzanotte‘, hints at its popularity.

I cut a printed version of the recipe, by David Tanis, out of the ‘Dining’ section of the New York Times back in 2011.  The article’s titillating headline read, “At the End of the Night, Satisfaction“.  In fact, there may be an almost infinite number of variations to this meal, and I imagine almost all of them are equally seductive.

We had seconds, and skipped a cheese course.

I followed the Tanis recipe more or less as printed, although I reduced the amount of pasta, and that of the remaining ingredients in the same proportion.  I also added some reserved pasta water and emulsified it in in pan where the cooked and drained pasta had been returned.  Also, while I did not use Parmesan cheese he mentioned as an option, I further tweaked his formula by adding some toasted homemade breadcrumbs to the top of the sauced spaghetti once it had been placed in the two bowls.

• the ingredients I used were 11 ounces of Setaro spaghetti from Buon Italia; 3 garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm; 3 rinsed and filleted salted anchovies from Buon Italia; a tablespoon of capers, also from Buon Italia; much of one peperoncino di Sardegna intero (yes, Buon Italia too); 2 tablespoons of Italian parsley from Eataly, chopped; and two tablespoons of breadcrumbs I had made from a number of different kinds of bread, ground in my vintage Osterizer (one of the very few electric appliances I have in the kitchen)
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) white, Fuori Strada Grillo 2014, whose gorgeous soft packaging, the makers describe as safe for a bicycle water bottle (we weren’t on bikes last night)
• the music included a good number of pieces in the box CD set, Music From The ONCE Festival 1961- 1966 (of which Robert Ashley was one of the founders)

Demonstrating one again the importance of the emergency pasta, ‘spaghettata di mezzanotte‘, or bachelor’s salvation, even for non-bachelors, I put this together last night on the evening of my own (pretty-special-number) birthday, when we were unable to plan for a more serious entrée, both because of our schedule and an unanticipated cancellation.

It was as delicious as always.

 

• approximately 10 ounces of Afeltra linguine, from Eataly, boiled, but only until pretty firmly al dente, tossed inside the same pot in which it had cooked, with a sauce made of 4 plump rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm, roughly chopped, cooked in about a third of a cup of olive oil over low-medium heat until softened and beginning to brown, 3 salted anchovies, well-rinsed, added to the pan and mashed with a wooden spoon, as well as half of one dried Itria-Sirissi chili (peperoncino di Sardegna intero) from Buon Italia, several tablespoons of chopped parsley from Paffenroth Farms, and a little of the reserved pasta water, all simmered for a few minutes while the sauce was both emulsified and slightly reduced, the entire mix distributed in two bowls and sprinkled with another few tablespoons of parsley
• the wine was an Italian (Tuscan) white, Vernaccia di San Gimignano D.O.C.G. 2014
• the music was streamed from the WKCR classical Kurt Masur marathon, celebrating the recordings of the great German conductor, who had died in Connecticut earlier in the day (the marathon continues until midnight on Sunday)