Here’s another super simple pasta that I call the “mother of all pasta dishes” since its garlic and oil base forms the foundation for countless other pasta sauces. It’s also the quintessential impromptu snack the Italians call una spaghettata. I’m sure all the Italians and Italo-Americans out there have grown up … Read More
Fettuccine alla papalina (Fettuccine for the Pope)
Fettuccine alla papalina, or “Fettuccine for the Pope”, is an upscale reinterpretation of the earthy spaghetti alla carbonara. The story goes that the dish was prepared for a certain Cardinal Pacelli, soon to become Pope Pius XII, who had asked the owner of a restaurant in the Borgo (the area … Read More
Angelina’s pasta e lenticchie (Pasta and Lentils)
Of all the wonderful dishes my grandmother Angelina would make when I was growing up, this was my very favorite. And that’s saying a lot, since she made incredible lasagna di carnevale. Angelina’s pasta e lenticche (pasta and lentils) was very simple to make but involved three more or less simultaneous … Read More