Yummy ONE-HALF of a toasted ham & gruyere on baguette last night (ate all the chips though, damn, "forgot" to tell them to hold the chips). Had a good salty-crunchy-melty thing going on, nothing bad about that. At Beaujo's Wine Bar, with Kim. Opened with a pretty, crisp glass of Cava, delish. Moved on to a mellow Riesling as we chatted, and chatted, and drank more wine, and chatted. Kim and I have covered MANY hours drinking wine and chatting. To the extent that John said, "Don't wake me up when you get home" as I left the house at 5:20 p.m. I stuck with white wine this time to avoid the hideous purple lips that always show up when I'm drinking red wine combined with chatting with Kim. Kim thought we should have a contest to see who got the red lips first this time, but then we went for white, no contest. This time. Maybe we should save red-wine chats for when we're at one of our houses, and have white-wine-only chats when we're out in public. What do you think, Kim, a new rule? Or as Susie would say, what say ye?
Had the other half of the sandwich for lunch today, just perfect. Cold this time, that worked too. No wine. As a wannabe moderate epicurean, and someone who likes to get things done in the afternoon, I don't do wine at lunch. Unless I'm on vacation. Or at one of my occasional Friday Lunches at Lucia's with my friend Kathie. Shhhh...don't tell her boss! Lucia's ALWAYS suggests a lovely glass of wine, it can't be passed up, especially on a Friday!
Well, enough of that daydreaming. Today's not Friday, and I have lots to do, time for some Gavin DeGraw and a nice cup of tea to get me through my chores. I'd listen to my usual standby, MPR, but I can NOT stand to listen to judiciary committee senators grandstanding and bragging and droning on during the Sam Alito hearings. Not an ideal process, to say the least.
Me again, post-dinner, I MUST include the recipe for the pasta with tuna sauce I just made for dinner. Go beyond your first thoughts upon reading it, because you, like me, might not appreciate how GOOD it is, truly fantastic, especially if you have a spicy red Zinfandel lying around. The two together - fucking SUBLIME. But even if you don't have the Zin, or drink wine, I'm telling you, it's a KILL - and SIMPLE - dinner. It exists in the realm of linguine with white clam sauce, but it's much easier, and healthier, and cheaper, with a bit more kick - I'd say I prefer it. I ate mine with my eyes closed, and that means I'm having one of my experiences... (recipe in comments, below)
posted by Stephanie @ 12:21 PM
2 Comments:
Pasta with Tuna Sauce
Stephanie Levy, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
Serves 4-6
3 Tbsp. olive oil
6 medium garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp. hot red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp. minced Kalamata olives
1 Tbsp. capers, chopped
½ c. dry white wine*
2 – 7 oz. cans Italian (Genova, available at Byerly’s and probably other nice grocery stores) tuna packed in olive oil, drained and broken up
salt
1 lb. papardelle (or other wide pasta, I love Colavita brand, ooh, chewy fabulousness, at Byerlys; if you can’t find something as wide as papardelle, go for fettuccine)
3 minced scallions, green part only (3 Tbsp. minced chives works too, of course)
3 Tbsp. butter
coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Set 4 quarts of water, with 1 Tbsp. of salt, to boil in a large pot. Meanwhile, prepare sauce: heat the oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant and sizzling but not browned, 1-2 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a simmer, cook for 1 minute. Add the tuna, olives, and 2 tsp. salt and stir until heated through, 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add the pasta to the boiling water, cook until al dente. Reserve ¼ c. cooking water, then drain. Return pasta to the pot and add tuna, scallions, and butter, and toss, adding as much reserved pasta water as needed to create a sauce that coats the pasta. Serve with a bit of coarse salt (if needed) and additional pepper.
* I’m sure you could substitute a combination of about 1/3 c. water and a couple of Tbsp. of freshly squeezed lemon juice, if you’re not a drinker. However, if you are, go for wine. I’ve even used Prosecco, since John and I have a glass basically every day, and it works great.
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