The secret to life is the daily reinvention of the self. Every day that isn’t a default loop tour through the same old choices and scenes is indeed a new day. It will be new whether or not you make it new, so as Auntie Marion once hauntingly whispered in my ear when I told her I wanted to be a doctor, “Enjoy your choices.”
Italian Moms: Something Old, Something New by Italian immigrant Elisa Costantini is a cookbook in the genre of memoir, my favorite. After her husband Francesco died in 2013, she stopped cooking. She writes that she thought she was living the last chapter of her life. Her son Frank encouraged her to put all her recipes together as a family legacy project, but soon the project took on a life of its own and the process “helped heal my aching heart.” She is a precious and genuine narrator. Reading this cookbook and making her Abruzzi pasta dishes, you get a sense that you are a physical and figurative extension of the human connection—the thread that connects us might well be food.
“What this represents most of all is the timelessness of family, and in some small way, it extends my time on earth. The idea of my son or daughter in the kitchen with their own children fills me with a joy and happiness that I cannot express. And to think that some small part of me—maybe the way I taught them to prepare pasta or bake bread—will live on as they spread their art to more tables.”
Gosh, I just love her. This linguine was a dish Francesco used to make for her. “I never made this dish without him, and never spoke of it until I started to write this book… So when you make this, raise your wineglass and toast my husband.” And toast to new chapters in life–and to the morsels of grief and love that flavor our meals, mixed with memory, bittersweet.
Francesco’s Linguine
Adapted from Italian Moms
1 cup olive oil
1 pound linguine pasta (I make my own*)
1/2 pound italian sausage (optional)
2 large fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped
4 basil leaves, chopped, plus more for garnish
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes (my preference)
¼ cup vodka (also my preference)
2 ½ cups whole milk (or 1 cup heavy cream)
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup freshly grate pecorino romano cheese
In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over low heat and saute onions for like 10-20 minutes. If you are using the sausage, be sure to put this in to sear and cook after 10 minutes with the onions.
Then put tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes, and vodka in. Let saute 10 more minutes. Make the pasta. Bring a large stockpot of water to boil. Put your fresh pasta in and cook for 3-4 minutes. Drain and add to tomato/onion mixture. Then add the milk or heavy cream and basil. Heat through. I’ve also added balsamic soaked tofu at this stage, delicious. Transfer to serving bowls and top with pecorino romano cheese.
+My favorite pasta recipe for this—2 ½ cups white flour, 3 eggs, 1 tsp salt, 1 TB olive oil and a sprinkle of water. Make a little mountain of white flour on the counter, and a mound on top. Place the eggs, salt and olive oil in the mound and slowly whisk the flour edges into the eggs with the tines of a fork. Eventually the dough will become homogenous (you might need to crash it a few times on the counter). When it looks like dough, wrap in saran and let rest on the counter 20-30 minutes before rolling flat to put through a pasta press. I like the linguine setting for this recipe. There’s just nothing better than fresh pasta.
My war with caterpillars has been won and this dish and all the tomato pastas I make this summer are my victory dinners. Thank you, sweet earth, for the Romas and basil this year!
