As some of you already know, my favorite dish to prepare is “pasta”. I will fix any shape, using any kind of sauce, any type of cheese just because I really, really like pasta. I am not the only one who likes pasta a lot and because of that there are definitely some conflicts about it.

During the 15 century, a strong headed religious reformer by the name of Fra Girolamo Savonarola tried to ban pasta because he considered it evil and decadent. He would shout from his pulpit his condemnation for the pasta “ it is not enough for you to eat your pasta fried. No, you think you have to add garlic to it, and when you eat ravioli, it is not enough to boil and eat it in its juices, you have to fry it in another pot and covered with cheese.

The Florentine people eventually had too much of his rhetoric and burned the priest at the stake. Do you get my drift?!!

So, just let me eat my pasta and nobody gets hurt!!

One of the unusual pasta dishes that I don’t prepare often is ‘Spaghetti with parsley and anchovies” It is not that I don’t like it as much as some of the other sauces or condiments , I just forget to do this combination of flavors because there are so many ways to enjoy your pasta. I could probably cook a pasta dish every day dish and not duplicate the recipe for the whole year. I think I would be like an enormous balloon if I were to execute this thought, but boy, would I have fun! There are as many recipes out there, as your imagination can create, but let’s make sure it is a constructive imagination. Here we go with one:

Spaghetti with parsley and anchovies Now, for this recipe you will need:

• 1lb Spaghetti -not too thin like angel hair or capellini
• Hand full of fresh parsley (I mean”plenty”)
• 1 garlic glove (please don’t get carried away with this one) 1⁄2 lemon
• 1 jar of anchovies in olive oil or 2 if using the 1.75 oz jar size Olive Oil
• Salt/pepper

Wash and dry your parsley well. Chop it with the garlic clove.You can also use the garlic, without chopping it. It’s matter of fact,It is not necessary to use garlic if you don’t like it or garlic doesn’t like you either, because the lack of it will not compromise the results of this dish.

Drain the anchovies from the olive oil so you can cut them up easily and place them in a bowl. Add back the olive oil, the cut up parsley, grind liberally some pepper on top and add some more olive oil. Mix well with a fork.

Drop the spaghetti in plenty of salted boiling water and cook until “al dente”. Drain and immediately mix it with the anchovies, adding the 1⁄2 lemon juice.

One of the options is to add some salted capers after they have been soaked and rinsed. The other is to add some hot chilies if the anchovies you used were the ones without the chilies. Check for salt and add some if necessary.

Sorry, no cheese with this recipe

Simple and very flavorful.

Serve this spaghetti with a white, dry Soave wine. Until next time, keep on cooking!

Lullu