When you arrive home in the Lunigiana on a Sunday evening, you are deprived of shopping opportunities. You know stores won’t be open. That’s just the way it is.
Luckily, there was a sagra nearby, as there usually is this time of year. Olivola, the village on the ridge overlooking our village, was celebrating capra e polenta, a goat stew over polenta.
Unfortunately, we were tired from a long, 8 hour drive from Germany and the thought of getting into the car, even for the ten minute drive to Olivola, didn’t appeal.
Enrico, the downstairs neighbor’s son who maintains the big garden out back came to the rescue with ripe tomatoes. We had bought some odd specialty pasta in Germany, the kind they sell especially to tourists. It had a black stripe, supposedly squid ink, in the center of it. Here’s how we made it.
Dice the tomatoes and garlic, cook the garlic in oil slowly, add the tomatoes to just warm them, the add the cooked pasta to the pan for a minute or so with a bit of the pasta water to finish cooking and you’re done. Or almost, after you drizzle a bit of fresh olive oil over the whole deal.
An easy meal, and a return to fresh, light garden cooking with stuff you have on hand.
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