Arugula

The other day I picked up a copy of Carlo Middione’s Southern Italian Cooking. I do like the buttery yellow cover.

This is a big heavy book in many senses. Middione frequently uses lots of exclamation points when he is trying to impress upon us the urgency of correct pasta handling!!! Well, I can’t say I don’t know how he feels. I am eager to try almost every recipe I’ve read so far, among them eggplant dumplings, poached eggs in tomato purgatory and others.

So far I made Maccheroni alla Maniera di Andria or Macaroni with Arugula and Fresh Tomatoes. To be fair to Middione, what I made ended up very different from his recipe, mostly because there are no fresh tomatoes, but I did follow his process as far as cooking the arugula together with the pasta, and then tossing with a tomato sauce. I got those lovely baby arugola leaves from Hydrofarm at the Union Square Farmers’ Market. Here’s how I approximated Middione’s recipe this time:

Spaghetti with Arugula and Tomato Sauce

1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 pound arugula, cut or torn into large pieces
Olive oil
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, sliced
2 fat pinches oregano
¾ cup chianti, if you have an open bottle going
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste (You may leave this out if you loathe tomato paste. Middione's recipe calls only for fresh tomatoes)

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add spaghetti, and cook for a few minutes. Add arugola to the water and continu cooking spaghetti and arugola to desired degree of done-ness. While the pasta is cooking heat the oil in a large pan or skillet and add the onion. When the onion begins to soften a bit, add the garlic. When the garlic becomes fragrant, add the oregano, rubbing the leaves between your fingers to break them up. After another minute, add the wine, tomatoes and tomato paste. Raise heat and cook for a few minutes more and taste for seasonings. Drain the pasta and arugola and toss with the tomato sauce. Cheese if you please. For Sweetnicks. Happy Purim, Happy Inupiaq Day, Happy Pi Day.