The most comforting pasta dish on the face of the planet. For me, at least.
Friends, I am sick, sick, sick today. Sigh. The Beloved and I sat down last evening to watch WALL-E and by the end of it, I was all achy and chill-some and sad. I checked my temperature, and, indeed, I was running a fever. Sigh again. I don’t think that WALL-E made me sick–I loved it and cried like a baby. His eyes! I just couldn’t take it! If you haven’t seen it, do so. It is wonderful.
And then earlier, during dinner yesterday, when we were trying to eat our pizza, the automated Sears delivery service called and said that they would be delivering our new dryer this morning between 8:30am-10:30am. I told the recording that it was too early, so I was transferred to a gentleman who was obviously from Elsewhere. I told him I needed to reschedule our delivery, and he asked me for the address. I told him, and then he said he needed to know the three words between the street name and the city. The three words between the street name and the city?! What does that even mean?! So, I said that I had no idea what he was talking about, and he wanted to talk to the homeowner who is currently on vacation. Anyway, we went back and forth for about 5 minutes, with me trying to guess what it was that I was supposed to say–what magical combination of words would get him to shut up and send me my dryer, and with him calling me ma’am a lot. Have you ever tried to play charades over the phone? Not easy, let me tell you.
So, finally, I asked if he wanted the name of the neighborhood, and he said yes. Well, we live on one street off of a main street. I didn’t even know it was part of a neighborhood. So I said, in my Unpleasant Voice, that my husband (that would be The Beloved) would drive up and see if he could see a sign or something. He said he couldn’t wait that long, and I told him that yes, he could too wait that long. Well, to make a long story short, The Beloved returned and spake two words which I then repeated to Our Esteemed Customer Service Representative. These two words were magic–he got all excited and exclaimed, “Yes! That is it exactly! That is what I’ve been waiting to hear!” The dryer will be here tomorrow.
Now I’m wondering if the Unpleasantness on the phone has made me sick. Who knows, but I’m grumpy and sad, and when I am sick, I Require Noodles. There is very little nutritive value in this dish, I am sorry to relate. There is, however, a whole lot of comfort.
Comforting Noodles
- 1 small bundle of long, thin pasta–spaghetti, linguine, whatever
- extra virgin olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper
- a few shakes of red pepper flake
- about 1 tsp Italian seasoning, crushed in the palm of your hand
- a few shakes of granulated garlic
- a lot of lemon pepper
- a lot of Parmesan cheese
Here’s what I do to it:
- Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente
- Drain, reserving about 2 TBSP pasta cooking water
- Return the pasta to the pot. Over high heat, add in everything but the Parmesan cheese and stir it around madly until the seasonings are well distributed and the pasta is nearly dry.
- Remove from heat. Put a ton of Parmesan on the noodles and stir it around until no noodle is naked. All must be coated with cheese.
- Sit in your bathrobe and eat it out of the pot.
My favorite long pasta shape is bucatini. It is long, skinny tubes of pasta. They are hearty and Fun to Eat. Look, I took a picture of one for you!
See the wee hole in the center?!
Well, I hope that I will feel much better tomorrow. Now, I must go, because I have been directed to take a lot of vitamins and minerals. That is the price I have to pay for eating comforting noodles.
