Where culture confirms that pasta is the sexiest of all foods.

Darlings,As is tradition, after mid November, I leave the house pretty much only out of necessity. I say screw all those who say the only way to enjoy life is through adventure and embrace the interior of my beautiful home.And so it is that my favorite activity at home (aside from binging on primetime dramas with unrealistic relationships) is cooking. In some of my dreams, I have 3 kids - and it is my only job to take care of them, to read to them, to cook for them.But as is the case right now, I also have dreams of seeing the whole world and learning to cook the foods from all of those places, so the three kids around the table will have to wait.So as I cook through the winter, it is important to me that what I cook means something, has some value aside from sustenance as we are so lucky to have all that we have, and I would hate to ever undervalue that.And to me, food is so much more than sustenance. It's life, it's style, it's an indication of who you are as a person. And food is sex. It's so sexy. It is my most humble of opinions that cooking for someone, feeding someone is the most intimate thing you can do with your clothes on. And to waste a meal on something that's just OK is blasphemous.A meal made from a can of beans and an onion or a can of caviar and a bottle of champagne - the love should never be wasted.But to me, the sexiest of all foods is pasta. Pasta is a tabula rossa. Pasta is risky, one minute too long in the pot and you've got a glutenous mush. Pasta is (apparently) not good for you. Pasta is quick. And nothing goes better with pasta than a bottle of wine.But don't trust me, trust the zeitgeist.I mean some of the greatest movie moments happen over the premise of pasta.Take for instance the first post coital moment, Jack and Meryl have in Heartburn:Meryl goes to get a snack and comes out with a beautiful, large, shallow bowl of spaghetti carbonara. And Jack basically is indebted to her forever (until he finds another lady to coit with after him and Meryl have some babies). I mean darlings, look at that phone! Meryl's box brown power hair! The white sweetheart bed frame! This is the moment that cemented their relationship goals (again, until Jack couldn't keep it in his pantalones anymore.)And how about in GoodFellas? Just a coupla fellas doin' time.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yztx8qfoNu0The image of Paul Sorvino razoring the garlic will never be lost on me, and to this day when I make pasta of any kind, I try to emulate the garlic dissolving in the oil. I love the back and forth of the onion to tomatoe ratio because let's be real, it matters. And talk about intimacy - you can't get much more intimate than living in such small quarters with a bunch of guys, without even the space for a broiler...Of course, we shouldn't discredit the other most important pasta moment of the movie - the end with the cocaine and the helicopters and the gun and the valium in the ER. But really - they are talking mostly about the sauce here - constantly stirring the sauce on a sunday, so I feel that the prison scene is a better tell.And of course, bringing us back into this century, the century where pasta is the ultimate scorn. The worst thing you could possibly dare put into your body - a plague on both your houses, or something like that. But that's exactly what these two rebellious beings do in my favorite movie to come out in the past five years.Because have you guys seen Chef? I could watch it over and over and over and over. Maybe it's because of my unrequited desire to work in a kitchen as my lifes work or maybe it's because I love Jon Favreau so much. Who knows which one.Every moment of the movie is brilliant, but the best moment is this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzpVmyzbYLgThere's the overarching sexiness of it all, the Specials making a surprising, but perfect appearance as the mood music, and Favreau himself getting deep into the oil, garlic and parsley of it all. Oh, and then there are those perfect shallow pasta bowls. I mean, darlings, is there any thing better in life?But more than that, there's an incredible feeling of being able to take care of someone, to make someone feel so special, with something that takes so few ingredients, but so much heart to make it good. And maybe this is an #unpopularopinion, but there really is nothing better than a garlic breath kiss from someone you love. Because darlings, garlic keeps your heart healthy and your mind sharp (and I don't cook nearly anything without it).And I did just that the other night. Because I don't feel like pasta is the enemy, if anything, darlings, I feel like pasta is a life source. It brings people together, it's beautiful, and when I was born in the 1980s, pasta was apparently really good for you.And darlings, I'm not talking about sauced spaghetti squash or sauced zucchini from a spiralizer...because there is certainly a time and a place for both of those, but to live without real pasta, oil-y, garlic-y pasta, is to not live at all.So here's my recipe for the ultimate in simple, sexy pastas: Aglio e OIio. But, as usual and especially with this one, don't take my word for it - make your own word up.1 bottle red wine of your choice - lately, I've been digging on Medlock Ames as you know, but for something a little more everyday, I love the Coppola table blends. Open it up immediately for consumption. You can't cook this to it's fullest potential without a glass of wine in hand. 1 lb bucatini - I love bucatini for this, but if you can't get it, a normal spaghetti works as well, as does a capellini for those of you that are tiny and precious.1/2 c. good olive oil 1 head of garlic, sliced like Paulie (see above) would want it1/2 c. good parmesan1/2 bunch of parsley, rough choppedRed pepper flakes, if you dareSalt, but duh darlings, you always need salt.Method

• Bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil. Cook your pasta according to your taste. Drain the water, reserving about 1/4 cup of it for saucing.
• In a large saute pan (big enough to eventually hold your pasta), heat your olive oil.
• Throw your garlic into the heated oil, cooking for about 3 minutes or until the edges are golden - don't overcook! Burnt garlic in this recipe is a disaster!
• Add the red pepper flakes and 1/2 of the parmesan cheese.
• Add your reserved water and pasta to the pan and toss.
• Add the rest of your parmesan, and your parsley.
• Impress the person across the table from you.

Until next time my darlings,xoxo lcf