Excuse Us for Living

The Second PastaPost

Pasta Filippo

by

Phil and Geri

     Ah, Pasta Filippo! Excuse us for living, but this is another one of our favorite pasta recipes as well. (If you haven’t followed the evolution here, click back to the post, “The Story of Friday Night,” and then, “The First Pasta Post,” a recipe for white clam sauce. Then you’ll be up to speed with all of us.) For those of you not of “the I-talian persuasion,” or not the least familiar with the romance languages, Pasta Filippo translates to “Pasta Philip.” Are you getting the connection here? We named it after me! –And for good reason!

After years of trying and concocting various pasta dishes on Friday Nights, it was almost ten years ago –hard to believe– that I said to Geri that I had a new idea. I wanted to have a simple pasta dish with my favorite things, ingredients if you will. First of all, I love sundried tomatoes. And any such dish would have to have plenty of garlic. –And an oil base, naturally. –And parsley. –Had to have parsley for taste and looks. And what kind of pasta? I love fettuccine! The dish had to use fettuccine.

Now this is where the magic, where the divine inspiration comes in. I have the idea and Geri, My Wife Geri,  she adds the “know how,”  the execution.  She transforms the idea into a  reality. –Translated, she’s the cook! She knows what she is doing. And so she knows how to make my conception into a recipe with the ingredient quantities, plus the slicing and putting it all together. And then she makes me look good, me bragging that it was my idea, while she adds things like scallions and fresh ground pepper. –Just beautiful!

The beauty of Pasta Filippo is the nice sweet flavor and, yet, so delicate to the taste. And, we learned that the recipe is very diversifiable, i.e., it can be altered to meet your needs and desires. Examples: You are planning a dinner party with garlic in the meat entrée and you want a light pasta dish to go with it without garlic. Pasta Filippo is wonderful even without the garlic. It tastes so good with the simple combination of the other ingredients. It’s really delicious even without the garlic, I am ashamed to admit! Or, maybe you have a social engagement that night or tomorrow and you don’t want to be reeking with garlic. Pasta Filippo! You can still have a fun pasta meal without the garlic. And another last nuance of the dish that we discovered is that it’s great with clams! We thought that white clam sauce was the Holy Grail (Well, it still is really!) But throw in a can of clams to give Pasta Filippo a whole new dimension. It gives the recipe’s flavor a real twist. But it’s good too! It depends on your preference. And so, we like to mix it up, most times with the garlic, sometimes without for practical reasons, and sometimes with clams for something different.

     Presenting…

…Pasta Filippo

   1/2 cup canola oil

1 med. bunch of scallions (sliced 1/4″ thick)

* 8 med. cloves garlic (sliced long)

1 tsp. fresh ground pepper

1  8 oz. jar sundried tomatoes in oil & reserve 1/4 cup of this oil

1 cup fresh parsley (coarse chopped)

1/2 lb. fettuccine pasta

1 tbs. salt

4-6 quarts boiling water

Drain oil from sundried tomatoes. Reserve 1/4 cup of this oil & add it to 1/2 cup canola oil. Heat in medium sauce pan. Add scallions & garlic; sauté until tender, 3-5 minutes. Cut sundried tomatoes in 3rds & add to scallion/ garlic sauté, add black pepper & heat gently. Remove from the heat.

Cook fettuccine in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain in colander. Toss with sauce & fresh parsley.

Use a pepper grinder at the table for fresh ground pepper to taste!

Makes 2 generous servings!

*This recipe does surprisingly well without the garlic for those menus you plan with garlic in another dish. It’s also actually very good without garlic when your social schedule dictates “no garlic.”

Optional: 1 10 oz. can whole baby clams, drained (no clam water), for those who think white clam sauce is the only clam pasta besides red clam sauce, The addition of clams significantly changes the recipe & the taste to a uniquely different, sweeter taste.

Excuse us for living, but we love this pasta recipe too!

Comments: Now or maybe after you make the recipe?