MEMORIES

It's funny how pandemics and quarantines and confinement in small spaces play tricks on the mind. I've never been the sort of person who dwells on the past or even looks back on "halcyon days." But now, to quote Dante, in the middle of life, I find myself in a dark wood wandering, pining away for lost days, bygone decades when I was a younger, more adventurous - sometimes alarmingly so - person. But, a life without regrets is a life not lived. Sorry to get philosophical here but the peculiar atmosphere, which I believe we are all experiencing, has forced me, at least, to look back and try to tap into happier times. 

Being Italian, most of the stories of glory are surrounded by celebrations of food and music, and here is one of them. Many years ago - almost a lifetime really - I had the great fortune to study piano with a very famous teacher in Rome. It was the summer of 1982 actually, and I was bopping around Italy doing the piano competition circuit and landed in Rome for a few week before I would be forced to lasciare la bella Italia. He put me up for a few days in his palatial apartment before finding me smaller accommodations with a piano a few blocks from the Colosseum. In any event, the first night I was there, I played for him (a copious program of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Chopin) and then he cooked dinner. It is with genuine affection that I look back to that evening, laced with good wine, good conversation, dining with some of his other students on some of the best pasta with tuna I ever had. Well, it was the first time I had ever had it, really, and even when I make it, it doesn't come close to how his tasted. I remember asking: "what is this? Veal?" And of course, it was tuna cooked in tomatoes with all the right Roman spices (garlic, pepperoncini, etc.)  Here it is, pictured below with linguini.

 

Serves 4

1 lb. linguini (or any kind of pasta you like, any macaroni with ridges will do good because the sauce adheres to the ridges)

1 medium onion minced

2 stalks celery minced

1 small carrot (fine dice)

4 cloves garlic

1/4 tsp. pepperoncini flakes

a handful of parsley chopped fine

12 basil leaves cut in chiffonade 

2 sprigs fresh thyme

8 oz. tuna packed in oil (I make my own - highly superior to anything canned, but the Sicilian tuna in jars does very nicely here)

1/4 cup white wine

1 large can imported peeled, whole tomatoes (since the price of tuna is rather dear you might as well splurge and go whole hog on San Marzano tomatoes!)

Sauté the soffrito (onions celery, and carrots) and the garlic in olive oil until translucent. Add the pepper flakes and the herbs and continue to cook for a moment and then add the tuna. Cook for a few minutes over moderate heat, add a sprinkling of white wine and allow to reduce and then add the tomatoes. I recommend emptying the can into a large bowl and crush the whole tomatoes with your hands to break them up a bit before adding to the pot.

Add 1/2 tsp salt and few grinds of a pepper mill. Bring to the boil and then lower heat to a simmer and let cook partially covered for about 2 hours. Correct seasoning, if necessary, before dressing the pasta.

Boil a large pot of water, add a handful of Kosher salt and then the pasta. Cook according to the direction on the package. Dress the pasta when cooked with the sauce and serve. No cheese please - it's fish!

Buon appetito!