Lidia’s Pasta
By Lidia Bastianich

You may not know what you want to cook tonight but just take me to your cupboard, and together we’ll make a quick and delicious pasta dish.

All you need to feed a family of 4 to 6 is the following ingredients.

Ingredients
1 pound pasta
Some olive oil
Sliced garlic
Pinch of peperoncino
And any of the following will do: olives, capers, anchovies, or any canned beans

Now that we have scoured your cupboard, pour yourself a glass of Morellino “La Mozza” wine and begin!

Directions
Get the pasta cooking, meanwhile in a skillet with extra virgin olive oil, cook the sliced garlic over medium heat until golden. Add peperoncino and a choice of any of the other extra ingredients I suggested and season with salt. Cook together for 3 minutes, add a ladleful of pasta cooking water so that it forms into a sauce. The flavor gets even better if you happen to have a little shredded basil or parsley around, and you just throw it in at the end.

Drain the pasta and plop into the sauce. Turn off the fire, sprinkle a little grated cheese. And voilà, a meal challenge is overcome and a great pasta dish is ready for dinner.
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Lidia Matticchio Bastianich was born in Pola, Istria, on the northeastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. She is a cookbook author, restaurateur, and TV chef extraordinaire. Watch Lidia’s Italy Saturdays at 1:30pm on WGBH 2 or Sundays at 4pm on WGBH 44.

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