Pasta alla Carrettiera (Sicilian Tomato and Chili Pepper)

Pasta alla carrettiera is a traditional Italian dish from eastern Sicily, dating back to the 1900s. It's usually made with spaghetti, parsley, tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, chili peppers, and Pecorino cheese. In Rome, a richer dish with the same name is prepared with spaghetti, parsley, tuna, chili peppers, garlic, and porcini mushrooms. It's believed that the cart riders who were transporting people or other people's goods first started to prepare this dish while on the move. For the best experience, serve the dish with a glass of good-structured white wine. The translation of this one-pot dish is "cart driver's pasta." The reason is that cart driver's only had one-pot to use while on the road. This is a no-cook sauce, making it a snap to put together.

Pasta:
½ lb long pasta, such as spaghetti, fettucine or linguine
2 Tbsp. sea salt

Sauce:
¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, cored, seeds removed, quartered
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1-2 chili peppers, finely chopped
sea salt

Garnish:
⅓ cup Pecorino cheese, grated

Place a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. When it boils, add salt, wait for it to come back to boil and then add pasta and cook to “al dente” (about 1-2 minutes less than the package directs.

Place the parsley, tomatoes, oil, garlic and chili peppers in a large bowl. Stir together and let sit while the pasta cooks.

Drain the pastas and add to the sauce. Toss the pasta gently to coat with the sauce.

Serve in 2 individual bowls topped with Pecorino cheese.

Makes 2 servings.