Spaghettini coi Capperi e Mozzarella

This simple and unique recipe comes from a Florentine woman I knew many years ago. Paola had one of those light-hearted, street-smart Italian attitudes that made you wonder if you really understood life. Nothing more materialized beyond better spoken Italian and some good recipes like this one. Then I met my wife, Wendy, and cut off all ties like a good boy. Our family still refers to this dish as Paola’s, and we think it tastes even better reheated the next day.

1 cup (220g) extra-virgin olive oil

6 medium cloves garlic, chopped finely

Lots of fresh chopped basil (amount doesn’t much matter) or 1/3 of a 0.5-ounce bottle (5g) of dried basil

2 (28-oz, 794g) cans Cento San Marzano tomatoes with juice (not the organic variety)

1 1/2 tsp (8g) coarse sea salt (original recipe called for 3 tsp)

5 oz (140g) tiny capers with juice

1.5 lb (680g) De Cecco brand spaghettini or an artisan spaghetti

12 oz (340g) NY-style mozzarella balls, coarsely grated/shredded (original recipe called for ½ lb)

1. Start boiling water for pasta.

2. In a sauce pot, sauté garlic and basil in olive oil.

3. Add tomatoes with juice, removing any stem ends.

4. Add salt and capers with juice. No one would get hurt if you added a more capers.

5. Bring to slow simmer. Check salt level.

6. In the meantime, cook spaghettini for two minutes less than the time listed on the package.

7. Transfer the partially cooked pasta to the sauce and finish cooking it for the remaining two minutes on high heat. If the pasta is not mostly covered by the sauce, then you may need to add some of the starchy water that was used to cook the pasta. Stir continuously during these two minutes.

8. Reduce heat to low and add the shredded mozzarella a little at a time. This is quite challenging to mix in because the mozzarella is so gooey (as shown in the last photo), but the heat of the sauce helps to melt it.

9. Let sit for 5 minutes without a cover. This is important. It tastes much better once it cools off a little.

10. We do NOT serve this with extra cheese on the side. It is perfect exactly as is.

11. This recipe is definitely better the next day, which is why we make 1.5 lb of pasta.