WashHere, then, is where we have gotten with the Pasta Diablo: nowhere. We have tried ever-increasing amounts of Aleppo pepper into the egg and semolina dough, to ever-prettier effect (thin sheets of long-streaked pepper bits, like a fine hand-made paper). We have set the pepper to sit in oil for a time to release itself there, turning the oil a sullen red, and making the pasta with that. This has led to ever-blushing batches of pasta, as the ratio of pepper to egg has risen. But as soon as they hit the water, they fade, and when they are to the teeth, they have no heat, the perk somehow gone out.
To hell with that. We have taken instead to the shortcut of dumping the pepper oil on the pasta directly when the latter is done; the results are much more pleasing, and I will continue to claim so as I sweat uncomfortable in my chair, weighing whether it would be, in the end, a poor decision to chug the sour cream to make the heat go away.
It has turned out that one of the benefits of the farm share has been a weekly abundance of one or two herbs per in a nearly decadent amount each, so potent and vivid that I am convinced they had been in soil on the morning of delivery. We have a bundle of rosemary hanging in the onion basket over the counter, and when I chop things I smack into it with my head, spilling smells all over the place. The rosemary has been going into bread, and it is alone a better argument for roast chicken than anything I can come up with.
The other eye-opener so far has been the thyme. It is smoky, biting, pungent. The flavor is large like a locomotive is large, a pleasant contemplation until circumstances bring it closer than one is accustomed. At some point upon approach, it becomes near enough to fill the world, and then the mind, agape as it thunders by. This thyme is like that on the tongue. We put it into pasta.
For every egg and three-quarters of a cup of semolina, use near a tablespoon of finely chopped thyme leaves. Mix and knead, rest for one half hour, roll, slice and dry. Cook in plenty of water. Serve with a good oil and cheese. It is very nice stuff.
There is no reason to stop there. That rosemary also speaks well with tomatoes, so put it into a sauce with some toasted garlic. Toss the cooked pasta with that sauce and bits of goat cheese, and serve under more cheese. Garnish with the pepper oil. Consume!
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