The simplicity of pasta
A couple of years ago I saw a fun video by Bob Blumer called "Man vs Can." Blumer is a Canadian TV host perhaps best know for his former show "The Surreal Gourmet." The premise of Man vs Can? Blumer bets he can make a fresh pasta dish on the stove faster than his young guest can open a can of Spaghettios and heat them. The outcome is predictable. You can see it here: What struck me about the preparation was how simple it was. You don't have to be all that handy with a knife or know much about cooking. I've been making big, rich pots of spaghetti sauce all my life, always using canned tomatoes and paste. But you can take a fresh tomato or two, a bit of garlic and Parmesan, a sprinkle of this or that and – presto! The tastiest pasta you'll ever eat, in no time at all. When my wife and I visited Tuscany last year, I was expecting pasta to be a mainstay. Big plates of deep red sauce and delicious, steaming pasta. What we got instead was pure simplicity; fres