Salve ragazzi,
Dolcetto o Scherzetto!
First, I want to tell you that we heard from Luigi Lo Cascio! He truly appreciates our birthday message and sends you all “baci dalla Sicilia.” What’s he doing in Sicilia? Well, he’s from Palermo - he could just be visiting - but my question about whether or not he’s there for a new movie has gone so far unanswered. I'm such a pest. 😛 We love you Luigi!
So, it’s Halloween night, and the trick-or-treaters are trickling down to a few teenagers who are eking out a little Halloween fun. Give them a candy bar, you curmudgeons who think they are too old for trick or treating. Do you really want all those leftover Snickers Bars lying around your house?
Here’s what you need now: My favorite scary Italian movie,
A CLASSIC HORROR STORY
If you are a horror movie fan, you WILL LOVE A Classic Horror Story. I am always up for a scary movie, but I can be pretty squeamish when it comes to the bloody ones. For instance, I love The Shining, but Texas Chainsaw Massacre, not so much. If body parts are chopped off, I’m generally out.
A Classic Horror Story is bloody, but I was won over by the bewitchingly eerie photography, the smart, authentic dialogue, the immediately gripping narrative, and a bunch of cool twists and turns. The story begins with Elisa, a young woman who finds a ride share going to Calabria. Her mother has strong-armed her into getting an abortion, and the idea is obviously troubling her, but the other riders cheer her up a bit.
Drinking and driving leads to an accident, and suddenly, they find themselves lost deep in a forest, without cell phone reception and with no idea where they are. They find a little house, but let’s just say it’s a “Hansel and Gretel Gingerbread House” and not a “Ranger Station With People To Help.”
As in all good classic horror stories, even though we, the spectators, are screaming, “Don’t go in there!” they go in there (of course they do.) The inside is even creepier than the outside, and one of them recognizes something that refers to an old legend of three brothers named Osso, Mastrosso, and Carcagnosso.
This leads to my favorite twist in the story, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. It would be irresponsible of me to tell you that it isn’t pretty darned gruesome, but all I can say is that I am the world’s biggest sissy, and I loved it.
And I know you might be reaching for those leftover Snickers, but if you’re like me, you’re craving some pasta right about now, so here you have it…
And The Perfect Late Night Snack
You already have everything you need right there in your fridge.
Twenty minutes, and you’re done! There are a million ways to make this, but here’s my easy-peasy recipe.
You’ll need:
A Pound of Pasta.
Olive Oil. I don’t measure. Start with about a quarter cup in a big saute pan.
Garlic. Again, no measuring. Slice more garlic cloves than you think you’d actually like (I use at least 4 or 5) as thin as you possibly can and put them in the pan with the oil.
and
Dried Peppers. We use ones that we’ve grown and dried ourselves:
But if you haven’t done that (what kind of gardener are you, anyway?), you can use regular dried red chilies. Sprinkle or crumble as much as you think you can stand according to your comfort level into the oil, and put a little heat on the pan. STAND THERE. (No walking away. You’ll burn it and have to start all over again. That, and you’ll stink your place up pretty bad.) Put the flame on medium and wait until the garlic and pepper dance around a little, then turn it off.
Leave it there for as long as you can. All day would be awesome, but 10 minutes is better than nothing.
We like it HOT, HOT, HOT, so often I add a little of this:
Add salt to taste.
Boil the spaghetti (We like De Cecco and Molisana), and reserve a little pasta water (in case you made it too hot, you big sissy).
Add parsley, basil, or anything else you like (I like capers sometimes), but nothing else is necessary.
Buon Appetito! And prego, you’re welcome.
Y’all know how much I love Luigi Lo Cascio. He’s my favorite actor, and my favorite actress is Paola Cortellesi.
Well, look at you, Paola, you’re a director now!
Can’t wait for this one,
C’è Ancora Domani (There’s Always Tomorrow)
Written by, directed by, and starring Paola, C’è Ancora Domani opened this year’s Rome Film Festival. Paola plays Delia, a woman who has never dreamed of being anything but a wife and a mother in 1940s Italy, and Valerio Mastandrea plays her husband.
Paola says of it:
“What I was interested in was exploring was the day-to-day discrimination and domestic violence of that time,” she says. “It’s not about the big female figures like Nilde Lotti, I wanted to celebrate the forgotten women like my grandmother and great-grandmother.”
“It’s not based on a true story, but it’s inspired by their lives and the many women like them, stories heard in the courtyard, because everybody knew everything about everybody… there was not an ounce of privacy… There’s a generation of women who grew up like this, excepting their lives, never questioning the status quo.”
I don’t know about you, but NON VEDO L’ORA! I can’t wait!
Just For Fun
Listen to Paola make her debut at age 13, singing Cacao Meravigliano for the jingle of the popular RAI TV show "Indietro tutta!
Un bacione 💋,
Cheri
America’s Cheerleader For Italian Cinema
Nice recipe! I LOVE that dish and we make it often with trofie or orecchiette pasta.
We like ours with crumbled up Italian sausage! And, we’ll often add pepperoncini peppers.
Props to you for growing your own peppers! 🌶️