The big day

As you all know, we recently had a very big day here in Central Virginia. Yes, it was time again for the Friends of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library spring book sale. Wait, did something else important happen recently? 🤯 We'll cover that too, but I need some more time to process everything. In the meantime, here are the 22 books that $31 bought me at the book sale the week before last. "The Vulture" (aka Brad) has really turned the corner, as he ended up being the big winner this year, with lots of recent books that he put off buying new and ended up finding for $3 and $4 at the book sale. Go Brad!

 

From the Friday night members' pre-sale

Saturday afternoon's tally

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I'm not sure you can ever have too many recipes for pasta dishes that you can make with almost all pantry items in less than 30 minutes. This one showed up recently in Rachel Roddy's "a kitchen in Rome" column in the Guardian. I made it twice for Mom and Brad and then again for them and Dylan, too, and it was a big hit with everyone. Dylan thought the nuts, which are pretty unusual in a pasta recipe, made the dish. For those of you who fear dried grapes, I don't think you'll really notice them in the final dish with all of the other stuff in there, and they bring a nice hit of surprising sweetness, but you can probably leave them out, just like the olives if you're not a fan.

 

In her column accompanying this recipe, Roddy actually refers to this as "rubbish" spaghetti, as this Neapolitan dish apparently came about as a way to use up some dried fruit and nuts left over from the Christmas baking. That's not a terribly appealing name though, so I switched to the similar-sounding "rubble" spaghetti, since all of the chopped nuts and other goodies remind me of broken rock fragments. You can call it whatever you want.

Step 3

Step 4 (just after adding the chopped tomatoes)

Dylan added red pepper flakes and an extra garlic clove

 

Rubble Spaghetti

Adapted from Rachel Roddy via the Guardian (Mar. 18, 2024)

Time: ~28 minutes

1 pound spaghetti or bucatini
2 tablespoons fine sea salt
80 grams (6 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed gently, so it’s split but still whole
15 grams (1½ tablespoons) raisins, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes, then drained
35 grams walnuts, roughly chopped
35 grams hazelnuts, roughly chopped
8 grams (1 tablespoon) pine nuts
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
250 grams (~1 dry pint) grape or cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
A pinch of dried oregano
A small handful of parsley, minced
4 olives, pitted and roughly chopped (optional)

    1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a roiling boil in a large, covered stockpot over high heat. Stir in the salt until dissolved. Add the pasta and stir a few times during the first minute or two to keep it from sticking. Cook until al dente. Drain.
    2. Meanwhile, place the oil and garlic into a large saucier or sauté pan. Set over medium-low heat and allow to warm up for a few minutes.
    3. Stir in the raisins, chopped nuts, pine nuts, and capers, and cook gently for a few minutes.
    4. Stir in the chopped tomatoes. Increase the heat to medium and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to break down some, about 4 to 5 minutes.
    5. Remove from the heat; stir in the oregano, parsley, and olives, if using. Stir in the drained pasta and another 1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh oil. Serve promptly. Serves 4.