Pasta with parmesan and mint and Paul Newman

This is a case when peer pressure prevailed.  I read this recipe and thought "meh" but read the comments and there was not one bad comment. So I made it.  You know when you want comfort food, but most comfort food is winter food because it involves roasting or heating up the kitchen?  This is like comfort food but with so little effort and other than boiling water for the pasta, no heat.  It didn't sound like it would work but it totally does. It's filling and comforting (especially after a long day/week/month) and yet light and fresh.  I made it just as it said with the exception of the amount of pasta, a pound for 3 people?  That's just way too much.  I used a handful and a half of penne, enough for one person, and cut the rest of the stuff in half and it was more than enough.  I think for one person a short quarter cup of chopped mint and a half cup of FRESH parmesan grated (don't bother to make it if you are using pre-grated parm, it won't work) two tablespoons of butter and a dash of salt (parmesan has a fair amount of salt) but a good amount of pepper at the end.  The addition of a bit of the cooking water makes it saucy, but make sure your bowl is preheated.  I just tossed it in the pasta bowl I ate out of and it was lovely. Yes, I know two tablespoons of butter seems a lot but if that bothers you then just shut up and go eat some plain boiled kale.  

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11397-pasta-with-mint-and-parmesan

Gotta love Mark Bittman.....

If you watch movies through Netflix, one of the best Paul Newman movies is leaving Netflix on August 1, so watch it now. Even if you saw it years ago, watch "The Verdict" again. We all loved Paul Newman, and we love to remember him as sexy and cool and bulletproof. Here he is rundown and getting craggly and plays a drunk crappy lawyer who is handed a wrongful death case that he almost blows.  Almost. His stellar acting is so clear in this movie. I could go on, but do yourself a favor and watch it.  Yes, it seems to drag about half way through but only for about 20 minutes and we all owe Paul Newman those 20 minutes for what his screen career has given us in entertainment and pure amazement at his gorgeousness and his ability to be anyone, from the Hustler to Butch Cassidy to this guy.

That's it.  A bowl of pasta and a movie.  Life is good.  Oh, and a nice Pinot to pair well with the parmesan and mint. Seriously, I can't think of a better match.

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