Chili con Pasta

Photo: Christopher Brunn

A few days back, I returned very jetlagged from India. Now, it seems that I've reversed it, staying up late as if casting aside any lessons I might have learned on relaxing from my vacation. Tonight, I'm more interested in catching up on photos and writing than I am about actually eating (despite how it might seem from my Argo Tea post on muffins yesterday), so I've quickly made myself an 8-minute dinner. 8 minutes is just the time it takes to cook my casarecce pasta al dente. OK, add a few minutes to bring the water to boil and make it a 12-minute dinner.

Boil a pot of water. Meanwhile, bring a can of your favorite veg chili to simmer in another pot and stir it once in a while so it doesn't stick. When the water's hopping, add enough pasta to take up the chili, but not so much that you'll be eating dry pasta; guess it, and toss any extra in olive oil and save for later. When the pasta's hardness has given way to firmness, strain and toss with the chili. Add whatever you think the chili needs - salt, olive oil or more hot pepper. Enjoy with chilled tomato juice in a nice highball glass.