Spaghetti in Red Wine Sauce

Adpapted from Mark Bittman - The Minimalist Cooks at Home

This takes some tricky timing, and needs to be served immediatly, so plan for that.

Salt

½ C good olive oil

1 TB garlic, minced

1 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 lb spaghetti

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 bottle of good red wine, like Chianti Classico (plus more to drink with dinner, of course)

1 TB butter

1 C chopped roughly chopped walnuts, about 1/2 inch

Parsley

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Put the oil, garlic, and red pepper in a large, deep skillet.

When water boils, add the spaghetti to the pot. At this point, turn the heat on the skillet to high. Continue to cook the pasta as usual, stirring. As soon as the garlic in the skillet begins to brown (don't let it burn!), sprinkle it with salt and pepper to taste and add three-fourths of the bottle of wine (a little more than 2 cups); bring to a boil and maintain.

When the pasta begins to bend - after less than 5 minutes or so - drain it and add it to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, adding wine a little wine as needed if the mixture startes to dry out.

Taste-test the pasta frequently. When done - tender but al dente - stir in the butter and walnuts and turn off the heat. When the butter glazes the pasta, serve it immediately.

Garnish with chopped parsley.