A Pasta Meal With Plenty of Pep : Green, Black, White Peppercorns Add Bite

I grow fresh basil in my garden, and I occasionally pop for dearly priced saffron threads. Summer isn’t summer without chicken grilled with lots of rosemary and lemon; and it wouldn’t be Christmas in my kitchen without cardamom-scented bread. But the preferred spice in my life is just plain pepper.

It’s nostalgia no doubt. My earliest memory of eating pepper is when my dad would mash avocado onto a slice of bread to share with me. He’d always sprinkle it with black pepper from the table shaker--and I’d always shake on a little more. Since then I could do without the basil in an omelet, but I won’t eat it without plenty of pepper. I’d pay more for a plate of rice speckled only with black pepper than one tinted gold with saffron. I can even eat pasta without garlic if it is seriously peppered.

Served Three Varieties

Maybe I got a little too serious about the pepper on pasta when I served it recently for a family dinner. I used a tablespoon each of three kinds of whole peppercorns: black, white and green.

“Be careful about biting those little balls in the spaghetti,” my husband warned his mother. “They bite you back.”

They ate a lot more bread than usual that night and when I cleared the table, I noticed piles of little balls on everyone’s plate but mine.

Still, it was a good recipe. I’ve reduced the amount of peppercorns for the recipe here and tempered the bite with the addition of cream. If being bit back by a peppercorn bothers you, try crushing some of them with the back of a spoon before adding the cream or strain them out of the sauce entirely before adding the spaghetti.

THREE-PEPPER PASTA

1 tablespoon canned green peppercorns

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon white peppercorns

3/4 cup chicken stock

3/4 cup dry white wine

1 cup whipping cream

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

12 ounces spaghetti, cooked and drained

In large skillet, combine green, black and white peppercorns, stock and wine. Bring to boil and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup. Stir in cream. Bring to boil and cook, stirring until thickened and slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1/3 cup cheese. Add spaghetti and toss to mix thoroughly. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes to allow pasta to soak up some of sauce. Serve on warmed individual plates and pass more cheese at table. Makes 4 servings.