As savage as that might sound, it is a dish that emerged, more as wishful thinking than the actual murder of a clerical figure. This pasta comes to the rest of the world via Tuscany and Umbria where the Church's greedy hands took everything they could get said hands on - land, buildings, tithing and inviting themselves to after-Mass dinners on Sundays.
Your house was penalized if the cook was particularly talented. Then every Sunday you would find his knees shoved under your Sunday dinner table. After a month or more of this rapacious priest stuffing his face with food meant for the immediate family, the wives (generally the chefs at that time) developed a certain … resentment. To release some tension in their kitchens, they invented a new pasta shape and among themselves, they secretly referred to it as "priest strangler." To this untutored eye, it look like three linguini squashed together, and cut into 1 1/2 in. strips and given a twist in the middle. How the women must have enjoyed "strangling the priest."
Who is this New Neighbor in the shopping mall, corner of Aviation and prospect? Spumoni, 1101 Artesia, Hermosa Beach, 424-304-2421 it replaced an Indian restaurant named Akbar.
Richie, "D" and me, decided to try it last night. The interior of the large dining room is very old-fashioned chic with banquettes against the long wall and chairs plus a large nook with group seating off to the right from the entrance. White tablecloths, waiters in black pants and white shirts.
Here's what we ordered (and ate with some gusto.)
Richie: Pollo Cacciatore - double chicken breasts, with roasted peppers, mushrooms, onions, in a light white wine tomato sauce. $20
"D" Linguini Pescatore $19 but I couldn't find it in the online menu. I know it had mussels because Richie "borrowed" three of them.
Me : Strozzapreti Carbonara $18 It was delicious and as they give large portions, it's my dinner tonight as Richie's leftovers are his. Clearly he filled up on mussels...
Drinks: two glasses Fantini Sangiovese - $26
One glass house pinot grigio $9
Two glasses Carmenet Cabernet $26
Two splits sparkling Prosecco $28
Three people, food and wines' $170.45 without taxes.
And no priests were harmed during this dinner.
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