The Artist's Dinner

I gave my wife a cookbook for a present several years ago (we collect them) and this one was “The Artist’s Palate”, “Cooking with the World’s Great Artists” by Frank Fedele. I had forgotten about it.

Yesterday, my wife came home late and didn’t want to make an elaborate meal. She wanted something vegetarian and looked into this book. She discovered Will Barnet’s Linguini with Garlic and Oil. Will was an old friend, and it was a coincidence that we did his dish.

For my regular readers, you may remember that of the four pieces of art my daughter took to Montreal with her, one was Will Barnet’s “Blue Bicycle”. Also, Rosie owns an early Will Barnet wood cut he gave to her upon her birth, 19 years ago.

This simple dish consists of:

1 lb. linguini (we used whole wheat)

6-7 cloves garlic

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch of parsley roughly cut

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (we used Parmesan Regiano)

Salt and pepper to taste


Cook pasta in boiling salted water

Heat oil to hot, add the garlic,. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add ¾ of the parsley, salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat and pour over the drained linguini

Add grated cheese and garnish with the remaining parsley.


Simple, flavorful, wonderful and served with a warm loaf of bread and a big bottle of some good red wine, it was a miracle out of very little.