Pasta Dinner for Lent

Cooking & Spirituality

By Lucia Ferrara

Today I am sharing another recipe that goes way back, a recipe that I grew up with — especially during Lent. I am not sure it even has a name; we just called it pasta with tomatoes and anchovies. It is so simple and quick to prepare. It’s a great meal to make on a Friday night during Lent when you come home and don’t want to be in the kitchen for forever.

For the pasta, I am using spaghetti because that is what my family likes, but you use whatever you like. You could use penne or rigatoni or fettuccine. Other good choices are the twisty fusilli or the bow-tie farfalle,

Serve with a nice, tossed salad and garlic bread, and you’ll have meal your family will ask for again and again.

Pasta with Tomatoes and Anchovies

• 2 10 oz containers of red grape tomatoes
• Freshly grated parmesan
• 1 lemon, sliced
• Filets of anchovies
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• Crushed red peppers
• Half of shallot, diced
• 2-3 cloves fresh garlic, diced
• Small bunch of fresh parsley, diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lb. pasta of your choice.

Cooking as Spiritual Practice

The following is excerpted from “A Lenten Psalm of Longing,” which you can find in the book Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim by Fr. Ed Hays. Let’s make it our prayer today.

May the wind of the Spirit
that drove Jesus into the desert,
into the furnace of prayer,
also drive me with a passion
during this Lenten season
to enkindle the fire of my devotion
in the desert of Lenten love.

Never miss an article published on the Renewal Center website: Sign up to receive our newsletters.

All the articles and videos in the Cooking and Spirituality Series can be found here.

[Lucia Ferrara, the Director of Hospitality at Precious Blood Renewal Center. Share your thoughts with Lucia or ask her questions using the form below or by sending an email to info@pbrenewalcenter.org.]

We’d Like to Hear from You!

We’d like to know what you think about this article. Send us a comment using the form below. Do you have a suggestion? Is there something you want to learn more about? Send us a note.