I was introduced to this week’s recipe because of Sophie the dog, and her owner Pam, who I thought was dead.  Sometimes dog walking could take me by surprise, not only because the dogs were amazing and unpredictable, but also because of the interactions I had with their owners.

 Pam gave me the code to the lockbox so that I wouldn’t wake her when I came to walk Sophie,  who was slightly deaf and liked to sleep on the tiled floor in the master bathroom. Unfortunately for me  the bathroom was on the far side of the bedroom. Many mornings as I stood outside the open door to the darkened bedroom loudly whispering Sophie’s name, I could just about make out the shape of someone asleep under the covers. Pam never moved or acknowledged me as Sophie would come charging out of the bathroom and we would head out the front door. One morning after almost five minutes and still no dog I realized I would have to go into Pam’s bedroom to look for Sophie. I could just see the headlines— “Dog Walker Mistakenly Shot. ” Hesitantly I called out Pam’s name. I could see a motionless body in the bed. I called her name a bit louder as I got closer, but still no movement. Surely she would have heard me if she was alive? For God’s sake, get a grip, I said to myself—you’ve been reading too many detective novels. I took a deep breath and yelled, “PAM!”. She shot up from the bed with a startled look. For a moment of shocked silence as we looked at each other, the white cords of her earbuds still hanging from her ears, I thought I could hear some kind of chanting coming from them. As it turned out, Sophie had accidently been shut in the bathroom.

Later that day when I dropped Sophie off, Pam invited me in for lunch. She apologized, saying she felt bad that she had scared me and wanted to treat me to her latest craving. Still in her bathrobe, in a little over ten minutes she whipped up what she called Japanese spaghetti.  She introduced it to me as a late night snack, a hangover cure—or ‘just because’. Believe me, you too will crave this dish. This vegetarian dish can be adjusted to a vegan dish by using olive oil instead of butter. You can also add more vegetables like spinach and onions. To be truly decadent, add bacon. 

Japanese Spaghetti

Ingredients:

• ¾ lb of linguine

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

• 3 large cloves of garlic sliced

• ¾ lb mushrooms- if possible a combination of shitake, oyster, enoki, and crimini ( the more flavorful the better-pictured are shitake, oyster and crimini)

• 4 tablespoons of soy sauce

• 3 tablespoons of butter 

• 2 scallions (green onions) sliced 

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Wash and slice the scallions, cover them with cold water and set aside. Put a large saucepan of water on the stove. Add enough salt so that the water tastes like the sea. Bring to a boil, add the pasta-cook until al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, heat a large saute pan, after a minute add the olive oil, garlic and mushrooms. Cook over medium heat until the mushrooms start to turn brown —take care not to burn the garlic. Next add the soy sauce, stir to combine and then add the butter. Let the mixture bubble a bit as it melts and mixes with the soy, garlic, and mushrooms. Ladle a bit of pasta water into the mushroom mixture to create a sauce, and then add the pasta. Cook for a couple minutes, taste and adjust seasoning. Drain the scallions and toss them in along with the pasta mixture and serve.