Rustichella d'Abruzzo at the Friday Lunch Club

Today, I ventured through a New York City snowstorm to visit my good friend Sara Jenkins, chef of Porsena. I was joined by some intrepid companions, arriving through whirling wind and snow to experience Porsena's Friday Lunch Club (blizzard version).

Among these hearty souls, to our great joy, was our friend Mary Taylor Simeti, who happened to be in New York for the week, visiting from Sicily. Mary is the author of Bitter Almonds, the astonishing story (with recipes) of our producer Maria Grammatico from Erice, Sicily (Maria's tomato paste has no contenders).

Sara started her Friday Lunch Club because, as she told me, "I don't get much of an opportunity to just cook. I wanted to do something that was fun and intimate, and I could just have fun cooking." She made her delicious Pasta with Crumbled Sausage, Sage & Winter Squash (pictured, above right), using Sagne a Pezzi from Rustichella d'Abruzzo's PrimoGrano line.

The recipe is from her recent cookbook The Four Seasons of Pasta, which she co-wrote with her mother Nancy Jenkins. And check out Sara's Instagram feed for more pasta inspirations using Rustichella d'Abruzzo. We will cook together again with Rustichella d'Abruzzo pasta this summer, making it the Friday Lunch Club Redux (sweltering version).

—Rolando Beramendi

(Top photo, from left: Molly Firestone (Manicaretti East Coast Brand Manager), author Mary Talor Simeti, Rolando Beremendi and chef Sara Jenkins); Bottom photo: Rolando is holding the PrimoGrano Sagne a Pezzi; Sara is holding the 90° Rapida Spaghetti.)