CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Let me first admit that I have not read the book "Eat, Pray, Love," nor have I seen the movie. I intend to do both.

The concept proffered by author Elizabeth Gilbert, in which the main character gives herself permission to enjoy food, entices me. She wisely chooses Italy, a country whose residents partake of its enviable culinary offerings with joyous abandon, as the place where she indulges this passion.

In an early scene, (I'm told) the newly divorced, thirty-something main character, played by Julia Roberts (in case you don't live on this planet) sits at a table at a trattoria in Rome and charmingly mispronounces her order: a humble plate of spaghetti pomodoro.

While in Italy, she frees herself from her life-long obsession with calories, wheat allergies and food guilt. In Naples, she convinces a new-found friend that life is about indulging in pleasures. The pleasure du jour is a melting Margherita pizza-- so good she orders a second one with double mozzarella.

"The dough, it takes me half my meal to figure out, tastes more like Indian nan than like any pizza dough I ever tried. It's soft and chewy and yielding, but incredibly thin. I always thought we only had two choices in our lives when it came to pizza crust -- thin and crispy, or thick and doughy. How was I to have known there could be a crust in this world that was thin and doughy? Holy of holies! Thin, doughy, strong, gummy, yummy, chewy, salty pizza paradise."

I've read that the slender and waist-line conscious Roberts ate eight slices of Margherita pizza during the filming.

She grows more comfortable dining alone and ordering in Italian, a feat that culminates in her confident order of an eight-course meal, including wine, in an Italian restaurant. "For the table, carciofi alla giudia, orecchiette con guanciale (ear-shaped pasta in tomato sauce made with dried pork cheeks), linguine con vongole, pappardelle con il ragu del coniglio (wide pasta noodles with rabbit and porcini mushrooms), trippa alla Romana and bucatini all'amatriciana... and two more liters of the vino sfuso from Genzano."

I made spaghetti pomodoro, the simplest dish featured in the movie, as I searched for recipes that captured the spirit of the book and movie. The dish combines two of my favorite ingredients: garden tomatoes and fresh basil leaves.

The burst of summer flavor of the tomatoes, basil and garlic in a simple spaghetti pomodoro was just right for me, but I added grilled chicken slices to the portions I served to those with heartier appetites.

Try the spaghetti pomodoro, or any of these other recipes -- and do try to enjoy them without feeling guilty.

Reach Julie Robinson at jul...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1230.

Spaghetti pomodoro

1   pound spaghetti

4   tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4   cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin

1   teaspoon hot chili flakes

2   pints of cherry tomatoes (or 3 cups of chopped fresh tomatoes and their juices)

20   leaves fresh basil, cut into fine slivers

1/2   cup freshly grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese

BRING 6 quarts water to a boil in a spaghetti pot, and add 2 tablespoons salt.

HEAT a 10- to 12-inch sauté pan over medium heat, add the oil and garlic, and cook until light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the chili flakes and the tomatoes, and cook over medium heat, stirring to keep the garlic from cooking any browner until the tomatoes just start to burst or deflate, about 5 minutes.

REMOVE the pan from the heat, and set aside.

DROP the spaghetti into the boiling water, and cook until 1 minute less than the package instructions call for. Drain and toss in the pan with the tomatoes; place the pan over high heat and toss to mix well, about 45 seconds.

REMOVE  the pan from the heat, add the cheese, then the basil, and toss well to mix. Then pour into a heated bowl, and serve immediately.

Source: www.seriouseats.com

Carciofi alla Giudia: Sephardic Style Artichokes

12   young artichokes

2   fresh lemons

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2   cups olive oil

Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

TRIM the outer leaves of each artichoke and the stem to 2 inches long. Using a peeler, peel the stems of each artichoke. In a bowl, combine the artichokes and juice from the lemons. Cover with ice water and allow to sit for 2 hours. Drain well. Using your hands, flatten each artichoke to the shape of a flower.

HEAT the olive oil in a large earthenware pan, over medium heat. Add the artichokes, side by side and stem up. Cook the artichokes until tender, turning the artichokes several times for overall browning. Using a wooden spoon, press each artichoke firmly to the bottom of the pan so that the leaves flatten out. Continue to cook for 10 minutes.

SPRINKLE carefully a little water over the artichokes, this will crisp the artichokes. Continue to cook for 2 minutes.

PLACE the artichokes on a large platter and serve. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.

Source: Emeril Lagasse, 2000

Linguine con Vongole: Linguine with Clams

Makes 4 servings

48   littleneck clams, washed well and shucked

1/2   cup extra-virgin olive oil

4   large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4   teaspoon red chile flakes

1/4   cup chopped fresh parsley

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 pound linguine

CHOP the clams into largish pieces and save all the liquid.

HEAT the olive oil with the garlic in a large, flame-proof casserole over medium-high heat and when it begins to sizzle, add all the clams and their liquid. Cook until bubbling vigorous, then add the chile and parsley. Turn the heat off, season with black pepper, and wait for the pasta to finish cooking.

BRING 6 quarts of water for every pound of pasta to a rolling boil over high heat, salt abundantly with up to 1/2 cup of salt, then add the pasta in handfuls. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally so the pasta doesn't stick together, until al dente. Drain without rinsing. Transfer the pasta to the casserole and toss well with the clam sauce. Serve immediately without cheese.

Source: www.cliffordawright.com

Marinated Melon Balls wrapped with Proscuitto

1   medium ripe honeydew melon (or any other melon except watermelon)

Juice of  lime

1/2   teaspoon crushed red pepper  flakes

1/4   teaspoon salt

1   tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Mint leaves, torn into small pieces 

Thin sliced proscuitto

USING a melon baller, gently scoop out melon balls.

GENTLY toss the melon balls in a bowl with the lime juice, red pepper flakes, salt, and half of the mint.

WRAP melon with sliced proscuitto and secure with toothpick or mint stem with leaf.

ARRANGE on a platter and drizzle with the olive oil.

SPRINKLE with the remaining mint and serve immediately.

Source:www.foodchannel.com

Bucatini all'Amatriciana

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Although this pasta recipe from the movie Eat Pray Love hails from a town 100 miles from Rome, it is ubiquitous there, and you will find it in every trattoria. The authentic version uses guanciale, which is the cured, but not smoked, bacon made from pork jowl. Pancetta, which is easier to find, is a fine substitute. Be careful not to add too much salt to the dish until the end, because the bacon has plenty of salt on its own.

1/4   pound pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch thick by 1-inch long strips

1   medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

1   28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes

1/2    teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more to taste

1   pound Bucatini (long, hollow pasta)

1/4   cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

PLACE the pancetta in a large frying pan (12 inch) and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the bacon is crisp on the outside and much of the fat has been rendered, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat and discard.

ADD the onions to the pan and cook over medium heat until translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Break up the tomatoes with your hands and add them to the pan, along with the juices from the tomatoes, the bacon, and the red pepper flakes. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened, using the back of the spoon to break up the tomatoes.

BRING a large pot of water to a rolling boil, add 1 tablespoon salt, and the pasta. Cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta, but don't rinse. Add to the pan with the sauce (still on the heat) along with the Parmesan, and toss well to coat. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Divide among warmed serving bowls with more pecorino and red pepper flakes on the side.

Source: www.sheknows.com

Margherita pizza

Yield:  2 thin-crust 16-inch pizzas, 5 very thin 14-inch pizzas, or 4 slightly thick 12-inch pizzas

1   1/4-ounce package active dry yeast

1   cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)

1   teaspoon salt (for crust)

3   cups bread flour or all-purpose unbleached flour

3   tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more to rub on crust

3   tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Regiano cheese

1 1/4   pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped and drained in a strainer for 1 hour

3/4   pound fresh mozzarella cheese, diced

10   fresh basil leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

DISSOLVE the yeast in warm water in a large metal mixing bowl, previously warmed under hot running water, then dried. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then add the salt and shake gently.

ADD the flour and olive oil (only if you are making pizza) and mix until you can knead it with your hands. The dough should stick a little bit for the first few minutes but will then form itself into a ball with more kneading and folding. Once it is formed into a ball, dump it onto a lightly floured wooden surface and knead for exactly 12 minutes.

ONCE the ball of dough is smooth, place it in a lightly floured or oiled bowl, cover with a clean dish towel, and let rise in a warm (80 degrees F) place, such as inside a turned-off oven, for 2 hours.

PUNCH down the dough. Divide the dough into two balls and let rise again.

HEAT the oven to 555 degrees F with a large baking stone and let it stay at that temperature for 30 minutes.

ROLL or stretch the dough out until 16 inches in diameter using either a rolling pin on a lightly floured work surface or by rotating the pizza while it's draped over your fist until about 1/3 inch thick. Place each crust on a 16-inch solid pizza pan or the baking stone sprinkled with cornmeal to prevent sticking or use a 16-inch perforated pizza pan, making sure the border of the dough is a little high than the center.

MAKE indentations all over the pizza with your fingertips and grease the top, including the borders, with olive oil. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over the two pizzas, leaving a 1-inch border all around, then evenly distribute the tomatoes and mozzarella. Lay the basil leaves over the top and oil the top again. Season with salt and pepper.

BAKE until the borders are charred in places and the top is dappled brown in certain places on the cheese, 8 to 9 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool a minute or two, cut each pizza into 16 slices with a wheeled pizza pie cutter, and serve.