The Italian city of Trapani, on Sicily's westernmost tip, has an identity all of its own. That is because geographically speaking it is closer both in distance and topography to Tunis than Naples. In fact it’s closer to several African ports than it is to any part of mainland Italy.

It owes much of its heritage to the sea and its importance to the ancient trade routes. Trapani flourished as the center of Phoenician trading because it was a navigationally necessary port during the middle ages. With out Trapani, links between Tunis, Naples, Anjou and Aragon may have been impossible at that time. These facts helped Sicily’s foods to develop separately and distinctly from the rest of Italy. Its hot, dry, predominately flat landscape seems more reminiscent of North Africa than most parts of Italy, and is another determinate factor in its culinary past.

“Hello? Yeah. No. Okay. Yes. Sure. Great. Yeah right! Ok, bye. It was nice talking to you too.”

That’s how this story starts, because that collection of very literate sentences was uttered by me and is just one side of a very brief phone call.

Do you have one of those friends who start every phone conversation as if they had been on the phone with you a half hour already? It’s like they just pick up where they left off when they last spoke to you a week ago.

They could spout off their SS# and give you the combination to the safe without first confirming with whom they are speaking.

But in this instance I was indeed the intended reservoir for the information being conveyed. And believe it or not, the information being conveyed was a party invitation.

Are you ready for a showstopper?

I mean really ready! Because that is what this is. It is actually very simple to make. Naturally it is delicious. I would not make it if it weren’t. It’s even a healthy pasta dish. But these facts are merely interesting asides compared to its truly special quality.

The fusilli in this picture is standard semolina pasta. It happens to be a well-made dried pasta. There is no riboflavin or thiamine in this pasta. It comes by its golden hue from the creamy yellow heart of durum wheat semolina and water. Nothing else is added to hinder its sauce sucking attributes.

Though that interesting little fact makes it a far better tasting pasta. It is not what makes this recipe a real showstopper.

 The accolades come from its deeply crimson color. The color is so vibrant you could easily call it candy-apple red.