The kitchen of Canette Liddy is a hive of deliciousness. Her backyard features a wood burning pizza oven that her husband Chris built last summer, so pizzas are the centerpiece of most gatherings. She can cater for 50 at a moment’s notice from her well-stocked pantry. As a newcomer to Baton Rouge, I landed two doors down from Canette and am the regular recipient of her hospitality.

‘Canette, rhymes with Anette,’ she explains. Her name means ‘little duck’ in French and she took me under her wing, first when I moved to this new town and most recently when trauma struck our family. She helps us all stay afloat. While we chatted in her kitchen, she put a pot of water on to boil and quick-chopped some garlic, fresh parsley and reached for her trusty bottle of peperoncino, crushed red chili flakes she brought back from Italy. In about 20 minutes we were twirling noodles and counting our blessings.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? Peperoncino Pasta. Hadn’t really had it until we went to Rome last summer. Now I have a new love of crushed chili flakes. Also my friend Lei, who is a phenomenal cook, makes a noodle dish with Chinese chili oil and it is so delicious! I learned if you have really good ingredients, you don’t need much. Let one shine through.

What’s your favorite city? London! That’s where it all started. That’s where I met Chris

Favorite restaurant in your current city? Cocha, downtown Baton Rouge

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? A wedge of Parmesan. The real stuff with the rind

Who taught you to cook? A combo of my mom Glenda and PBS cooking shows

What’s your go-to dish for company? Pizza! Or Chris’s Aussie Burgers ‘with the lot’

What’s on your cooking playlist? Bossanova

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Tea, English breakfast

Date night—at home? or out? mostly at home

Most stained cookbook? It’s a 3-way tie. Jamie Oliver’s Naked Chef and two by Caprial Pence, Caprial’s Cafe and Cooking with Caprial

Indispensable kitchen tool? my chef’s knife. I got a new one that’s handcrafted, American made from New West Knife Works

Staple childhood comfort food? my mom’s broccoli casserole

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? my mom and dad

Go-to olive oil? California Olive Ranch is my every day

Best thing you’ve ever eaten in an airport? seeded toast in Auckland

Favorite pizza topping? pepperoni. pretty boring. I do judge a pizza place on their Margherita. It’s hard to get that one right

Where would you want to take a cooking class? Milk Street in Boston

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? get a coffee grinder to use for spices. I grind pepper so it’s always in reach

Three things next to your stove assortment of salts and oils, freshly ground pepper

What’s your favorite sports team? New Orleans Saints

Canette’s Peperoncino Pasta

1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 to 3 teaspoons crushed red chili flakes (peperoncino)
handful of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 pound dried pasta, Canette likes long noodles like spaghetti
salt for the pasta cooking water

PUT a large pot of water on to boil and salt it so it’s salty like the sea. When the water boils, cook the pasta to ‘al dente’, usually a minute or two less than the package suggests.

HEAT the olive oil In a small skillet over low heat. Add the garlic and swirl the skillet to infuse the oil with the garlic. Add the chili flakes to your taste and remove the skillet from the heat.

DRAIN the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the water. Return the pasta to the pot and toss with the garlic-chili oil and chopped parsley. Toss around with tongs and serve in heated bowls.

For a more saucy dish, add some of the reserved pasta water along with the parsley