Olive Oil Lady.

She has a real name: Josephine Mangano, a small town girl from Sicily, who found her way to Minneapolis. And the olive oil has a name, too. Valli dell‘Etna Olive Oil, produced on the family farm near what else, Mt. Etna.

Mr. “What’s Cooking” named her olive oil lady after reading about her in the local newspaper. I’m not exactly sure when olive oil became an interest of his. But evidently it was that day. (He has many interests and is given to ripping articles out of the p

aper about each and then proceeding to stack them up all over the house.) Who remembers where this olive oil article was when he unearthed it. “We have to meet her,” he said emphatically. “Who is she?” I asked, not really wanting to know or even give the discussion a fair chance. “Olive oil lady,” he said. “We need to meet olive oil lady.”

Fine. Whatever.

The news article included an e-mail address. She was local and lived about two miles from our

house. Following his new olive oil passion, he e-mailed her, arranged a visit to her home, and bought several bottles based on the paper’s review and her own description of the olive oil magic packed inside each bottle.

Don’t get me wrong. I like olive oil. I use it in my cooking all the time. And, I can’t imagine my nightly salad without it.

The first time he brought home two bottles of the precious oil and we tasted it right away. And it did have a special, wonderfully rich appeal. Yum. Given the price (about $40/per bottle), we agreed to use it in cooking special dishes only and making salads, of course. I think that idea lasted about a week. Soon we were pouring oil liberally and the two bottles were gone. Kaput. And, he was off to see olive oil lady for more. It’s been that way for the past

two years. We get our olive oil fix from our own special source.

Thank goodness olive oil lady started to make monthly appearances at the Mill City Farmers Market. We live exactly 600 yards from the market and we never miss her appearance.

We loved olive oil lady for her delicious product, but she really

endeared herself when we were planning a Mediterranean cruise last summer that included a stop in her beloved Taormina, Sicily.

Who better to help us plan our one day in Taormina? She produced books for us to read, maps of the Taormina area, bus information, and about three weeks worth of restaurant ideas. Thanks to her, we had a perfectly amazing day in Taormina. And, we can’t wait to return to see the other 200 things on the “must see” list she provided.

If you’ve been to Sicily, you must visit olive oil lady, purchase a bottle or two, and relive the visit. And, especially if Sicily isn’t on your vacation roster, make sure olive oil lady is. $40 is a pretty inexpensive way to taste what’s so special about Taormina.

You can purchase Valli dell’Etna olive oil at the Mill City Farmers Market beginning the 1st Saturday of every month through October 2009: August 1, September 5, October 3, 2009; directly from Josephine Mangano by sending an e-mail to vallidelletna@att.net or by calling 612.374.2828; year round from Lucia’s To Go in Minneapolis and Golden Fig in St. Paul.

Olive oil lady (aka Josephine Mangano) is the marketing and distribution arm of Valli dell’Etna Olive Oil. Her brother Tano is the grower producer. Their olive groves consist of five parcels of land on terraced valleys at the foot of Mt. Etna, Europe’s highest active volcano, which dominates northeast Sicily. The Manganos pick and press the yield from each parcel separately, producing several “field blends” which vary in taste from year to year.

Just like fine wines, their extra virgin olive oils clearly state the year of harvest and the olive varietal. These premium, artisan olive oils are cold pressed, organic and unfiltered and are best used as a seasoning ingredient. Simply drizzle, garnish, or splash onto your finished dish to showcase its delicious flavor. Store the olive oil in a cool, dark place. And remember that unlike wine, olive oil does not improve with age. Use olive oil within two years from harvest. That’s never a problem in our house.

Menu courtesy Lucille’s Kitchen Garden, who also appears at the Mill City Market

Spaghettini alla Carrettiera

(Thin spaghetti with tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil) serves four

1 large bunch fresh basil, the yield should be 11/2 to 2 cups

1 1/2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes, blanched, skinned. The yield should be two cups

OR two cups canned, imported Italian plum tomatoes drained and cut up

OR 1 box Pomi’ chopped tomatoes by Parmalat

5 large cloves of garlic, peeled, and chopped fine

5 tablespoons Valli dell’Etna Estra Virgin Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Valli dell’Etna sea salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound spaghettini

Plunge the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute or until the water returns to a boil. Drain them and, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, skin them, and cut them up in coarse pieces.

Pull off the basil leaves from the stalks, rinse them briefly in cold water, and shake off all the moisture using a colander, a salad spinner or simply by gathering the basil loosely in a dry cloth towel or a paper towel. Tear all but the tiniest leaves by hand into small pieces. The yield should be about 1.5 to 2 cups.

Put the tomatoes, garlic, Valli dell’Etna extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper into a saucepan, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook for 15 minutes to 20 minutes, or until the oil floats free from the tomato.

Off heat, as soon as the sauce is done, mix in the torn-up basil. Adjust for salt and pepper.

Drop the spaghettini in 4 quarts of boiling salted water. Since thin spaghetti cook very rapidly, begin testing them early for doneness.

Drain the spaghettini in a large colander, giving the colander two or three vigorous upward jerks to make all the water run off, and transfer quickly to a large hot bowl. Add the sauce, mixing it thoroughly into the spaghettini, You may, if you wish, add a few drops of raw Valli dell’Etna to extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately.

Note: No grated cheese is called for. If you like a bit more sauce, allow 3 ounces of spaghettini per serving rather than 4. You can capture the delights of summer by freezing the sauce. Thaw the sauce in the refrigerator. Re-heat the thawed sauce in a saucepan and mix a tablespoon of Valli dell’Etna extra virgin olive oil, if you wish. Enjoy this dish year-round with fresh basil and boxed tomatoes.