To try and decide each week where and what to eat around the basin can be a challenge — there are so many amazing choices. In this feature we’ll dive into dishes that will surely satisfy those hunger pangs and leave you wondering where to go next.

Before you see the name and let it penetrate your soul with childhood memories of that pasta in a can, let me preempt those memories and let you know that this dish was one of the better things I have eaten recently — so no bad mojo happening here — only clever plays on names.

All of Primo’s pasta and sauces are made in house, which immediately sets the pace for not only this dish but also pretty much all of their dishes. Here, playful alphabet pasta meets arrabbiata sauce, which, if you say it out loud, just sounds like a good time. Arrabbiata is similar to a marinara only it kicks it up a notch with red chili peppers giving it a little more personality.

Sitting on top if the pasta is a 63-degree egg, which is essentially a perfectly soft-poached egg. Circling the wagons are thick slices of deep fried pork belly and everything is topped off with freshly julienned basil.

This dish is listed on the menu as an appetizer, so if this is the way your starting off your meal you are going to be in for a treat. Start off by slicing into the egg letting all of that gooey richness cascade over the pasta. Slice into the crispy pork belly, swipe it through the egg and pasta and let your taste buds experience nirvana.

The spice from the arrabbiata hits a little on the front end, but mellows out against the smokiness of the pork belly. The fresh basil adds brightness but it’s really the sauce that acts as the mama bear of the dish. It coats and hugs everything so perfectly that you’ll want every bite lathered in it. There’s great texture from the pork belly and when the silkiness from the egg yolk coats it, it feels like satin sheets tucking you in at night.

I’d absolutely recommend this dish in the leadoff spot every time you visit Primo’s. Heck, order two and let it hit in the cleanup spot, too. Either way you’re scoring runs.

Primo’s Italian Bistro is located at 2180 Lake Tahoe Blvd in South Lake Tahoe. For drink and food menus visit them online at primositalianbistro.com or reach them via phone at 530-600-2220.