Life is difficult to predict.
But there are few things one can be sure of. One of these is my friend, and blogger, Scarlett’s asking me for the recipe whenever I say that I have cooked pasta. Thought that I will beat her to it this time.
So here’s my recipe for the incredibly easy Penne in Arrabiata sauce. Arrabiata is a fancy word for tomato sauce. This recipe serves three. Or two with leftovers.
- Boil penne in water. Drain water and set aside.
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan
- Add a teaspoon of chopped peeled garlic to the heated oil and stir
- Add 200 g of pork sausages, sliced or ringed. You slice it so that the flavours permeate through the meat. We were using pork sausages after ages and had almost forgotten how good they tasted. We bought local, unbranded sausages from Jude’s Cold Storage at Pali Market, bandra. I prefer adding the meat right in the beginning so that the taste of the meat infuses right through the dish.
- Stir till the skin of the sausage begins to brown
- Add 200 g of packaged tomato purée, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon each of sugar and black pepper powder and 1 slice of low fat cheese. Stir till the sauce blends in. This is my Arrabiata sauce
- Add the boiled pasta and gently stir so that the sauce covers the pasta. The net effect is on the drier side
- I added some boiled corn to cut the tanginess of the tomato purée. You could use sliced mushroom as well
- Add some fresh chopped basil at the end. Cover with a lid and close the fame. Shouldn’t take more than ten minutes from the time you started with the pan
- I added strips of Gruyère on top while plating it. This was pure food porn. The aroma of this sensuous cheese lingers on your fingers well after you have touched it. I can smell it even now as I type. Maddeningly erotic.