With Summer on its way and salad leaves beginning to sprout in the garden I began searching for summery recipes. An old favourite has long been Sophie Grigson’s Penne with Rocket & Tomato Sauce which is quick to make but delivers real depth of flavour.
Ingredients
(serves 3-4)
- 340g penne
- Salt
- Pepper
- A generous handful of rocket, chopped roughly
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 large thyme sprig
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbs tomato purée
- 2tbs chopped parsley
- 110ml red wine
- 1 tsp sugar
Add the olive oil to a wide pan, cook the onion, garlic and thyme gently without browning. Then add all the remaining ingredients (tomatoes, tomato puree, parsley, red wine, sugar, salt & pepper). Cook on a reasonably high heat until reduced to a thick sauce. Cook the penne until “al dente,” drain and then toss with a slug of olive oil. Add the sauce and mix to ensure the penne is liberally covered and then add the chopped rocket.
To Drink
Monte Aribaldo Dolcetto D’Alba 2008 has great depth and structure giving ripe, bitter cherry fruit flavours. As with most Italian wines, it has quite high acidity to cut through the richness of the sauce and leave the palate wanting more. I bought this wine from Waitrose at around £7.99 on promotion. If you see it, grab a bottle, as it’s seriously good!
Now I’m off to take some restorative sea air…
