April 8, 2007: Tasty tomato-striped pasta

Adam from the Amateur Gourmet recently raved about a pasta dish that he made at home and desperately craved again less than a week later. It looked pretty easy so we stopped Medditeranean Wholesalers after our Cafe 3A breakfast in Brunswick, and collected the essential ingredients. It is rather tasty - in particular I was wowed by the transformation of leathery little sundried tomatoes into moist but chewy explosions of flavour. They strike a most agreeable compromise between Michael's hatred of fresh tomatoes and my aversion to shrivelled fully-dried ones.

As you'll be able to see from the recipe (and perhaps the pic), this is basically a bowl of oiled carbs (with a bit of beany protein, sure), so make yourself a big bowl of salad to pair with it.

Tasty tomato-striped pasta

375g pasta
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and sliced, plus 2 tablespoons of oil from their jar
4 cloves garlic, sliced finely
a couple of shakes of chilli powder
400g can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 cup grated parmesan (or similar) cheese

Get the pasta boiling with lots of water in a saucepan.

In a frypan, heat up 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the oil from the sundried tomatoes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for a minute or two and then add the chilli powder. After another half-minute, add the sun-dried tomatoes and let 'em sizzle for a further minute. Pour in 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and simmer the mix until it has reduced by half.

Add in the cannellini beans, salt and 1 1/2 cups more of the pasta cooking water. Bring the liquid to the boil, stirring occasionally, and continue to simmer it for 4 more minutes. When the pasta's ready, drain it and drizzle over the last tablespoon of olive oil. Pour the sauce in, gently stirring it through, and then add the parsley and cheese. Serve with a glass of vino and a big salad.