Some Random Cooking
23 June 2009
We were high up in the mountains deep in the Switzerland countyside last weekend, where we celebrated Simon’s brother’s wedding (who, by the way, very kindly hosts my website on his server!). Coming back home to Munich on Sunday afternoon I realized it had completely slipped my mind to provide for anything to eat that evening – still used to Tokyo business hours I had simply not thought about the fact that there’s no shopping on Sundays here…
With the exception of champagne (of which I think it is always a good idea to have reasonable supply…), the fridge was alarmingly empty; but luckily I could still scrape together a hand full of leftover ingredients from here and there, and as we are leaving for 2 weeks of California this week (can’t wait to go!!), we were indeed happy to use them up. The situation reminded me a bit of that TV show where the candidates bring a bag of random ingredients which the chefs consequently have to process into a meal…
I essentially found some leftover pepper salami, a few black olives and a glass of gherkins. We also had some basic ingredients like onions, garlic and canned tomatoes (I always keep a few of those at home – they make a fantastic basis for all kind of spontaneous dishes). Spiced up with a pinch of chili, some reserve balsamic vinegar and a dash of olive oil, the components very quickly ended up in an extremely tasty sauce for a yummy plate of penne!
Penne Salami
| serves 4 |
| 100g (pepper) salami in fine slices |
| 40g pitted black olives |
| 40g gherkins |
| 600g peeled and minced canned tomatoes |
| 3 small to medium onions |
| 3 dents of garlic |
| a pinch of chili powder (to taste) |
| 2 teaspoons of brown (demerara) sugar |
| a dash of (reserve) balsamic vinegar |
| a little dash of cold-pressed olive oil |
| some oil for frying |
to go with it: |
| penne (or other pasta) |
Finely chop the onions. Heat a bit of oil in a pan and brown them gently. Shift the onions to the side, and use the free spot in the centre to cautiously fry the dents of garlic, minced through a garlic press. Before the garlic gets brown (and bitter), stir with the onions, and shift everything to the sides again, making space for the salami. Cut the slices of salami into little squares and roast them until nice and crispy, then stir with onions and garlic.
Add the canned tomatoes, the gherkins (chopped into little pieces) as well as the pitted olives (cut in half), and bring to a light boil. Season to taste with salt a pinch of dried chili powder (or similar) to add a touch of spicyness.
Sprinkle 2 teaspoons or so of demarara sugar on top of the simmering sauce and wait for it to melt; then pour in a good dash of balsamic vinegar (particularly nice with reserve vinegar), and stir well while the sauce thickens. Let simmer for just a few minutes and finish with a dash of cold-pressed olive oil. Done!
Serve with penne (or other pasta).