A Quick Fix For My Jetlagged Self
20 January 2009
I just arrived "home" in Tokyo yesterday morning after a fabulous month Europe. In order to minimize my jetlag I really made an effort to stay up all day until bedtime after a sleepless night on the plane (I hardly ever manage to sleep there).
To keep myself awake I had lots of coffee and went to the supermarket to place my big order as usual; for the first time since I moved here, however, the supermarket delivery guy showed up 2 hours later than usual, so I got hungrier and sleepier and somewhat grumpy as I was impatiently waiting for my groceries. When they finally arrived I quickly prepared some penne with a simple sauce of broccoli, canned tomatoes and some random spices, while watching a ski race on TV with one eye.
Short, I didn’t pay much attention to my cooking, my primary goal being to silence my growling stomach. All the more was I surprised when I finally took the first bite and noticed how tasty the sauce had come out…
Quick Broccoli Penne
| yields 4 portions of sauce (for people who like their pasta juicy) |
| florets of 2 heads of broccoli |
| 2 tins of diced tomatoes |
| 2-3 teaspoons fine white sugar |
| 40ml balsamic vinegar |
| 2 organic vegetable stock cubes |
| coriander powder |
| garlic granulate |
| shichimi (or some chili powder) |
| a dash of dry sherry |
| about 500g penne or other pasta |
Wash the broccoli heads and cut off only just the top layer of florets (you can use the stems for something else, a cream soup for example). Very finely chop the bits that have not crumbled yet anyway.
Melt the sugar in a non-stick frying pan at about medium heat. Add the balsamic vinegar and let it reduce for 5 minutes or so to a thick sauce, then stir in the butter. Add the broccoli crumbs and combine them well with the buttery sauce, then pour in the tinned tomatoes and season with 2 vegetable stock cubes (I always use organic ones, which I think taste best).
Cover with a lid and simmer lightly for 15-20 minutes; cook the pasta in the meantime.
Once the broccoli is softish, add a dash of dry sherry and season to taste with powdered coriander (which by the way tastes completely different to fresh one), garlic granulate and shichimi (or just some chili powder), as well as a pinch of salt if necessary. Bring the sauce to a somewhat stronger boil for a minute or so for the alcohol to evaporate. Serve with the pasta right after.