Penne with Balsamic

Wine: Le Clos du Caillou Cotes du Rhone 1998


White Nectarines are fresh and sweet at the Farmer’s Market. We made a Salad with Arugula, Almonds, Prosciutto and dressed it with Saba

Continuing our use of heirloom tomatoes we made one of favorite pastas. The recipe is from Rogers and Grey: Italian Country: Penne with Tomato and Balsamic Vinegar. What makes this such a good recipe is that when the penne is cooked it is thrown back into the pan and slightly cooked with lots of butter. Then lots of balsamic is added to the pasta. Finally the sauce and basil are added to the pasta.

It is served with Pecorino Cheese. Often I find Pecorino to salty. Chris at The Cheese Store of Silverlake sold us a Pecorino that wrapped in Grape leaf. It was very good and not overly salty. It was the best pecorino I have ever tasted. It was the perfect complement to the pasta. We had lots of leftovers and continued to enjoy the pasta for several days.