Читать книгу Recipes from My Mother - Rachel Allen - Страница 71

Creamy pork and tomato pasta

SERVES 4–6

My mum used to make lots of great comforting pasta dishes like this when we were little, but no two ever seemed to be the same. In fact, when I asked her for one of her recipes, she just said that she used to make it up as she went along! So here is my version of one of Mum’s delicious concoctions – I hope you like it as much as I do.

500g (1lb 2oz) pasta, such as pappardelle or tagliatelle

25g (1oz) butter

250g (9oz) onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely sliced

400g (14oz) minced pork

1 tbsp chopped sage

a little grated nutmeg

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

400g (14oz) tomatoes, peeled and chopped (see tip, here), or 1 × 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

pinch of sugar

2 tbsp chopped parsley

150ml (5fl oz) regular or double cream

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil with 1 teaspoon salt, add the pasta and cook for the length of time specified in the packet instructions or until al dente.

2. While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onions and garlic, cover the pan with a lid and sweat the vegetables until soft but not coloured. Season with salt and pepper.

3. While the onions and garlic are sweating, mix the pork with the chopped sage, then season with grated nutmeg, salt and pepper.

4. When the onions and garlic are soft, remove them from the pan and set aside.

5. Add the olive oil to the pan and return to a medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the pork in little pieces pinched off with your fingers, or with a teaspoon. Fry the pork on all sides until golden, then return the onions and garlic to the pan and add the tomatoes, season again with a pinch of salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar. When the tomatoes have cooked down to half their original volume, add the parsley and cream and cook for a further 2–3 minutes to thicken slightly.

6. Drain the pasta, strain the pasta but reserve about 100ml (3½fl oz) of the cooking water – this is very useful for adding into the pasta sauce if it’s too thick, or stirring into the pasta itself if you’re waiting for the sauce to cook and the pasta starts sticking. Add the sauce to the pasta, mix well to combine, adding a little pasta cooking water if it needs loosening, then serve immediately.