Port Orchard Pasta
This is a recipe I came up with at Toni’s place in Port Orchard, hence the name.
It’s a takeoff on the classic Italian ‘pasta fagioli’, but we changed it up a bit. To
serve 4, you’ll need:
Olive oil to coat the bottom of a large skillet
1 pound pasta, preferably penne or any other short thick pasta
1 medium onion, diced
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 16 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 16 oz. can white kidney (cannelloni) beans, drained
Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste
3 or 4 oz. diced salami
fresh Parmesan, to grate over at the end
parsley, if you have some, also to sprinkle over
Bring a big pot of salted water to the boil, and when it’s rolling, dump in the
pasta. Stir your pasta, then turn it down so it doesn’t boil over. As it cooks, you
can get everything else ready. Sauté your onion in the olive oil, and when it’s nice
and soft add the garlic. Let it cook for only about 30 seconds, then add the
tomatoes and the beans. Stir them well and turn it all down to low. When the
pasta is cooked but still firm, drain it but reserve about ½ c. of the cooking liquid.
Add the drained pasta to the bean and tomato mixture, (this is why you need a
big pan) add the salami, and then add as much of the pasta liquid as you need to
make a sauce. You might not need much – see how it looks. Stir it all around till
the salami is well incorporated, then serve it with lots of grated parmesan and
some minced parsley on top. Fast, inexpensive, and with salad, a great dinner – in
like 17 minutes!!