Friday, March 07, 2008

Penne with Smoked Trout and Tomatoes

It's the start of Presto Pasta Night's second year and this week I have some special pasta.

penne


Made in Italy using traditional bronze die, these are organic artisan Penne. What makes these special is the die - the bronze die leaves a rougher surface on the pasta and this results in a more porous product that helps to absorb the accompanying sauce. If you want your sauce to really cling to your pasta and not your clothing, then seek out this type of pasta.

I'll be teaming this pasta with a rather fresh sauce involving smoked trout and an adorable range of cherry tomatoes.

tomatoes

Those striped ones at the front are a newish variety called Black Pearl Cherry Tomatoes - one taste and I'm a convert. If you're looking for a tomato with an real intense tomato flavour, then this is for you. With such a great flavour I'm not going to be cooking these tomatoes down, they will be added at the last minute to just warm through. The addition of rocket (argula) will bring a pleasing peppery bite to the dish.

Penne with smoked trout and tomatoes

Penne with Smoked Trout and Tomatoes

Penne
smoked rainbow trout, flaked roughly
1 large onion, diced finely
assorted cherry tomatoes, quartered
rocket (arugula)
fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped


Heat some olive oil and a good knob of butter in a pan over a low heat and when the butter has melted add the finely diced onion. Cook this very slowly until the onions are translucent and very soft - I don't want them to colour but to almost dissolve into the oil/butter mixture.

Add the tomatoes, rocket and smoked trout - toss it through the onions and keep it on the heat just until the rocket wilts.

Finally, tip in the drained penne, stir it through, sprinkle over with the chopped parsley and serve immediately.

penn with smoked trout and tomatoes

14 comments

  1. I am so jealous of your fresh and beautiful tomatoes! I wish we had that kind of variety but it will be several months before I can even get fresh tomatoes. Looks like a delicious dish! Thanks!

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  2. Your photos always take my breath away! The dish looks wonderful and thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

    As for the tomatoes...unfortunately, I'm with Ginny, no fresh ones that actually taste like tomatoes, at least not yet.

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  3. Beautiful photos and a delicious sounding recipe! Trader Joe's actually carries a couple/few varieties of traditional bronze die pastas, in distinctive paper bags sealed with little rivets. The roughness really does help the sauce cling to the pasta. For the same reason, you should never rinse cooked pasta--the starch helps sauce cling better too.

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  4. That looks tasty and sounds simple to make. I have never had smoked trout. I will have to look for it to try.

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  5. Those tomatoes are absolutely gorgeous!

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  6. I love the look of those black pearl tomatoes - makes me wish I had a job naming new fruit and vegetables - wouldn't that be fun!

    Love the look of the pasta - your detailed photos help so much - I haven't seen it around but was at the mediterranean supermaret in Brunswick this week and they had some amazing coloured pasta I hope to post about soon - wonder if they have the bronze pasta too!

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  7. wow im jealous of your tomatoes! they look really good. i wish we havd those here. id love to try this.

    love the presto pasta column a lot. im trying some. may i ask what camera u use to take photos? they are really good. very tempting!

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  8. Oh those little striped tomatoes are so cute! :) We had a flush of cherry tomatoes from our balcony plant recently - it's amazing the difference between just-picked tomatoes and the ones you get in the supermarket.

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  9. Gorgeous pasta! I love pasta with barely cooked tomatoes - when they are in season. That pasta looks like what my old extruder made..., long gone, though... (the extruder)

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  10. This looks divine, so fresh and delicious!!! Must get my hands on some trout

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  11. Thanks Ginny - it's been great to see the variety this season, hopefully next season there will be even more!

    Thanks Ruth - hopefully you won't have too long to wait.

    Thanks Terry - that's exactly how these are packaged. I think my mother would disown me if I ever rinsed pasta ;)

    Thanks Kevin - smoked trout is a real underrated product but it's quite delicious and can be easily turned into smoked trout pate

    Thanks Brilynn - they taste as good as they look!

    Hi Johanna - I'd be surprised if the Mediterranean Supermarket didn't have them - Enoteca Sileno definitely sells a large variety of them. It's fascinating to see how the bronze mould impacts on the texture when compared to regular pasta extruded using teflon coated moulds.

    Thanks Coffee - I use a nikon.

    Thanks Y - home-grown tomatoes are stlll the best!

    Thanks Katie - what a shame, it must have pushed out some fantastic pasta in it's life.

    Thanks Rachel!

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  12. We had a huge barbecue for lunch, but looking at these photo's, I could happily eat again...

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  13. Everything about this is wonderful. Your photography is jaw dropping!

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  14. Thanks Nina!

    Thanks Chris!

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