As promised, the dish that taught me to cook:

Chez Piggy Pasta

This dish came originally from Chez Piggy (hence the name), an upscale restaurant in Kingston, Ontario. The pasta itself is very low key though, and has evolved over time to be considerably different from the original recipe. It was the first thing I ever cooked and it remains one of my favorite go-to dishes of all time.

Ingredients:

1/4 c Balsamic vinegar
1/4 c Red wine vinegar
1/3 c Extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1.5 pints of grape tomatoes
a large handful of torn basil (1-2 cups)
1 lb penne rigate
fresh bocconcini
Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Rinse the tomatoes and cut any especially large ones in half (try to avoid cutting them *all* in half though). Place the tomatoes in a deep frying pan, large enough so that the tomatoes are more or less in a single layer.

2. Add the balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, olive oil and garlic to the pan, and heat over medium-low heat. You can play around with the vinegar to olive oil ratio depending on how punchy you like your pasta. I like mine pretty intense, so I tend to go heavy on the vinegar, and cut back a bit on the oil. The key is to make sure that there will be enough liquid to coat the pasta.

3. While the tomatoes and garlic are cooking on a low simmer, put a large pot of water up to boil. Once it’s boiling add some salt and the penne. The penne will be ready when it is aldente, and the tomatoes will be ready when the skins are just beginning to split (be sure not to overcook them or they will liquefy and leave you with a tomato sauce, rather than cooked tomatoes). Usually, the pasta and the tomatoes finish around the same time, but if the tomatoes finish first, you can just turn the heat to low, and cover them until the pasta is finished.

4. Combine the drained pasta with the tomatoey-vinegary sauce, and mix in the basil. Stir to combine.

5. Serve and garnish with grated Parmesan fresh ground pepper and sliced bocconcini (you can add the bocconcini prior to serving, but it will start to melt and get very very stringy, making serving a messy business).

Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of this recipe–it packs an incredible flavour punch for so few ingredients. It also needs a good strong wine. I tend to have it with Shiraz (Trader Joe’s Purple Moon), a Sangiovese or a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (Farnese makes a great bottle of both).

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a heartier meal, with perhaps a little less vinegar, there’s always this option:

Ratatouille Pasta

Every time I make this dish it evokes some deep childhood taste-memory of eggplant and zucchini cooked in tomato sauce. I have not yet figured out where this memory came from–maybe homemade vegetable lasagna?

Anyways, this one if from the Food and Wine herbs and spices bible:

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, cut into thin slices
1 green or red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice (or both)
1 small eggplant (about 1/2 pound), cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 zucchini (about 1/2 pound), cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 2/3 cups canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree (one 15-ounce can)
2 teaspoons wine vinegar
3/4 pound linguine
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons thin-sliced basil leaves
I like to add a pinch of red pepper flakes too, just to “kick it up a notch”

Directions

1. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the eggplant, zucchini, garlic, salt, and black pepper (and red pepper flakes). Reduce the heat to moderately low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the tomatoes and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the vinegar.

3. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the linguine until just done, about 12 minutes. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta-cooking water. Drain the pasta and toss with the vegetables, the 1/2 cup basil, and, if the pasta seems too dry, some of the reserved pasta-cooking water. Serve topped with the 2 tablespoons basil.

This one doesn’t need as punchy a wine. F&W recommends a chardonnay, but being a red-wine person myself, I find something light like a tempranillo goes nicely.

So there you have it. Two simple yet tasty things you can do with tomatoes and basil (and vinegar). Enjoy!