Japanese Eggplant & Guanciale Sauce on Penne with Cal-Sangiovese

Last night for a simple supper, after the big BBQ party at Jeff’s on Saturday, was Rustichella di Abruzzo Penne Rigate with a sauce of diced guanciale crisped, diced Japanese eggplant sautéed in the rendered fat from the guanciale with some added garlic, and finished with a half jar of Rao’s Sicilian Eggplant Sauce. When the pasta was cooked, it was placed in pasta bowls and topped with the sauce. Freshly grated Parmagiano Reggiano was sprinkled on the dish at the table. We ate out on our patio on a clear warm evening, after the rain clouds threatening in the afternoon dissipated and disappeared. With the nice pasta and sauce we had a 1996 Vino Noceto Sangiovese, from California’s Shenandoah Valley - orange-brown in color on initial pour darkening to a light garnet in the glass; rich, earthy nose and flavors of fresh and dried red cherries; adequate acidity with a little dryness in the mid-palate; with a long complex tertiary fruit finish. It was the last bottle of a case we got on our first visit to Vino Noceto.

Hi Dick. I am a fan of all your postings. Thanks for the work placed in them. You surely enjoy food, life and friends.

I know we discussed this before, but the reason you don’t do your own sauces is because? You obviously have a flare for cooking?

Cheers!

Too much trouble for too little reward.

I was really talking about pasta sauces. Most other sauces i make from ‘scratch’.

I made a lot more of my own pasta sauces, before i discovered Rao’s sauces. I know some folk don’t care for them, but i find them a good starting point for sauces for pasta.