Gluten free was ringing in my ears as I shopped food for supper for a wheat intolerant friend with a big appetite. Corn and rice flour fresh penne (dellugo.co.uk) caught my eye and turned out to be surprisingly light and creamy and the perfect accompaniment for a vegetable-heavy pork ragu. She loved it and asked for the recipe, so here it is.
Serves2
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 30 min
Ingredients
1 large shallot, 40g
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp sunflower oil
10 chantenay carrots or 3 medium carrots
¼ chicken stock cube
150g green beans
250g minced pork
¼ tsp aniseed or dill seeds
generous pinch dried chilli flakes
100g spinach
250g fresh penne, preferably gluten free
Boil the kettle. Halve, peel and finely chop the shallot and garlic. Soften gently, stirring often, in the oil in a medium-sized, lidded sauté/frying pan. Trim, scrub, then halve the little carrots lengthways. If using regular carrots, cut them in 3 equal lengths and halve lengthways. Cook in 250ml boiling, salted kettle water until almost tender. Drain, saving 150ml cooking water in a jug. Top and tail the beans and cut in half. By now the shallot should be slippery soft, at which point add the aniseed and chilli followed by the pork. Crumble the stock cube over the top, stirring with a wooden spoon as the meat browns. Add the water, bring to the boil, reduce immediately to very low, cover and cook for 15 min. Shred the spinach and add to the pan, stirring as it wilts. Season to taste, stir in the carrots and simmer gently while you cook pasta and beans in salted, boiling water from the kettle. Drain. Serve the pork over the pasta.