Full disclosure: this recipe is kind of a variation on a previous recipe. For lunch the other day I was craving Alessio’s Pasta alla Romana. Unfortunately a) I wasn’t in Rome and b) I didn’t have 2 of the main ingredients.
No prosciutto and no scallions. But I did have a braid of some beautiful red onions. So the pasta became all about the onions.
I let the onions cook very fast. This gave them the chance to wilt, but also to just begin to caramelize at the edges. I also browned the pine nuts which added to the overall richness. I was very heavy handed with the sage, which I also let get nice and brown.
And that’s it. A really simple easy pasta. With ingredients you probably already have.
pasta with red onions, sage and pine nuts
(serves 4 to 5)
1/2 kilo / 1 pound of penne
2 big red onions
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup grated parmigiano
Freshly ground black pepper
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, heat a large frying pan with olive oil, and add the onions and salt. Cook on medium high heat so that the onions wilt, but also start to caramelize.
In a small frying pan toast the pine nuts without any oil. Shake the pan around so that they don’t burn. This should take about 5 minutes tops.
When the onion is just about done, add the sage leaves and cook for another few minutes at high heat.
Drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the cooking water. Add the drained pasta to the pan with the onions and sage, stirring over the heat to mix the flavors. Add a half cup of the reserved water and keep stirring. Turn off heat and add the pine nuts and the cheese, mixing well and adding a bit more of the water to allow the cheese to form a kind of sauce.
Serve topped with black pepper. 
Oh yummm! The pleasure of a new creation.
Sounds so good. I’ll have to give this one a try.
This penne looks so good and easy to make! Thanks so much for this fantastic recipe. Just a question please: I assume the onions should be chopped, correct? Thanks in advance, CD. By the way, I have noticed that not having a certain ingredient can at times lead to to experimentation and even success.
Sounds delicious! I have a question about the red onions. The red onions that I have here in Montreal are more round. The ones in your picture look more like large shallots (échalottes françaises). Will both work? thanks. Lois
Good question! These are red onions from Calabria, from Tropea. But any sweet red onion will do just fine.