Simple Absorption Pasta

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Ingredients

• a fatty pork chop, cubed
• half an onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
• balsamic vinegar, a few drops
• white wine, a splash
• half a jar of pasta sauce (whatever is available)
• dried pasta for 2 (cup shaped pasta is best)
• butter, olive oil
• salt and pepper

Being something of a socially-reclusive agoraphobic, it satisfies me greatly when I create a delicious meal entirely from pantry items and thus can be recreated over and over without me ever needing to leave the house. This is a hearty pasta dish that uses simple things you should already have lying around (apart from the pork chop) and it uses the "absorption" method of cooking pasta where raw, dried pasta is added directly to the sauce and simmered until cooked. It creates a luxurious, silken texture that you never get with the traditional boil-drain-dress method.

I find that for dishes like this, cup-shaped pasta works best (although visually they might look unfashionable) as the little cups will help catch the thick sauce as you lift them to your mouth :)

Serves 2 for supper or one greedy person for dinner, with seconds (ahem).

1. Heat the olive oil and sautee the pork for a minute, browning evenly. Season.

2. Add a knob of butter and the onion and garlic. Sizzle for a bit, then add the white wine. Reduce the wine on a medium heat. When the wine is almost gone, add a few drops of balsamic, bring the heat right down to the minimum level and cover. Let it bubble like this for at least 20 minutes, until the onions are completely browned and sticky.

3. Add the dried pasta to the pan. Stir to ensure the pasta gets coated evenly with the mixture. Add the pasta sauce and stir. Pour in enough water to just cover the pasta. Return to a gentle simmering heat and cover. Heat like this for around 10 minutes (test the pasta now and again).

4. Remove the cover, stir and bring up the heat. Most of the liquid should evaporate after a few minutes of brisk, uncovered bubbling leaving a thick sauce and tender pasta. Stir, season and throw in some chopped basil leaves if you have any.

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  theory says

  I don't know why it has never occurred to me to cook pasta this way. It looks and sounds delicious.

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  yongfook says

  I think for cup shaped pasta I will only cook it in this way from now on - it's really a world apart from the normal method.

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  telliecoin says

  hey you used the risotto method too! :D I recently tried it but with macaroni :) it does taste a tad different but fuller flavoured! teh yum!

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  lovedenise says

  I am going to try it too! Been reading a lot about it everywhere and the pasta seems to be so lovely.

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  fourdonk says

  This looks amazing...must try this next week.

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  tralfaz says

  I've used the absorption method lots. The spanish dish fideos, has you fry the noodles in oil first to brown them. The oil coating seems to prevent starch from leeching out of the noodles and making the sauce gluey. Fideos are very skinny angle hair spaghetti, but it works for the big and chunky pasta shapes too.

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  aberweger says

  alright... I don't like pasta very much! But THIS sounds and looks great! I will try this as soon as possible! *yummi*

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  kimmallari says

  interesting!

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  spongefile says

  Am actually making this right now, just noticed the sliced garlic isn't mentioned in the method? No biggie, will put it in earlier next time(am well into step 3)--just letting you know.

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  spongefile says

  End result was tasty anyway though!

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  yongfook says

  whoops I'll edit the recipe!

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  shirayuki says

  Looks and sounds very yummy - I like the idea of not having to boil the pasta beforehand, and cooking it all in one pan.

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  Kuykendall says

  Could you use red wine? Thats All I have at home right now, but I would love to make this tonight.

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  emmalina says

  Made this last night but used Italian sausage instead of pork chop, sooo good! Everyone loved it! I love that you just have to use one pot. Will definitely use this method a lot.

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  yongfook says

  ooh that sounds like a wonderful suggestion. yeah the cleanup is easy with this - a great dish for entertaining!

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  tinac says

  This sounds so easy and so tasty, I just put it on my list for next week.

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  opensourcerer says

  I'm going to make lunch for me and the kids right now! Thanks

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  Dominique says

  I love pasta!! Can't do the wine part yet because I'm only 20 at the moment! But I will definitely make this my birthday dinner.

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  pompberry says

  Hey, i was wondering... since you add the water in with the sauce, could this method be applied to cream-based sauces too? I'm just not a fan of tomato-based sauces.

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  joannajane says

  i just made this, and chucked in some diced cooked meatballs and a tiny bit of grated cheese at the end, was so tasty!

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  jstanford says

  I just made it. Doubled the recipe for my family. Simply delicious. It takes about an hour from start to finish. FYI

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  acoustyk says

  I doubled this recipe.... for myself and added in some leftover mushrooms and in the end I chopped up some fresh parsley and threw it in. Lastly, I added some grocery store mozzarella. It's a savory dish with a velvety texture. I will definitely make this again.

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