Penne with broccoli and breadcrumbs

Eastside Road, October 8, 2012—

THE RECIPE CAME from Martha Stewart; everything else from the pantry, the garden, and the Farmers Market. It was time for pasta; we haven't had any in days, and of course penne are the pasta of choice around here, whole-wheat penne.

The bread crumbs have been in the freezer, left from who knows what occasion, who knows for how long. She toasted them a little in olive oil in a sauté pan, then set them aside, added a little more oil, and added three or four anchovies, sliced garlic, and capers; then halved cherry tomatoes and a few red-pepper flakes.

Then it's just a matter of cooking the penne in the normal way, adding chopped broccoli rabe to the pasta as it cooks. Drain it and add it to the sauté pan, tossing it al together, and a little of the pasta cooking water, and bring the whole mixture to temperature, letting it thicken a little; then strew the crumbs on top.

The result is a nice conjunction of textures, of course; and I liked the flavors too. Autumnal, somehow. Green salad afterward, and no doubt we'll have some fruit a little later.

Cabernet franc, Éric Chevalier (Val de Loire), 2010: woody around the edges, true to varietal