Autumn Capellini with Tomato and Onion Celery Sauce

Pauline had really enjoyed last week's capellini dish, and really wanted me to do another capellini plate this week.

The thing is, she had never used to like pasta dishes, and so it was rare that she enjoyed pasta this much, and hence, I relented.

The challenge was however, we wanted to cook a steak, but because we were a bit late in taking out the beef from the freezer, I was left to do a vegetarian capellini creation instead.

Nevertheless, it did come out quite nicely, and this dish does owe a bit to Smitten Kitchen's mirepoix tomato sauce, which forms the base of this pasta dish.

Boil some water and take 2 full tomatoes and let it bathe in it for a few minutes until the skins start to peel. Remove from heat and the skins should be easily removed with a fork. Cook some fresh capellini and run under water once they are cooked. Set aside

Saute some onions, celery and carrots for a few minutes. Add some freshly chopped garlic and drizzle some white wine over the mixture. Add about 3/4 cup of chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil.

Add in the tomatoes and crush them with a spoon until they are soft and stir the mixture thoroughly. Bring to a low heat and let it simmer for about 15 mins to let the flavors infuse. Season with pepper as the stock should be savory enough.

Add in some grated Parmesan cheese to thicken the sauce and stir in the capellini. Plate the pasta mixture and garnish with some finely chopped coriander for color.

You should end up with a nice pasta that is tangy from the tomatoes yet full of wholesome country flavors from the onions, celery and carrots.