Early this morning, a group of graduate students working on rice research were given a field tour around the ricefields by one of the rice breeders. It was quite exciting for me, as I mostly do laboratory work and greenhouse experiments. There are several species of rice, some grow really tall – most of the energy they turn up goes into growing up rather than producing grains. Some are really tiny and looks like grasses. We even walk through the fields to get an idea of how elite rice lines are evaluated and selected for further advancement. Rice breeders literally screen thousands of rice lines each cropping season (two seasons per year – wet and dry). It was hot and I was sweaty but I had a good discussion on rice breeding in general. Keeps me grounded actually with the work I am doing in the lab.

Then a job interview for a new position (cross my fingers!). It was not too bad…

Linguin with meaty tomato sauce

Well after several weeks of absence from Pasta Pesto Nights, I finally have this chance to share my pasta and noodle cooking in the last few weeks. Got busy with graduate school work, my heart was not so much into blogging but more of eating (what else is new?). TOmatoes are rather cheap at this of the year, sometimes only about 20 pesos (~$0.50) per kilo. At the extreme end, the price could go to as much as $1.50. So I made meaty tomato sauce for linguine, a treat for my birthday two weeks ago.

Linguine in Meaty Tomato Sauce

1.5 kilos fresh tomatoes, chopped
500 grams ground pork
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste
Linguine pasta, cooked al dente

Saute garlic and onion in 2 tbsp oil. Add the ground pork and saute until it no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, mix well then cook over low fire for three hours. Season with salt, pepper and chili flakes to your liking. Top linguine pasta with this sauce. The sauce is good for around 500 grams pasta.

Some notes:

I usually cook around 200 grams first, enough for my sister, mom and me. Dad’s not so much into pasta unless it’s Filipino-style spaghetti so he just shares with my mom. If he likes it, he gets his own plate.

I cooked this over a wood-fired stove, just bringing everything to a simmer and let the tomatoes cook over slow fire.

I’d love to this again!