A few months ago, fierce forest fires raged across parts of California, laying to waste millions of acres of green valleys and hundreds of homes. I was especially saddened to learn about the devastation caused in Sonoma Valley, about an hour’s drive from San Francisco. This is a very picturesque jewel set in north California, and produces some of America’s finest wines. In addition, it is home to prize-winning farms, bakeries and restaurants. Sonoma’s products range from cheese to bread to poultry. Not surprisingly, it is a magnet for foodies and wine lovers.

A few years ago, I received an email asking if I was the same Irfan Husain who was at the Ecole Active Bilingue in Paris in the mid-1950s. I remembered the writer, Ellen Schiff, an American who was at school with me all those years ago. Since then, we have been in occasional contact, and when I visited my son, Shakir, and his family in Walnut Creek — a town near San Francisco — a couple of years ago, we made a plan to drive to Sonoma, and invite Ellen for lunch.

After a bit of research, I thought we should eat at La Salette, a highly rated Portuguese restaurant. Situated along the large central plaza, it turned out to be a small, cosy establishment with a welcoming staff. Nearly two years, and many excellent meals later, I still remember my main course of roast goat kid with a wine reduction. The meat melted in my mouth; I didn’t need a knife to cut it. The others enjoyed what they ordered, and we left satiated to inspect the wine and cheese shops that surrounded the plaza.

A warm plate of pasta in a rich sauce can do wonders for your dinner party menu

On a recent trip to Karachi, Shakir brought a book Ellen had kindly sent me. Titled Sonoma: A Food and Wine Lovers’ Journey, the publication is beautifully illustrated, and gives readers an idea of the valley’s wealth of fruit, vegetables, cheese, poultry, meat and wine. Often, vineyards have comfortable rooms and small restaurants where visitors can stay and eat. The book contains recipes from some of the better-known restaurants. Some of them are quite lavish and complicated, but here’s a simple one for Penne Contadina, a pasta dish from Della Santina. I have made variations of this recipe, and it really is very easy:

PENNE CONTADINA

4 sweet Italian sausages, with their casings removed (use other fresh meat sausages if necessary)
¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 large sage leaves, chopped
24 ounces canned tomatoes, preferably Italian, chopped and drained
1 pound penne pasta
½ cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cut the sausages into one-inch pieces. In a deep saucepan over a medium setting, heat the olive oil and sauté the sausage for two minutes, or until evenly browned. Add the garlic and sage and sauté for one minute. Add the tomatoes and simmer from 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set the sauce aside and keep warm.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the penne for 10 minutes or until al dente. Check for doneness towards the end to make sure the pasta doesn’t overcook. Drain. Gradually pour the cream into the sauce and heat for a couple of minutes. Now add the pasta into the saucepan and stir for a minute, and then stir in the cheese with salt and pepper. Serve at once in warm shallow bowls.

Having seen the foodie wonders of Sonoma Valley, Shakir and I are planning a weekend trip on my next visit. I just hope it recovers soon from the damage it suffered in the recent forest fires.

Published in Dawn, EOS, March 11th, 2018