Penne, peas and Parmesan

The best approach to preparing a pasta dish is invariably the simplest.
Italian friends despair when they see their favourite ingredient drowning in some sort of gluggy sauce.
"That's not what it is all about,'' they say. "The sauce should be secondary. The pasta is king.''
No dish could be simpler than this week's combination of penne and peas. Fresh peas are currently in the shops, but the frozen versions are perfectly adequate and ready to go. That means the only preparation required is chopping a few spring onions and shaving a bit of cheese.
I have specified shaved Parmesan cheese, and I do suggest that you seek out genuine Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano. Yes, it's expensive, but as I have said several times before on this page, its intense flavour means only a small amount is needed to make a major difference to the dish.
I am a strong supporter of New Zealand cheese, but this is one style that we simply can't replicate. Yet.
220g penne pasta
salt
1 Tbsp pure olive oil
4 spring onions, mostly white part, cut into 2cm lengths
1 clove garlic, part-crushed and chopped
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
3 Tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
2cm piece Parmesan cheese, shaved
sea salt and cracked black pepper
Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt generously. Add the pasta and cook for about 10-12 minutes.
While the pasta cooks, heat the pure olive oil in a frypan and cook the spring onion until it softens and browns slightly. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds or so, then toss the peas through the mix.
When the pasta is cooked, drain thoroughly and add to the frying pan. Season to taste with sea salt and cracked pepper, tossing thoroughly to combine the ingredients.
Transfer to warmed bowls and drizzle the extra-virgin olive oil over the top, then scatter with shaved Parmesan. More extra-virgin olive oil and Parmesan can be offered at the table for those who want to add their own.
Serves 4 as entree or light lunch
Wine match
Peas are naturally sweet, but the savoury notes added by the spring onions and Parmesan cheese really do warrant a chardonnay that has spent time in oak barrels. Salvare Estate Chardonnay 2007 is a new kid on the block from Hawke's Bay, but it has already acquired a couple of gold medals. Elise Montgomery, who spent several years as chief winemaker for Vidal Wines, was the winemaker. She arranged for the grapes to be picked by hand, then split their juice into two "parcels'' intending to ferment some in oak
barrels and the rest in stainless steel. The resulting wine has pleasant peach and lemon rind aromas leading to a smooth flavour with exactly the combination of sweet fruit and
savoury notes that we need. It sells in the low-$20s.