How to Make Vegetarian Penne Pasta

Tomatina’s culinary director, Rogelio Jacinto, lives in the Napa Valley and loves to hike.  It was on a hike recently here with his brother and chihuahua that he came up with a new dish as this month's special: pasta with mustard greens and broccoli rabe.

Jacinto, who was born in Oaxaca, grew up in Mexico City, and trained as an auto mechanic. He got his start in Napa when he moved here with his brothers, and began as a dish washer at Tra Vigne, one of celebrity chef Michael Chiarello's first ventures in the Napa Valley. One evening when Chiarello was dropping off some plates to be washed, Jacinto asked to "please let him know when something else opens up." Three months later, one of the pantry (salad) guys didn’t show.

Jacinto laughs about it now but at the time it gave him nightmares.

“They threw me in there on a Friday and Saturday. It was so busy, I thought I wouldn’t make it. At the time I didn’t know how to make Caesar (salad) dressing or what crostini was. I wasn’t confident about my English or my cooking, and I had to memorize everything. Then all of a sudden it just clicked. I thought to myself, why not make a career out of this?”   

A year later he moved to the grill; then the pasta, pizza and bakery stations. He also worked many off-site parties.  “Within four years, I became Michael’s sous chef where I stayed for six years,” Jacinto said. In fact Chiarello, who has become a friend and mentor, acknowledged Jacinto in his Tra Vigne cookbook, saying “I am most proud of you.”

Jacinto has an American wife, Monica, who he credits for learning English in three years, along with his going to school. They have an 18-year-old daughter who is interested in becoming a pastry chef, and a seventeen-year-old son.

To this day, he’s remained a student and, when time allows, takes classes at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. 

In 1998, Chiarello opened "Tomatina" in St. Helena, and asked Jacinto to run it. "It was a good challenge for me,” he says. Two years later, the company split away from Real Restaurants, its former owner, and Chiarello went on to Food Network and NapaStyle fame and Jacinto became its culinary director.      

Tomatina specializes in homemade pizza, pasta and salads, serving dinners in a relaxed atmosphere.  Each restaurant makes their own dough, dressings and sauces from scratch. They keep the prices family friendly, with the average tab at $18. 

Currently, there are five locations in the Bay Area with Northgate as the newest. Jacinto takes advantage of fresh seasonal ingredients and wants to be innovative with the recipes he presents.  In the summer, he creates dishes which feature corn and tomatoes; in the winter he works with butternut squash, white beans and pumpkin. 

Tomatina is famous for its piadine, a hot-from-the-oven flatbread topped with cool salads (the most popular is Caesar) which comes with instructions.   

“One day I was watching the TV show 'Seinfeld,'” Jacinto said, “and I couldn’t believe it, the (instructional) drawing we made was on their refrigerator. We put it under each piadine to show customers it should be folded over and eaten like a sandwich, not with a knife and fork.”   

Jacinto, the long-ago auto mechanic, sees the similarity between building a car engine and building a recipe.  “You change one part and it changes the entire thing,” he says.

Penne Pasta con Mostarda e Broccoli Rabe (serves one) 

1 - 1/2  ounces olive oil

1/2  cup Yukon gold potatoes (sliced)

1  tablespoon fresh garlic (sliced)

1 teaspoon fresh oregano (chopped)

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

1-1/4 cups mustard greens (cleaned and chopped)

1 -1/4 cups broccoli rabe (cleaned and chopped)

2-1/2 cups penne pasta ( cooked al dente)

1/2  cup gorgonzola cheese (grated)

2 tablespoons sundried tomatoes

1 tablespoon kalamata olives

1 tablespoon parmesan cheese (grated)

1/2 tablespoon Italian parsley (chopped)

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Cook pasta in advance or while you are preparing the vegetable mixture.

Using a sauté pan, add olive oil.

When oil has reached the smoking point add the sliced potatoes and let roast.  

When first side of potato looks light golden brown, flip potatoes and allow the other order side to get a nice brown in color.

Add sliced garlic and let roast.

Add the chili flakes, fresh oregano and the two kinds of greens. Allow greens to wilt.   

If you have pre-cooked the pasta, re-heat in boiling water for 40 seconds.

Fold hot pasta into roasted potato mixture.

Add gorgonzola cheese, sundried tomatoes, olives, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper

Toss well and place onto a serving platter. 

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