Penne with Tomatoes and Basil

Tuesday September 25

After such a nice weekend, it was a hard slog back from Oxford - only an hour on the train, true, but we had not been able to resist buying a few books at Blackwell's, and they seem heavier when you schlep them along with other baggage. Not to mention delays on the Circle Line, a long walk to the Hammersmith Line, and general tiredness resulting from too much tourism and a late arrival.

So it was nice to get back to Islington and know that we could prepare a simple meal from ingredients we had in the house, to wit: we boiled up some penne, sautéed a half an onion in a pan, added a can of chopped tomatoes, let it simmer down, and at the last minute threw in some torn-up fresh basil leaves from the plant on the kitchen windowsill. Stirred in the penne, and served. Nothing more (but some red wine) was needed.