Penne with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Last night I was exhausted and wanted something quick and easy for dinner. I had a container of cooked penne pasta that needed to be used so I heated some extra virgin olive oil over medium heat in a large pan. When the oil was nice and hot I added some minced garlic and shallots. I let that cook just until fragrant and then threw in some medium red chili flakes from Penzey's. I roughly chopped some farmer's market tomatoes and added those to the pan to let the tomatoes break down. I seasoned it all with salt and pepper and then added the cooked penne. I mixed it all together to get the sauce to coat the pasta when I realized I had some leftover carmelized onions. Perfect! I made a hot spot in the center of the pan and added those to warm them up before I mixed them in with the rest of the ingredients. I added a splash of balsamic vinegar, a big handful of freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano, stirred it all up and served it in a nice low bowl topped with some freshly chopped basil. Perfect dinner and in less that 15 minutes!