The non-pasta experiment (Vivica’s Puttanesca Sauce)

Today was one of those days where you look into the fridge and think: “Lunch for husband and me needs to be ready in 20 minutes…what the heck am I making…” That means the fridge is almost empty as you forgot to plan your groceries or take out some meat from the freezer. NOW WHAT??!! In Italy when you are in this situation you would usually whip up a quick pasta! Only problem, I left pasta behind….I could have zucchini pasta…yes that is if I had any zucchini. So lets look in the fridge again. A nice head of fresh cabbage from the Farmers Market. A new kind this one…have not tried it yet. Well what about a bit of experimenting. Luckily my pantry is well stocked with tomato sauce / puree from last summer’s harvest and the garden is full of fresh herbs. Oh! and there are those new olives I just bought. Well I have a plan!! I will make cabbage-pasta Puttanesca. (well that actually means that I will eat sautéed cabbage with my pasta sauce on it and stretch the imagination a bit…

After lunch: The cabbage-pasta experiment was not my best dish ever! I should have cooked the cabbage longer, it was a bit tough. But the sauce was great, and I think it will taste fantastic on my regular zucchini “noodles”.

So I spare you the cabbage part but here is the recipe for the last-minute – last resource Puttanesca sauce. You can try it on zucchini noodle or on sautéed veggies, you can also put it on steamed, ground cauliflower (fake rice)…get creative!

The non-pasta experiment (Vivica's Puttanesca Sauce)

 

Author: Vivica Menegaz

Recipe type: Sauce

Cuisine: Italian

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A great sauce for any kind of veggie "noodle" or steamed/ sautéed veggies. Great also on fish!

Ingredients

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup black Kalamata olives in olive oil
• 1 quart homemade tomato puree. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato_pur%C3%A9e)
• 3 garlic cloves
• fresh herbs like oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary
• Celtic Sea Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Chop garlic.
2. Heat olive oil in a deep skillet, then add garlic.
3. Cook on a low flame until fragrant.
4. In the meantime chop olives and herbs. (or process in a food processor)
5. Add herb and olive mixture to garlic.
6. Saute for about 3 minutes.
7. Add tomato puree.
8. Now cover skillet with a splash screen and cook on medium flame for about 10 minutes.
9. Sauce is ready when the tomato puree has thickened sufficiently.

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