My apologies to those who are pretty sure I’ve made this recipe already…olive oil, garlic, canned tomatoes…I’m sure its starting to sound familiar to any frequent readers of my blog. Nevertheless, that’s the direction this recipe’s headed; I’m just warning you. However, it does satisfy my new promise to myself: vegetarian lunches.
This recipe is adapted from The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook: 350 Essential Recipes for Inspired Everyday Eating by Jack Bishop. I borrowed the cookbook from the library, but may have to purchase soon because I really like it. It’s different from other vegetarian cookbooks I’ve used because none of the recipes include tofu, tempeh, or seitan, which I’m sure are all well and good, if you like them, but my foray into vegetarianism hasn’t quite gotten that bold. The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook is full of variations of normal sounding food made with normal sounding, generally ordinary and accessible ingredients.
Anyway, without further ado:
Ingredients
- Extra-virgin olive oil (about 3 tbsp.)
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried hot pepper flakes (or to taste)
- 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped*
- 1 3.8-ounce can sliced black olives
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed
- 1 lb. spaghetti (I used whole wheat spaghetti)
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook over medium heat until the garlic is cooked, about 2 minutes
- Add the tomatoes, olives and capers to the skillet. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes soften and the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.
- Toss the spaghetti with the tomato sauce and mix well.
- Serve.
Notes
The original recipe lists canned whole tomatoes, chopped but if I make this recipe again I may use canned diced tomatoes because chopping the whole tomatoes was a rather messy experience. But its up to you.
As you may be able to tell from the photo, my pasta turned into little one inch sized pieces by time I was done cooking it and then reheated it once (timing was a little off at my house). I don’t know why, perhaps because it’s whole wheat pasta? Or I overcooked the pasta? Anyone else ever have this experience?
