Mediterranean Marinara Sauce

CountryLady's Note:

I got this recipe from a gourmet magazine. It makes a nice change from the usual pasta sauces.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 4 cups

• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• ¾ cup finely chopped onion
• 1 ½ teaspoons minced drained bottled pepperoncini peppers (aka pickled Tuscan peppers)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1⁄3; cup dry white wine
• 1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes , chopped (don't drain)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 (6 ounce) jars marinated artichoke hearts , drained & coarsley chopped
• ½ cup chopped pitted black olives
• 1⁄3; cup minced parsley

Directions:

1. Saute garlic, onion & pepperoncini in oil in a dutch oven, over moderately low heat, stirring constantly until the onion is softened (about 5 minutes).
2. Add the wine & bring to a boil; continue stirring & boil for 3- 5 minutes or until the wine is almost evaporated.
3. Add tomatoes with their juice & the paste, lower the heat to medium & simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until thickened.
4. Stir in artichoke hearts & olives, season to taste with salt & pepper and simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. Add parsley & serve over your favourite pasta.
6. It's enough for about 1 lb of pasta.

Reviews

[Daydream]

Lovely Mediterranean flavours in this tasty and easy pasta sauce, and the pickled peppers added a nice 'bite'. I used spaghettini, and after cooking it to the al dente stage, drained it, added a slurp of olive oil and 2 to 3 tablespoons of the sauce, and mixed it well together. I then divided the spaghettini into 4 pasta bowls and served the remaining sauce over each portion. Thanks for a yummy recipe which will become a favourite in our household.

[evelyn/athens]

A very robust and flavourful sauce and super easy to make! I used fusilli pasta so that the bits and pieces of veg could attach themselves to a curl here and there. Oh, and another thing I did was to mix it with the pasta with maybe a cupful of the pasta cooking water and leave it for about 10 minutes (I drained the pasta just before it reached the al dente stage) so that the pasta could absorb some of the sauce. Served with Parmesan (what else?).