Pantry (ish) Pasta

I hope this blog post finds you well, and if you’re not sure what I mean, then you are reading this very far in the future. If you haven’t gone on your grocery run (and I mean run) yet, make sure to pick up these staples as they can help you elevate most dishes and will last you a long time. If you have gone, I hope you have some of these ingredients because this pasta dish will lift your spirits for sure. I was looking for inspiration on a pasta dish to make the other day, and I found one that I had almost all the ingredients for in Yotam Ottolenghi’s book “Simple”. It’s one of my favorite cookbooks. Once you cook from it, you’ll realize how much flavor you can actually pack into one dish if you up the herbage and add some yogurt at the end. I stumbled upon his recipe for Pappardelle with rose harissa, black olives, and capers. I didn’t have rose harissa so instead I used tomato paste and some red pepper flakes, he also uses fresh parsley and greek yogurt to top, which I also didn’t have, but the dish was still amazing and I recommend you giving it a try.

Recipe adapted (kind of a lot by) Tierney Larson from Ottolenghi’s “Simple”

Ingredients :

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 tbl olive oil

1/2 cup kalamata olives, roughly chopped

2 tbl capers

1 tbl tomato paste

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)

3 sprigs of fresh oregano (one, leaves removed and chopped finely)

1 28oz can of whole peeled tomatoes

1 lb dried penne pasta

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil while you prepare the sauce.

In a large skillet with a lid, add the oil and place over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the onions and a pinch of salt, and cook stirring occasionally until the onions are soft and caramelized. (About 8 minutes)

Add the olives, capers, tomato paste, pepper flakes, and 2 sprigs of oregano and a pinch of salt and cook until tomato paste has turned a brick red color, about 2 minutes. Then add the canned tomatoes, crushing them with your hand as you add them in. Cook stirring frequently until the tomatoes have started to soften, continue to break the tomatoes apart with a wooden spoon as they cook for about 4 minutes.

Add 3/4 of a cup of water to the tomato sauce and stir to incorporate. Bring to a boil and then decrease heat to medium-low, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove the lid from the skillet and let it reduce down until thickened for about 4-5 minutes. Add your pasta to the boiling salted water, and cook until al dente.

Taste the sauce and adjust adding more salt if necessary. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce tossing to coat. Remove from the skillet and top with chopped oregano.