We all have a jar of olives in the fridge right? Or is that just me? I seem to buy them for 1 recipe and they hang around at the back of the shelf, too shy to come forward. But really they have a strong voice in a dish and especially so with a simple red sauce.
Our red sauce is a strong foundational friend who’s there for every occasion. Here I’ve taken 1/2 an 8oz jar of sauce, a small shallot, some garlic, fresh basil, some black olives and some Garganelli I had in the freezer and transformed it into a quick and simple lunch (or cheeky dinner).
Quantities of each are up to you.. the sauce already has onion, garlic and fresh oregano so you can think of this as a choose your own adventure in terms of olive-ness and basil-ability (are they words?).
- 1 8oz jar of slow cooked tomato sauce ( I used 1/2 a jar bc I like pasta with some sauce ; )
- +/- 6gm garlic, sliced
- +/- 29gm shallot sliced
- 2-3 T olive oil
- black olives (without stones) chopped- quantity, up to you.
- 1 x 6oz portion of garganelli
- fresh basil - quantity, up to you
Set some salted water to boil for the pasta.
Once the water is almost boiling, begin to sautee the garlic and shallots in the olive oil, adding the tomato sauce to warm through then the olives. Check the seasoning, adjust if need be.
When the water is boiling add the pasta and set a timer for 3 mins. Once it’s done, remove pasta with a slotted spoon and keep the water on the stove top.
Add the cooked pasta and a ladle of pasta water to the sauce, stirring the pasta through the sauce. Turn up the heat and add a little more water to get some sauce going. Adjust the seasoning if you need to. Adding water can dilute the flavour a little.
Once you have the sauciness you want, remove from the heat and plate up, adding fresh basil and a crack of black pepper.
Enjoy
