Sun-Dried Tomato and Artichoke Pasta Sauce
This blog is dedicated to my old friend, Mike, aka, DeskChicken Woodlawn. One of the funniest and coolest guys I know. He's a big fan of food and he's also worked hard to eat healthier and I (along with all of his other friends) am damned proud of him.
Pasta is most definitely one of my favorite, decadent guilty pleasures and I probably eat it entirely too often. Luckily I'm not much of a fan of heavy cream sauces like alfredo. It's a good thing too because I'd probably weigh about 300 lbs by now!
As I've stated in the past, I'm terrible at homemade sauces. I will probably never give up trying to make a homemade typical red sauce (and will likely continue to fail) but I've mastered this beautiful and equally delicious sun-dried tomato and artichoke heart sauce. Also decadent but delightfully light and tasty.
When I make simple pasta with a tomato sauce, I always grab a jar of Rao's pasta sauce, or get the homemade stuff from my local Italian deli. (Shout out to Ivarone Brothers in Maspeth Queens! They make kick-ass meatballs as well!) All other store bought company sauces are sub par.
This is a fact...not an opinion. Don't argue with me on this. You'll just look stupid.
That's right Prego, Ragu, Rinaldi, Classico (and even you, Mr Newman!) I'm looking at you!
If you guys insist on jarred red sauce and don't have access to Rao's, buy Newman's Own (may he RIP) because at least the profits from the sales go to charity.
I'm the total food photo posting fool on my Facebook, and just based on the photos alone, I've had more friends request this recipe than any other. So here it is. The best you'll ever have. Enjoy kids!
Sundried Tomato and Artichoke Pasta - also known as, "THE Sauce"
Ingredients:
1/2 cup "dry" sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
7-8 cloves of garlic, minced
Handful black olives, sliced
Large handful of fresh spinach
5-6 artichoke hearts, (canned in brine, not oil) quartered
7-8 grape tomatoes, halved (I like using yellow ones for color contrast)
4-5 servings of any pasta (I like shells so all of the yummy goodness will be cradled inside and delivered to your tastebuds with little waste.)
1/2 - 3/4 cup chicken broth
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Dried oregano and basil to taste
Crushed red pepper to taste
Fresh grated parmesan cheese
Method:
Sun-dried tomatoes need to be reconstituted. Place sun-dried tomatoes in a heat-safe bowl and soak in 2 cups of boiling water for approximately 1 hour then slice thinly. Reserve the liquid.
Cook pasta according to package directions
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and sauté garlic until fragrant
Add sun-dried tomatoes, olives, spinach, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomato liquid
Squeeze each cherry tomato half to allow the juice and seeds to pop out into the sauce and toss them in
Saute for a few minutes & pour in chicken broth - adjust amount based on how much sauce you want
Add salt, pepper, dried herbs and crushed red pepper (I'm heavy handed with the pepper!) to taste
Plate or bowl your pasta (I prefer bowls because again, you wanna trap every single morsel possible)
Use a soup ladel to ladel your sauce onto the pasta
Grate fresh parm on top and eat your heart out!
Sentire di vita!
