Whore Pasta

First off I have to start by saying I have some bad news...Summer Wine Glass is no longer with us.  I broke it the other night when I was reaching for something on my overcrowded, ridiculously small kitchen counter.  However, I know that the most important thing to Summer Wine Glass is that I continue on in my wine drinking while keeping her in my memories.  In honor of Summer Wine Glass I will be drinking extra wine this week - it's what she would have wanted.

Now, onto my recipe.  If there are two things that NJ is not short on it's pasta.....and whores (Omg, jk!).  But seriously, there are cute little Italian restaurants all over the place here and most of them are pretty good and they all serve pasta.  I am not a big fan of regular marinara sauce so I always try to make my sauces more interesting and fresh, here is my own twist on Pasta Puttanesca - basic translation, Whore's Pasta.  It's origins are sketchy but it possibly originated in brothels in Naples to serve to the waiting customers.  I probably only like making it so much because of the name or I definitely only like making it so much because of the name - does it really matter?

I don't use anchovies because even though I like anchovies in it no one else in my house does - so I replace them with a little green olive juice because anything that's good enough for a dirty martini is good enough for anything else.  I also don't use any tomato product out of a can because to me that makes the sauce taste like can - it's highly possible that it's just my own craziness that makes me think that but also almost all cans are lined with BPA which is just a plain old nasty chemical that I do not want in my food.  So my sauces are made from mostly fresh ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

3 small organic tomatoes (any type but I like heirloom)

1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives

1/2 cup chopped green olives

3 cloves minced garlic

1 small onion or half large onion diced

Olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

fresh parsley and basil chopped about 1/3 cup combined

Grated cheese to sprinkle at end

1 package of pasta any type - if you have fresh, way better

Start off with heating your pan and coating it with olive oil, add onions and cook on low heat for about 5-10 minutes.  Add garlic and continue cooking on low heat.

Then fill your pot with water for the pasta and put it on high heat.  Add a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon olive oil.

In a food processor liquefy the tomatoes with a little salt and pepper and about 1 teaspoon of olive juice.  Then add them to onion and garlic pan.  Heat on medium about 10 minutes to reduce a little.

While that is going on your pasta is probably ready to go in so throw it in and cook for 1 minute less then it says to.

  When pasta is done throw it in the pan with the sauce to finish it.

At the end add olives and cook for 1 more minute.  Then plate and sprinkle with grated cheese and chopped herbs.

Serve with a side salad and it is a great vegetarian dish - especially if you use whole wheat pasta which has protein in it.  Not so vegetarian?  You can add cooked chopped bacon at the end :)