In Sicilian cooking, green olives and capers go together like pine nuts and currants and the classic combination gives personality to this bursting-with-flavor pasta dish. This is a fresh sauce with no cooking required. The ingredients are merely chopped and combined and rest in the refrigerator overnight. The next day let the sauce come to room temperature while you cook the pasta. Another example of how ingredients do not have to be expensive to provide a dish rich in flavor.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound Roma tomatoes, finely chopped
- 7 large green olives, pits removed, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon capers (packed in salt) rinsed, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 cup Extra-virgin olive oil
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- 12 ounces spaghetti
- In a mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes (with their juices), olives, capers, garlic, parsley, onion and oregano. Stir in the olive oil and mix well. Sprinkle in some salt and a few grinds of black pepper to taste. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight.
- Allow the sauce to come to room temperature while you cook the spaghetti.
- Remove and discard the garlic and then pour the sauce over the hot pasta. Stir well. Serve with bruschette.
