Linguini Puttanesca Foodie Friday Recipe

Linguini Puttanesca (Prep. time about 30 minutes)

½ yellow onion, sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic crushed and sliced

½ C. sliced 'baby bella' portabella mushrooms, rough chopped

1Tbl. Dried oregano

1 Tbl. Dried basil

¼ tsp. black pepper

Pinch red pepper flakes to taste

1/3 C. marinated artichoke hearts, rough chop

¼ C. Kalamata pitted olives, halved

1-2 Tbl. Capers (depending on the size of the buds and your taste)

1, 24-oz can whole tomatoes

Whole wheat linguini (or regular)

2 Tbl. Olive oil

Cut all the vegetables and set aside. (Put down a double-thick square of wax paper for the artichokes and olives, so you don’t get all that moisture all over your cutting surface.)

Start water to boil for the pasta.  In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil until just starting to smoke.  Add in onions and cook about 2 minutes before adding garlic. Cook another minute or so until onions are translucent, but garlic has not started to brown. Stir in mushrooms, coating with the oil, and cook until tender. Turn down heat to medium high and add basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. Individually remove tomatoes from can and break-up by hand (Better wear an old shirt or have a full-coverage apron, because, inevitably, someone’s gonna get squirted! Happens every time.) Simmer until the tomatoes start to break down, stirring occasionally. If the sauce starts to become dry, add a spoonful of the tomato juice from the can, a ladle of pasta water or some stock. Cook the linguini until just under el dente' since the pasta will continue to cook in the sauce. As the pasta cooks, stir in the olives, artichoke hearts and capers to heat through. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the pasta is ready. (Before draining the pasta, check to see if the sauce needs a little more moisture and spoon in enough pasta water to make the desired consistency.) Toss pasta in the sauce and allow to cook another 2 to 3 minutes so the pasta absorbs some of the sauce and its flavors. Pile pasta on plate and spoon sauce over top. You can grate a little Parmesan cheese over top, if desired.

Notice, there is no salt added to this recipe. It’s not a mistake. The olives, capers and artichoke hearts have plenty of salt or vinegar and additional salt would be too much.