Saturday, January 10, 2009

Puttenesca a la Marie

This is what I made for dinner last night--a form of Puttenesca a la me. It was part of my creative every day, LOL!

The main thing is fresh tomatoes (or you can use canned if haven't any fresh), garlic, olives, capers. Leave anything out you don't like. I served mine over "designer" pasta ("Mother-in-law's tongue"). I added mushrooms, veggies, wine, and pork. (Also salt, pepper, basil, parsley.) You could add an alternate protein source, or none. But although it was utterly wonderful and seems fancy (cause it's soemthing I've never made before quite like this), it didn't take long.

I dipped the fresh tomatoes in the same water I was boiling for pasta, each for 45 seconds, slid off the skins and chopped them up--the tomatoes, not the skins. Saute the garlic (onions if you like them--I can't eat onions) in olive oil, add any extras (meat, veggies, mushrooms). When they are nearly cooked, if you add them, add the tomatoes, wine, capers, olives, cook a couple minutes and serve over the pasta you've been preparing, YUM YUM! (I fried up a couple pieces of polenta to serve on the side.)

4 comments:

a/k/a Nadine said...

Wow, this looks fabulous! I love polenta when I have it in restaurants, but I've never been able to make it successfully at home. The pasta is so pretty, too.

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Thanks, Nadine. I got the pasta at Weggies on 57.

This particular polenta is the kind you buy in a tube. I usually make it from scratch, but the puttensca was taking all my E = MC2. The E part.

You can buy the kind in a tube at Weggies and elsewhere and simply slice and fry in either butter or olive oil. Presto, yum polenta. it's organic and might be in the healthfood section.

Yo make from scratch, but the Bob's Redmill polenta if you can find it in the healthfood section at Weggies or elsewhere. I always cook mine int he morning and leave it in the pot all day, then slice and fry int he evening. if you can't do that because of your schedule, cook it the day before. Just follow the directions on the package. It's easy and only takes 5 minutes.

If you don't have it there, where you live, let me know and I will get you some here and send it. I promise it is super easy.

Steve Emery said...

Man! That's making me hungry. And the pasta makes this extra beautiful.

How sad that you can't eat onions! I'm not sure how I would handle that.

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Thanks Steve. No cheese or dairy of any kind or soy of coffee or chocolate either! No ginger or mint.

It's sad. :-(

But your artwork is wonderful and makes me happy looking at it!