Pasta with Sun Dried Tomato Sauce
Paaassttaaaaa….to me, this is a comfort food. And there are so many things you can do with it, the possibilities are endless. This is one I made years ago, then kind of forgot about it.
This week, when I made my middle-of-the-week trip home, I had a few minutes to breath, as my husband was working late. I walked out to the back yard and had a nice visit with all of my flowers, which are in full bloom. Dinner plate sized hibiscus, phlox, Rose-of-Sharon, Dianthus…then I took a turn in the pool. Refreshed. I love home. So then I felt like I could do something a little different for dinner. I had some sun dried tomatoes and was thinking on those when I remembered this one. And I still had time to make it. In not much more time than it takes to cook the pasta, you will have this sauce ready. The way it is, it’s vegetarian. Want gluten free? Serve it with spaghetti squash. Like most simple dishes, you can play with it. It didn’t originally have fresh basil, but it sure was delicious in there. You could add other herbs if you want. Throw in a spoonful of pesto…yum. Feel free to add cooked meat – pepperoni, sausage, chicken, beef, whatever. It is fairly intense in tomato flavor, with the sun dried tomatoes, and that also helps make it thicker with very little cook time. And when my husband says “don’t change anything “, I know it’s good. That’s what he said about this one.
Life is good.
- 1 large clove of garlic, minced
- 1 stalk of celery, thinly sliced or chopped
- 1 cup of sun dried tomatoes, chopped
- ½ cup red wine
- 8 roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (or substitute canned for part or all of the fresh tomatoes, fresh is better)
- 8-12 ounces pasta
- Fresh basil, oregano, etc., optional
- fresh grated parmesan cheese, optional
- in a medium saucepan, combine the garlic, celery, sun dried tomatoes and wine. Bring to a simmer and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes.
- Put your salted pasta water on and bring to a boil.
- Now is the time to peel, seed and chop your tomatoes.
- Get that pasta cooking. After simmering the tomato mixture for the 15 minutes, add the fresh tomatoes and simmer another 5 minutes.
- Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and stir in basil, if using. Serve over hot pasta and top with cheese.