SPAGHETTI with SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

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1 SPAGHETTI with SUN-DRIED TOMATOES Serves 4 to 6. By Dennis W. Viau; an original recipe. During warm weather when you don t want to heat up the oven, or when you need to get a quick meal on the table after arriving home from work, a few simple recipes can help a lot. This recipe is quick and easy. The sauce can be made in less time than it takes to cook the spaghetti. Ingredients: 1 pound (454g) spaghetti, linguine, or other pasta 3½ ounces (100g) sun-dried tomatoes; thinly sliced 2 to 3 cloves garlic; minced ¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil ¼ teaspoon oregano flakes Salt and pepper to taste Optional: 4 to 5 fresh basil leaves Optional: 3 to 5 sprigs fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley Freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese for garnish. See Note at end. Directions: Heat water and start cooking the spaghetti according to package directions. Slice the sun-dried tomatoes really thin and add to a heated skillet with the garlic, olive oil and oregano. Sauté 1 minute. Add fresh chopped basil or parsley, if available, stir, and remove from the heat. Adjust for salt and pepper. When the spaghetti is cooked, drain and return to the pot. Add the sun-dried tomato mixture. You can add more oil if you prefer. (I add some of the oil from the jar of tomatoes, if packed in olive oil.) Stir to coat. Plate, garnish with cheese, and serve. It s that simple. The Step By Step guide begins on the following page

2 1 STEP-BY-STEP 2 I try to keep sun-dried tomatoes in my refrigerator, along with artichoke hearts, anchovy fillets, and a few other standard ingredients. As you remove tomatoes from the jar, you can add more oil to cover the fruit (tomatoes are a fruit) in the jar. For this recipe I used Italian (flat leaf) parsley because it was winter and the fresh basil in the store didn t look good. The best basil is sold during the summer at the farmer s markets. 2 Start the pasta cooking first, as that will take the most time. Cook according to package directions. While the water is heating and the pasta is cooking, you can quickly prepare the sauce for this recipe. I slice the sun-dried tomatoes really thin, almost shredding them.

3 3 3 Heat oil in a skillet and add the garlic. You don t need the oil hot, and therefore you can use extra virgin olive oil. Hot oil would brown the garlic, making it bitter, and extra virgin olive oil smokes (degrading the flavor) at high temperature. You can work with a medium heat in this recipe. 4 Add the sun-dried tomatoes and oregano. Cook about a minute. You can also add more oil if you like a lot of oil on your pasta. After about a minute, remove from the heat and let cool enough to taste for salt and pepper.

4 5 4 While the tomatoes and garlic are cooking, you can chop the basil or parsley. You can add the parsley to the pan at the end of the cooking time or, as I did, add it to the dressed spaghetti in the pot. 6 When the pasta is cooked, drain it and return it to the pot. Add the tomato mixture.

5 7 5 I added the fresh chopped parsley at this step. 8 Mix well to coat the spaghetti. Notice that there aren t many ingredients in this pot. The oil, garlic, and especially the tomatoes have a good bold flavor. A little goes a long way.

6 9 6 Plate, garnish with shredded cheese and a little extra chopped parsley, then serve. Conclusion This is one of several quick-and-easy recipes I keep in mind for occasions when I need to get a meal onto the table in very little time. Guests who like eating pasta really enjoy this dish. Note This is a recipe that easily benefits from modifications. If I have them, I might add a couple anchovy fillets or some chopped artichoke hears. Cubed cooked chicken breast can be added, and the dish can be made with small pasta and refrigerated for a chicken and pasta salad. Try adding diced celery and/or diced carrot. You can also try different herbs. The recipe is simple enough to allow for experimentation with some of your favorite ingredients.