Recipe: paccheri al sugo di pomodoro e olive

Pasta is such great comfort food – everybody loves its. I still remember the days when I started cooking as a student in the UK, doing it with friends and having a blast! My favourite recipe came from an Italian book with a sauce intended to accompany a rabbit dish.

Here is a slight adaptation with paccheri instead of spaghetti for extra sauce magic!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, cut in half
• 15-20 mature pomodorini, cut in half
• 2 pinches of cane sugar
• 1/2 can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed
• 1/2 tablespoon of tomato purée
• 6-8 black Kalamata olives
• Pinch of rock salt
• Pinch of black crushed pepper
• 300gr paccheri or penne rigatti
• ¼ cup crushed feta cheese (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium fire. Cook chopped onions for 3 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally, then also add cane sugar
2. Reduce heat to med-low, add garlic and pomodorini and cook for 5 minutes until the pomodorini become a bit tender.
3. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until very al dente (about 2 minutes before it would be done). Normally, for paccheri cook time should be 10 minutes.
4. Increase skillet’s heat to medium, add whole peeled tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add wine and tomato purée and cook for another 3 minutes, until sauce slightly thickens. Once it does, also add the chopped olives.
5. A few minutes before pasta is ready, reserve half an espresso cup of pasta cooking liquid and add to the sauce in the skillet. Cook for another 2 minutes or until sauce thickens (to your desire).
6. Remove the skillet from heat, add salt & pepper and stir.
7. As soon as pasta is ready, drain and throw over the warm skillet.
8. [Optional] Add crushed feta cheese for extra flavour, stirring until sauce is unified.