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Pasta with Tomato and Olive Puree

A Ligurian specialty, usually made with “stamped” pasta—pasta that is rolled out and then cut with dies in special designs. You can use any cut pasta for this, though perhaps it’s best with fresh pasta like malfatti (page 542). If you have Tapenade (page 604), simply stir it into any tomato sauce to get the same effect.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 4 servings

Ingredients

Salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
About 1 pound ripe fresh or canned tomatoes, peeled, seeded, drained if canned, and chopped
1/2 pound good-quality black olives (page 18)
3 or 4 anchovy fillets
1 pound any good-quality pasta
Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Put half the olive oil in a 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and, when it sizzles, the tomatoes, along with some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break up and the mixture becomes saucy, about 15 minutes.

    Step 2

    Meanwhile, pit the olives: press on them with the broad side of a knife to break them, then remove the pit. Combine them in a small food processor with the anchovies and the remaining olive oil. Pulse the machine until you have a fairly smooth paste. Stir this paste into the tomato sauce and keep warm, stirring occasionally.

    Step 3

    Cook the pasta until it is tender but not mushy. Serve with the sauce, garnished with the parsley.

The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved. MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.
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