Another Pantry Meal - Ziti Picchi Pacchi

 

Last week I went to my friend Gina's house and showed her how to throw together a pantry meal. Her pantry is well stocked and it was easy to come up with a quick dish. Gina and I like a lot of the same foods and like me she has kalamata olives in her fridge. I realize that I use them a lot and you all must be tired of seeing them in my recipes. If you don't like them leave them out and put in whatever you like, maybe some artichoke hearts! Yum! I call this picchi pacchi because it's made with diced tomatoes and basil and I've seen variations of this but they all contain diced tomatoes.

Gina and I have different preferences when it comes to pasta. I will always choose lined pasta such as penne over ziti. I just feel like the sauce sticks better because it fills up the the ridges. It really doesn't matter though, this dish was delicious!

Ziti with Pantry Sauce


Ingredients:

1 lb pasta
1 medium onion, diced
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (Dorat frozen cubes from Trader Joes)
2 teaspoons of chopped basil (Dorat frozen cubes from Trader Joes)
2 - 16 ounce cans petite diced tomatoes
1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped
1 tablespoon capers
Splash of white wine
extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Directions:


In a medium saucepan saute onion and garlic in extra virgin olive oil. Add garlic and basil and stir (frozen cubes will melt and cook quickly). Add a spalsh of white wine and let the alcohol cook out (about a minute or so). Add tomatoes, capers and olives, stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 20- 30 minutes. About halfway into cooking time, add pasta to boiling salted water. When pasta is al dente combine it in the pan with sauce. Toss to combine sauce with pasta.