Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Sauce

Another killer recipe from The Silver Palate, Good Times.

I’ve been perusing the three Silver Palate cookbooks in my collection – and they are fabulous! Brings back good memories, cooking with my sis in Victoria, trying out new recipes in our culinary formative years!

This sauce is excellent – it cooks on the stove for ages (in fact, mine was on the stove for 2 hrs, not the 1 they called for), and after blending, all the flavours marry wonderfully. This would be amazing with a stuffed pasta, but I’ll likely use a fusili type, and use some of the sauce for pizzas. Good times indeed!

1/4 cup oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter (I omitted this)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, minced
3 carrots, peeled and minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 cans (28 oz. each) tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil)
1 cup dry white wine (I used red, as that’s what I had on hand)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the oil (and butter if using) in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and fennel seeds and sauté for 15 minutes. Stir in the canned tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, wine, and s & p to taste. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour (or 2?), stirring occasionally. Cool slightly, then transfer the sauce to a food processor, and process with repeated pulses until blended but not smooth. Tiny chunks should still remain. Serve the sauce over a hearty pasta, such as thick spaghetti or ziti, with freshly grated Parmesan.