Sauce of Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Cannellini Beans
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons olive oil from sun-dried tomato container
- 4 fat cloves garlic, sliced (about 1/4 cup)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried peperoncino (hot red pepper flakes), or more or less to taste
- 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, drained and sliced in 1/4-inch strips
- Hot water from the pasta-cooking pot
- 1 1/2 cups cooked cannellini beans, or 1 pound canned beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano
- Start cooking the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water 5 minutes before you start the sauce.
- Pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the tomato-packing oil, 1/4 cup total, into a big skillet, scatter the garlic slices in the oil, and set over medium-high heat.
- Cook for 1 minute or so, until the slices are sizzling.
- Drop the dried peperoncino in a hot spot, toast for 1/2 minute, and stir in with the garlic.
- Drop the strips of sun-dried tomato into a clear part of the skillet, stir, and spread them out.
- Let them sizzle and toast for a minute or so.
- Ladle 1 cup of boiling pasta water into the skillet and stir up everything well.
- Keep the liquid simmering actively so the tomatoes soften and release their flavor.
- Cook for 2 minutes or so, until the liquid has reduced by half.
- Stir in the cannellini beans, the 1/4 teaspoon salt, and about 1 1/2 more cups of pasta water.
- Bring the sauce rapidly to the boil, stirring, and cook at an active simmer for 4 minutes, thickening slightly.
- Keep hot until the pasta is ready.
- When the pasta is almost done al dente, scoop it up and into the skillet to finish cooking, adding a little more or reducing the pasta water as necessary.
- Add the parsley during the initial tossing; off the heat, toss in the cheese and a final tablespoon of olive oil just before serving.
- Wash, dry, and stem about 4 ounces tender fresh spinach; use small whole leaves, or cut larger leaves in pieces.
- Make the sauce as detailed in the main recipe.
- When the cannellini beans have been simmering in the skillet for a couple minutes, drop the spinach leaves on top.
- Let them steam until they wilt, then stir them into the sauce, with another cup or more of pasta water.
- Cook at an active simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, until the spinach and the beans are cooked, and the sauce has reduced.
- Finish with pasta as in main recipe, but omit the parsley
- A short tubular dry pasta such as ziti, rigatoni, gomiti (elbows), or radiatori
extravirgin olive oil, olive oil, garlic, peperoncino, tomatoes, water, beans, salt, fresh italian parsley
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sauce-of-sun-dried-tomatoes-and-cannellini-beans-384429 (may not work)