Sauce No.1 for Pasta: Sliced Black Olives/Capers/Sun-dried tomatoes and Chilli peppers.

A sauce for any kind for Pasta must not take longer to make than the time between you put on the water to boil, cook and strain the Pasta. In other words you make your sauce from scratch during the time your Pasta cooks, maximum 14 minutes depending on the type of pasta.
Sliced black olives/capers/sun-dried tomatoes/Chilli peppers/Garlic.
You will need:
-  500 gms thick spaghetti(count 100 gms of uncooked spaghetti per person)
-  Olive Oil (Prefer Greek extra virgin Kalamata Olive Oil).
-  5 Cloves Garlic crushed and minced.
-  1 Cup sliced Kalamata black olives.
-  1/2 Cup capers rinsed with water to get rid of the extra salt.
-  6 Sun-dried tomatoes (preserved in oil)
-  1 Chilli cut up in small pieces.
-  2 tsp. of Thyme.
-  2 Tbsp. Tomato puré.
-  Grated hard cheese or freshly grated Parmesan.
Salt for the water after it boils. You can taste the water to see if there is enough salt. You can never add salt to Pasta after it is cooked.
Salt and pepper for the sauce.
Method:
- Put on water to boil. Count one liter of water per 100 gms of pasta.
The Sauce:
- Put enough Olive Oil to cover the bottom of a small sauce pan.
- Heat oil, add olives, capers, garlic, Thyme, chilli, the sun-dried tomatoes, and the tomato puré, stir for a minute or so, when sauce boils, cover,reduce heat,simmer till your spaghetti is done.Cooking time for each type of pasta is written on the box itself.You should strain them 1-2 minutes before prescribed time for "al dente". The spaghetti will continue to cook once you add the sauce to the lot.
- Turn off the heat,strain,add to serving bowl, add sauce. Mix well and immediately serve. It is unbelievable how quickly spaghetti gets cold.
- Add whatever kind of grated hard cheese you want. Parmesan (never use the already grated in a box) always use freshly grated parmezan.
Et voila!
Enjoy
Stelio

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