Spaghetti with Tomato & Olive Sauce

We need a quick meal on Wednesday nights because Matt has a Twin Cities Makers meeting in the evening. This week we decided to use some of the meatballs we had frozen for spaghetti & meatballs.

Matt suggested he make a sauce rather than just buy something in a jar. He wanted to add a little extra flavor to the sauce so he picked up some Kalamata olives at the deli. I suggested we add some of the capers we've had sitting unopen in the pantry to up that briney flavor. I wish we could have used fresh tomatoes but it way too early here in MN so we used the best canned ones we know, Muir Glen fire roasted. This sauce had a really wonderful flavor & was a nice switch from a plain tomato sauce.

We used meatballs in this dish because we had them on hand. We browned them & then let them cook in the sauce as it was simmering. The sauce does not need the meatballs at all though.

Tomato & Olive Sauce

1 T olive oil
12 Kalamata olives, pitted & rough chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 t dried oregano
1 T red wine vinegar
1 14-oz can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
1 T capers
1 t sugar

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the olives, onions & garlic. Sauté until the onion is translucent. Stir in red wine vinegar & oregano. Add the tomatoes, capers & sugar. Stir. Cover & simmer for 30 minutes.

2 servings