This is a fantastic quick dinner to make on a work night.  It took me less than an hour to pull it all together. This quick version uses a store bought arrabiatta sauce that I tweak a bit for more flavor. Of course, you can make your own – but for me, that’s a weekend project.  Arrabiatta is a slightly spicy marinara sauce that is great for pasta dishes with vegetables, it adds a bit of zip to the dish.  You can serve this with a quick salad. This time I just threw together some garlic Parmesan puffs and a glass of wine! Voila! (Wait, that’s French, not Italian……)

You will need:

• 1/2 of a 1 lb box of good quality Orecchiette pasta
• One 24 oz jar of Arrabiatta sauce (shhhh, I used the private selection variety sold at  Ralphs)
• 3 baby portabellas cut into about 1 inch pieces
• About 10 shitake mushrooms (about 2-3 oz) cut into pieces
• About 15 thin stalks of asparagus, bottom 3 inches trimmed off.  Cut stalks into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 white onion chopped
• 2 tbsp capers
• Three large cloves of garlic
• 3/4 cup white wine (don’t use Chardonnay, use Pinot Grigio or similar)
• 3/4 cup chicken (or vegetable) stock
• Salt and pepper
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

 Pasta:

• Get you pasta started in boiling, salted water

Prepare your sauce:

• Put about 4 tbsp olive oil in a large deep frying pan on medium/high heat
• Add chopped onion, potabellas and shitake mushrooms
• Saute for about 5-7 minutes
• Add cut asparagus and saute another 2-3 minutes
• Add three cloves garlic crushed and stir until you can smell the aromas of the garlic (do not let garlic burn or brown)
• Add 24 oz jar of arrabiatta sauce and stir to mix
• Then add your 3/4 cup white wine and 3/4 cup chicken stock (or veggie stock)
• Let simmer on low for 5 minutes
• Add your capers and salt and pepper to taste
• Let simmer while pasta finishes cooking (do not over cook pasta, pasta should be al dente)
• Then add drained, cooked pasta to your sauce, stir and let simmer about 3-4 more minutes
• Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to finish and serve