Cacciatore Sauce

Prep Time: 30m | Cook Time: 1h | Total Time: 1h 30m | Serves

Cacciatore is Italian for "hunter," and this earthy, rustic sauce is a versatile player in any cook's repertoire, perfect for simmering pieces of browned chicken or tossing with pasta, even for spooning over rice. Or use it as an inspiration point for your own culinary adventure.

This recipe makes enough to feed a big family — if you’d rather cut it down to size instead of freezing extra sauce for later, just change the number of servings in the box below the recipe title. The ingredient proportions will change accordingly. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons Earthbound Farm Crushed Roasted Garlic Organic Purée
2 Earthbound Farm Organic Bell Peppers (diced large, about 3 cups)
3 large Earthbound Farm Organic Yellow Onions (diced large, about 6 cups)
1 3/4 pounds mushrooms (cut into large pieces)
1 can diced tomatoes in juice (28 oz)
2 tablespoons Earthbound Farm Chopped Fresh Basil Organic Herb Purée
2 teaspoons Earthbound Farm Crushed Fresh Chili Pepper Organic Purée
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds your favorite pasta
  Good Parmesan or Romano cheese (optional, for serving)

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic purée, peppers and onions, and sauté until soft.

Add the mushrooms and continue cooking until all liquid has evaporated, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, basil and chili purées, oregano, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, letting the sauce thicken a bit. At this point, you can add meat (such as browned chicken pieces), if you like. Continue simmering in the sauce until the meat is heated through.

While the sauce is simmering, the pasta according to package directions and cook until al dente (tender-firm).

Toss the sauce with the pasta and serve hot, with some good Parmesan or Romano cheese on the side, if you like.