Chickpea “Tuna” Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 small onion peeled and cubed
- 4 cloves of garlic peeled and minced
- 1 can (400g) chickpeas, drained and washed
- 2 tbsp. dried dill
- 1 tbsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 500 g crushed / sieved tomatoes
- 100 ml water best: the pasta-cooking water
- 1 small jar (90g) of capers, drained ( about 1 handful of capers)
- 1 tsp. pepper
- The juice of 1/2 lemon
- Salt to taste
- Olive oil
- Optional: 1-2 tbsp. flaxseed oil or 1-2 Nori sheets
Directions
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Heat 2-3 tbsp. olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat
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Add onion and garlic and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent
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Add drained and washed chickpeas and cook for another 2 minutes
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With the backside of a wooden spoon or with a fork, gently press down the chickpeas to crush them open. This gives the sauce a chunky texture plus the inside of the chickpeas absorb sauce way better than the outside
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Then, add dried dill, dried oregano, chili powder, tomato paste, crushed or sieved tomatoes and 100ml water or pasta-cooking water (if you’re cooking your pasta at the same time)
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Stirr well until everything is well combined. Reduce heat to low, cover pan with a lid (if you have one) and let everything simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
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After 10 minutes, add 1 tsp. pepper and about one handful of capers (this depends on how much you like the taste of capers – I love them and add all the capers from the jar)
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Let that cook for another 2 minutes
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Then, add the juice of 1/2 lemon and salt to taste (the capers are quite salty though so don’t add too much salt at once)
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Mix in your favorite cooked pasta
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Optional: If you want to have a more “fishy tuna taste” you can either add 1 tbsp. flaxseed oil per person to your finished pasta dish (flaxseed oil is often described to taste quite fishy) or add 1-2 finely ground Nori sheets to your sauce while it simmers
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ENJOY!
Notes
Enough for 2 hungry people or ca. 300-350g pasta