If you had to guess what I’m eating for dinner and you said “tomato sauce and starch,” you’d probably be right about 75 percent of the time. Most of the time, that starch is in the form of pasta. But at least once a week, I get a craving for King Starch, the potato. I am happy to slather said starch with butter and dollop on the sour cream. But why should one have to choose between potatoes and tomato sauce? I say we can have our potato starch and eat our sauce, too.
Enter one of my favorite meals for busy weeknights when I’d rather “throw together” than cook: potatoes alla pizzaiola. Anything prepared “alla pizzaiola,” of course, is meant to conjure the flavors of a pizza—specifically by using oregano, and lots of it. What I like about this particular dish is that, while the basic recipe will do, you can also add any number of extra ingredients from your fridge (much like, say, a pizza). What follows are the basic ingredients, but I almost always add “extras”:
1 lb raw potatoes, peeled and cubed (preferably of the “waxy” variety—Yukon Gold work well)
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes (I use Muir Glen fire-roasted!)
1 tsp dried oregano
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh basil
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Okay, so I know this is technically “cooking,” but it really doesn’t feel like it. Peeling and cutting the potatoes is the hardest part. Put the cubed potatoes on a plate and microwave for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are cooked through.
In the meantime, heat the olive oil and cook the garlic for a few minutes, until fragrant (That’s what people say—what does that even mean? You know how long to cook the damn garlic. Just don’t burn it, because that’s not fragrant.) Add the crushed tomatoes, dried oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes. (So, this might be weird, but this time I tried something else in place of the red pepper flakes. I’m kind of obsessed with those spices that come in grinders—I saw a shichimi togarashi grinder at Kroger and had to try it. It’s a Japanese spice blend that includes chili flakes, sesame seeds, orange peel, garlic, pepper, seaweed, and ginger. My verdict is that it’s good on/in pretty much everything, and this dish is no exception.) I also added a glug of fish sauce. At this point, I raided my refrigerator and realized I had sliced kalamata olives and just a few marinated artichoke hearts. In they went! Again, this is really versatile. Hell, if you wanted to go the carnivore route, bacon or pancetta would be a great addition...and now I think I know how I’m going to make it next time…
The sauce needs to simmer for about 15 minutes. At that point, add the potatoes and simmer for another 10 minutes. When it’s done, the sauce should be very thick and adhere nicely to the potatoes. Finally, taste for seasoning and throw in some fresh basil and parmesan (don’t even ask how much cheese I added—a gentleman does not grate and tell).
Aside from moar cheez, the only way to improve this is to add an egg...or two. You could even crack in some eggs, cover, and cook shakshuka-style. Either way, potato + tomato sauce + cheese + runny yolks = OH GOD YES.
What’s for dinner at your place?