Name: Paté di Ortaggi (Garden Sauce)
Yield: Makes about 2½ cups/570 ml
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: ¼ cup/30 g unsalted walnut meats; 4 ounces/1 cup/100 g baby artichokes cured in olive oil (If at all possible these should be Ligurian. The jarred varieties from Spain, Argentina, and elsewhere are too acrid, and the ones from California tend to be dull.); 4 ounces/1 cup/100 g sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil; 1 tablespoon/7 g minced fresh peperoncino (or 1 teaspoon dried chile pepper); Ligurian extravirgin olive oil; 4 ounces/1 cup/100 g Taggia olive paste; ½ cup/60 g fresh basil leaves, carefully wiped

Preparation info

Makes about
2½ cups

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Recipes from Paradise

By Fred Plotkin

Published 1997

About

This is a versatile and delicious sauce that can be used in many ways. While there are numerous variations that can be applied in making this sauce, based on the ingredients you have at hand, this one is typical of Albenga, a town in the Ponente that is famous for its artichokes. Spoon some Paté di Ortaggi on bread as antipasto, or toss with pasta as a primo. I have also made risotto to which I have spooned in one tablespoon of this sauce per person a few minutes before the risotto i