Serves 4
Total prep and cooking time:  35 minutes

1 lb. linguine

14 oz./398 g. tomato puree

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup milk (I use 1%)

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Set pasta water on to boil.  Use a large pot, as this makes a lot of pasta.  Add a little salt to the water when it comes to a boil, but no oil.  You can make the sauce in the time it takes to heat the water and cook the pasta.

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan, and gently sautee the onion and garlic together until the onion is translucent.  Add the tomato puree, the oregano, basil, and sambal oelek.  Bring to a simmer.

Puree the ricotta cheese and milk together until completely smooth.  Add to the tomato mixture, and stir until blended.  Add the olives.  Remove half the sauce to a blender (or use an immersion blender) and process until smooth.  Make sure some of the olives get pureed - it adds a wonderful depth the the flavour.

Drain the cooked pasta and add to the sauce.  Mixture may be quite thick, and if so you can add a little of the pasta cooking-water to thin it out.  Toss the pasta and sauce together, and add the parsley or cilantro.  A little crumbled bacon also makes a great topping, and you can't go wrong with a little parmesan.

The sauce on its own also makes a pretty tasty dip for pita bread or focaccia.