Recipe: Italian and Indian Fusion Split-Pea Pasta Sauce

What do you do when you have a partially open can of whole tomatoes in the refrigerator, don't feel like cooking a rice-oriented dish, don't want to peel potatoes, and don't want yet another standard pasta sauce? Why, combine ingredients from two different cuisines together and see what comes out.

Both Italian sauces and Indian curries frequently use tomatoes as a base. Onions, garlic, and red chili peppers are also common to both. The rest is just combining the ingredients from each respective cuisines in a manner that complements rather than clashes. Turmeric, cardamom, and coriander were out. Those flavors are way too distinctive and strong. How about cumin and cinnamon? These go well in a sweet sauce, so these were in. I wanted to add some kind of legume to the sauce. I thought about lentils, but settled on yellow split peas, primarily because a few weeks ago I bought up about six 1-pound bags that were on clearance. Green split peas are normally cheaper, but the color wasn't quite what I wanted in the sauce.

On the Italian side of things, I added some tomato paste, some sun-dried tomatoes, capers, (okay, this is more Greek) some Kalamata olives, and basil.

From the American collection, I added a bit of tomato ketchup. (I've learned recently that ketchup has tons of umami in it. Although tomatoes have quite a bit, ketchup is a much more concentrated source. That's why even mediocre fast-food burgers taste relatively good when they're smothered in ketchup.)

I didn't exactly measure most of the ingredients, so the amounts that follow are approximations from what I can recall. Use your eyes and taste buds to adjust. The end result should be a sweet/tangy sauce more than a salty one. The sauce went over well with Elise and the kids. Your mileage may vary. Looking at the ingredient list, it looks like this should be vegan friendly also.

Sunday, 9/7: I forgot about the raisins. They're now added below.

Italian and Indian Fusion Split Pea Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup split peas
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 dried red chili peppers, broken to allow more heat in sauce (optional)
• 1 2-inch cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. whole cumin seeds
• 1 small onion, diced small
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 can (28 oz) whole, peeled tomatoes, drained
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 tbsp. sun dried tomatoes, packed in olive oil
• 1 tbsp. tomato ketchup
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. capers, drained and minced
• 6 Kalamata olives, sliced
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 tsp. dried basil leaves
• About 8 fresh basil leaves, cut into chiffonade (for garnish)

Directions

1. In a small pot, cook the split peas according to package directions, about 30 minutes or until desired texture reached.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan heat oil over medium heat. When hot, drop in the chili peppers, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and cumin seeds. Stir and fry until cumin seeds turn brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add onions and garlic and continue to fry until onions are translucent and starting to brown.
3. Add the tomatoes, then using a potato masher mash the tomatoes until no large chunks remain. Add the tomato paste, sun dried tomatoes, ketchup, sugar, salt, capers, olives, raisins, and dried basil. Bring to simmer and continue to cook another 10 minutes or until peas are cooked.
4. When peas are cooked, drain and add to the tomato mixture. Stir well to combine, then continue to cook another 5 to 10 minutes to allow the flavors to mix and absorb. Remove from heat and serve over pasta.