A great way to add just a little something extra to my basic marinara sauce.

Ingredients

　　1/4 cup olive oil 1

　　1 1/4 cups mixed olives, pitted and halved 1

　　1 1/2 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste

　　4 cups Marinara Sauce (page 59)

　　1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

　　In a large saute pan, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. When almost smoking, add the olives and 1 1/2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes, and sauté for 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, carefully pour in the marinara sauce, and simmer until the flavors blend, about 10 minutes. Stir in the basil, and season the sauce with more pepper flakes to taste. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)

　　Reprinted with permission from Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes by Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Copyright © 2005 by Giada De Laurentiis. Published by Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Giada De Laurentiis is the star of Food Network's Everyday Italian and Behind the Bash. She attended the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and then worked in a variety of Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck's Spago, before starting her own catering and private-chef company, GDL Foods. The granddaughter of movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, Giada was born in Rome and grew up in Los Angeles, where she now lives.