Simple Ingredients

• It's a short list of ingredients that have a big impact. Garlic and onions are softened in olive oil. Marechiara sauce is redolent with garlic so don't skimp. Add chopped olives and fresh chopped tomatoes; canned plum tomatoes you've chopped with their juices; or tomato sauce. Toss in fresh oregano and a few splashes of wine. Some cooks also add red pepper flakes to give the sauce some heat. Let the sauce simmer for 10 or so minutes.

Sensational Seafood and Fish

• Chunks of mild-tasting fish, shrimp, clams and/or lobsters are added to the sauce just a few minutes before serving so the seafood doesn't overcook. Poach fish fillets, such as tilapia or red snapper, in the marechiara sauce for about 10 minutes for each inch of thickness of the fish. While it's not traditional, fish could be baked in the sauce in the oven. Salmon and tuna steaks are other options. Salted cod is often served with marechiara sauce. However, the salt cod needs to be reconstituted in water and browned, and the sauce served over the fish.

Choose Chicken

• You have two options for marechiara sauce and chicken. Make the sauce. While the sauce is simmering, saute boneless skinless chicken breasts that have been halved lengthwise. If you like you could dredge the chicken breast fillets in flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs, much as you would prepare the meat for chicken parmigiana. Spoon the marechiara sauce over the cooked chicken. The other option is to poach the chicken cutlets in the sauce. Chicken thighs would work as well but take longer to cook than cutlets. Keep an eye on the sauce so it doesn't get too thick. If it does, add a little more white wine or water.

Perfect Pasta

• Pasta soaks up the marechiara sauce, so while it's not mandatory, it is appropriate. Angel hair pasta, spaghetti or linguine would all work, since the long strands get coated with the sauce. Cook the pasta until it's slightly underdone. Remove the fish and seafood from the sauce and set aside. Add a spoonful of the pasta's cooking water to the marechiara sauce, then stir in the pasta. Let it simmer just a minute or 2 to absorb the sauce. Dish the sauce and pasta onto plates and arrange the fish and seafood equally on each serving.