Puttanesca

  • Time: 40 minutes
  • Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 tins tomatoes
  • 1/2 tin anchovies
  • 3 medium cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tbsp chilli flakes
  • 1/3 cup chopped capers (drained and lightly pressed to remove excess brine)
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped olives
  • Parsley, chopped, and some to garnish
  • Grated parmesan for serving
  • 90g pasta per person

Method:

  1. If you have tins of chopped tomatoes, drain. If you have tins of peeled plum tomatoes, drain and gently crush with a spoon, or if you want a very smooth texture, blend.
  2. Chop the anchovies and olives, patting the olives dry to remove some excess liquid.
  3. Drain and press the capers with kitchen towel, and then finely chop them.
  4. Peel and slice the garlic thinly.
  5. Put a large flat bottomed pan on the hob and heat with a medium-low flame. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, not quite enough to cover the pan, and add some oil from the tin of anchovies for a more intense flavour.
  6. Add the chilli flakes to the pan and let the oil infuse slightly, then you can add the anchovies. They will disintegrate fairly quickly, after which time add the garlic. Take care that it doesn’t burn as it will cook quickly.
  7. Add the olives and capers and continue to fry for a couple of minutes, then pour in the chopped tomatoes and stir to combine. This sauce should simmer for at least 20 minutes to thicken and to properly reduce the acidity from the tinned tomatoes.
  8. Whilst the sauce is reducing, boil the pasta in slightly salted water (there is enough salt in the sauce that you don’t need to heavily salt the pasta water) until it is 1 or 2 minutes away from being properly cooked.
  9. Just before you add the pasta to the sauce, stir in the fresh chopped parsley.
  10. Keep a cup of the starchy pasta water and then add the pasta to the sauce. Stir vigorously to combine and add the pasta water bit by bit. This will first loosen the sauce, then the starch will help it thicken up again and coat the surface of the pasta. Add as much water as appropriate until you feel that the sauce is ready.
  11. Serve in warm bowls if possible, with fresh parsley on top and grated parmesan if desired.

Commentary:

Of course this is not technically an original recipe but it’s time to start writing up the pasta dishes I cook often, and so we begin with this classic dish from Naples.