August 30th, 2024
Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca
Last week we went into the deep end of the pool. This one is simple and incredibly popular. It was suggested by someone on the WNIS Facebook page and I was in full agreement. The dish hails from either Ischia or Naples and was invented around 1950. Like some American dishes it was born of necessity. The story goes that some customers arrived very late and the owner had few ingredients left. Someone said to prepare ‘ una puttanata qualsiasi’- a whore’s any or any garbage. This at least according to the historians at the-pasta-project.com. I literally used what I had at home including some older fennel. No cheese because of the anchovies but who is looking do what you want.
Ingredients
- Spaghetti or Linguine- Italian sourced- make the whole pound
- ¼ cup or so of good olive oil but really just coat the bottom of a good sauce/saute skillet
- Anchovy fillets- I use four or five
- Black Olives- chopped- maybe two handfuls
- Capers- a tablespoon- rinse if salt cured
- 4 cloves of garlic chopped
- ½ cup very thinly sliced fennel ( I added this it is not necessary for the dish)
- Teaspoon (or to taste) of red chili pepper flakes
- Whole tomatoes and juice from ½ of a 28 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes
- Chop a few fresh plum or cherry tomatoes as well
- Fresh chopped parsley
Preparation
- Boil water for the Spaghetti and drop in so that it goes al dente around the time the sauce has simmered around ten minutes
- Now the fun part, heat the olive oil and add the garlic, thinly sliced fennel ( don’t have to), the anchovy fillets and the chili flakes (The idea is to saute gently, do not burn the garlic while the anchovies melt) around 3-5 minutes.
- Add the rinsed capers now (a couple of handfuls of the chopped olives and the parsley, just a little!)
- Crush the whole tomatoes from the can about half of them and a little juice, add the chopped plum tomatoes as well. I don’t care about skin and seeds and neither should you.
- Simmer 10-12 minutes until all goes soft and blends
- Add the spaghetti and a little pasta water and shake the pan or use tongs to diffuse the ingredients and add a little more of the parsley
- Use your eyes and your soul. This isn’t chemistry. If it looks right you are done.
- Plate and if added some grated parmesan, some small mozzarella balls or a couple of tablespoons of good ricotta it wouldn’t bother me but some visiting Italian might give you the mal occhio- the evil eye. Buon Appetito!
