puttanesca

So I've been reading and hearing about this "puttanesca" for quite awhile, but never tried it until last night. Granted, what I made might not have been terribly close to a true puttanesca, but it wasn't a bad dish.  And to boot, I tried anchovies for the first time! They're actually not nearly as bad as I'd expected (actually, almost good). Here's what you'll need:

• 8 ounces pasta (I used angel hair)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 medium tomatoes, cut pretty small (I used stem tomatoes)
• 1 jar of anchovy fillets, in oil (3.5oz)
• 3 tablespoons capers
• 20 Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

I started by sautéing the garlic in the olive oil (all 1/2 cup of it...it's necessary, don't skimp.)  Once that began to brown, I added the chopped tomatoes and let those go for a good 10 minutes on medium to medium-high heat. I forgot how quickly tomatoes will cook down to a natural sauce (and how awesome that sauce smelled!) After this, add in all the other ingredients: capers, olive, red pepper flakes and anchovies (which I rinsed pretty thoroughly) and simmer for about another 10 minutes. I was actually impressed at how quickly the anchovies basically dissolved into the sauce. You really couldn't tell they were in there by the time this was done.

While that's simmering, go ahead and boil the pasta of your choice.  When it's done, combine and serve!

Now, was this puttanesca an all-time favorite? No, not really.  However, it was a really decent dish that was a bit different from my usual, and it's always nice to change things up a bit. It's definitely got a lot of flavor, a real spice to it.  And as a note: don't add any salt! Between the anchovies and other ingredients, you won't need it.

Bon chappétit!