Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Pasta Puttanesca






I've heard of this pasta so many times and of course the name is a tad bit controversial meaning (in english)- whore's pasta. But i have not really attempted to make it until last christmas. The fact that it's got no meat in it, not even a shred of bacon kind of makes it unappealing to me but- I realized the key here is to complement it with a meat dish, which i did with chicken . However, the pasta in itself is oh so scrummy and in its own right can be a stand alone meal...simply serve it with salad and nice bread. So, friends here is the recipe, adapted from Smitten Kitchen and tweaked a little bit to my liking. Enjoy!





INGREDIENTS:

1 kg. cooked regular or whole-wheat thin spaghetti, vermicelli or angel hair
5 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup chopped Spanish or Greek olives
3-4 tablespoons capers (i just use up one small bottle for this amount of pasta)
1 small anchovy bottle including the oil in it ( i used the brand Flott)
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or chili flakes
3 cans diced tomatoes
3/4 cup chopped fresh arugula otherwise known as wild rocket
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
sea salt




HOW TO:

1. In a large skillet, warm up olive oil. Add the garlic and everything else except for the arugula and tomato sauce. Saute' til fragrant about 3 minutes. 

2. Add in the tomatoes and allow to simmer over low heat now for about 15 minutes. Add more olive oil or an extra can of tomato sauce if you think it's a bit on the dry side.

3. Next- add in the pasta making sure the strands are well coated, season with salt. Mix in the arugula just as you are about to serve as it will cook in the heat.

4. Serve with shaved parmigiano and bread. Ciao, ciao.


Cooks note: Go easy on sea salt or rock salt because it's pretty easy to over-season with this, I suggest you use it with a grinder. Adjust the amount of chili flakes to your liking. Cook the pasta al dente- mushy pasta just don't do justice to the recipe.




“Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate. ” 
Alan D. Wolfelt




*photo from budgetbytes, will post my own when i make some again :)





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