RECIPE: REC: Pasta Puttanesca. This version was really good last night and it only took half and hour ...

RECIPE:
J

joe

Well-known member
We finally have nice weather here in "sunny" SoCal and enjoyed this outdoors, with prosciutto and melon beforehand.

PASTA PUTTANESCA

Harlot's sauce

(This is my own take on Anna Casale's recipe)

1/4 cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup pitted Kalamata Olives, cut in half (a 6-1/2 oz jar from Trader Joe's)

1 28-oz can plum tomatoes with juice, (TJ's again--the best) chopped roughly in a processor.

Freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup drained capers

1 2-oz. can anchovies, drained

A large handful of chopped Italian parsley

1 lb. pasta (TJ's Parpardelle. I swear TJ's is not paying me, but they should.)

Freshly grated Romano cheese

Heat most of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant. Add the garic and saute a minute or two, just until fragrant. Add the olives and stir until slightly puffed, (don't let the garlic burn) about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and pepper to taste. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat remaining olive oil in a small skillet on low heat and add anchovies. Let them "melt," or mash with the back of a spoon if they don't fall apart on their own.

Add anchovies and capers to sauce and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in the parsley

Boil pasta in lightly salted water. Drain and add to the skillet with sauce. Toss and pour into a serving bowl. Serve with Romano cheese

(Anne Casale's recipe calls for spaghettini and does not include the anchovies. She also halves the garlic cloves, heats them in the oil to flavor it, then discards them before proceeding.)

 
Drooling here and it's only 2 in the afternoon--not fair. And I don't even like olives!

 
I have done something similar for a bunch of years.....

I saute a clove or 2 of garlic in some olive oil, then stir in a bit of anchovy paste. When it's broken down into the oil, I add a can of "recipe ready" tomatoes with juice and let come to a simmer. Then I toss in some pitted olives....kalamata, oil-cured, oe whatever I happen to have from the olive bar. Then I add some drained capers (I buy them in a quart jar) and a bit of crushed red pepper....
Meanwhile, on another burner, I'm boiling water for pasta and cooking same. When pasta done, add to pan with sauce, toss well and add grated cheese. In this house, it's Romano or Grana.
We can eat this by the bucket load.....so yummy, and so easy to throw together.

 
With this combination of ingredients, how can you go wrong? I liked how it went with the wide

egg noodles (parpardelle) last night--I'd always used linguini or spaghetti before. I also used to use Parmesan cheese because I had it on hand but this time I got real Romano and it made all the difference in the world.

My cookbook says there are several theories as to how this sauce got it's name. Perhaps loose women had to make dinner in a hurry after an afternoon tryst, or more professional types had to make a quick meal between clients. I like to think it means "fast and easy, sassy sauce."

 
Joe, there is another logical theory for the name,,,

The "ladies of the evening" did not have access to the markets on a regular basis, so they were prone to cooking up this dish which can be prepared with ingredients on hand. My Italian professoressa thinks local regulations enforced the lack of access of mingling with "proper citizens"!

 
Me too. But I always use the black Provencal olives in oil. I love the herbes de Provence flavour.

 
Oh interesting. Also in French...la poutain....a 'lady of the night'....like puttana in Italian. I

think my puttanesca will always conjure up this reference from now on.

 
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