Puttanesca: Italy’s Dirty, Delicious Pasta
Ingredients
7 ½ ounces passata OR 1/2 of a 15-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes (mash if using whole tomatoes)
¼ cup capers (rinsed to remove excess salt)
½ cup whole olives OR 1/4 cup pitted olives (coarsely chopped)
5 anchovy fillets (chopped medium fine)
4 garlic cloves (chopped medium fine)
1 small red chili pepper OR 1/8 t Italian pepper flake
¼ cup olive oil
½ pound spaghetti
black pepper (to taste)
Directions
Heat a 12″ saute or fry pan to medium high and add olive oil.
Once the olive oil is heated (It should shimmer a little.) add the garlic and chili pepper. Cook until the garlic just starts to brown.
Add the anchovies, capers and olives to the pan and sauté them for about 5 minutes.
Add the tomato passata along with about a cup of water. If you’ve poured the passata into a bowl, you can use the water to wash any tomato residue from the bowl.
Bring the mixture to a steady simmer. Turn the heat to low.
Simmer the sauce for 45 minutes to an hour. Add more water if the sauce becomes too thick or it will begin to burn. Make sure the sauce is thick when you’re ready to finish the dish.
Boil 4 to 5 cups of water in a saucepan or 12″ skillet.
Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the box.
One minute before the spaghetti is done, add one to two ladles of water from the pasta pot to the sauce.
Using tongs, move the pasta from the pasta pot to the frying pan.
Cook pasta and sauce until thick. You should see bottom of the frying pan when you run a wooden spoon across it.
