Pasta Puttanesca

Hi all! I can’t believe I’ve stayed away for so long! I mean, I’ve been around all the time, just not updating the blog. Just one word of explanation: work.

But now as I’m back I don’t wanna waste time in writing something that might not interest you, like the weather conditions in Finland (awful) or my work (tough) or other things not concerning food. So straight to the point.

I love Italian food - who wouldn’t!? I love pasta and I could eat pasta dishes every day. Or at least Italian dishes, when I could include also pizzas and risottos into my daily diet. Yum!

One of my favorite pastas of all times is spaghetti alla puttanesca, spaghetti in whores’ style. It traditionally consists of tomato, anchovies, capers, olives, chili and garlic. There are many explanations to the spicy name of this spicy dish. The ladies of the night wanted to have quick meals between the customers, so this one was super simple to prepare. Or they attracted the men from the street to the brothels with the wonderful scent of this food. Or, as it’s strong in flavor, by eating it they could keep the customers from trying to kiss them. And of course, the dish is as hot and spicy as the women themselves.

I don’t normally cook many pastas with tomato, simply because my better half S is not very fond of tomato sauces. This time I didn’t ask, which was smart, because S loved it. For once I will be able to prepare a tomato based pasta again!

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

300g dry spaghetti

500g whole canned tomatoes

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

6 canned anchovy fillets

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 red chili or 2 smaller peperoncinos if you can get them, finely minced

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons capers

20 black olives (I used kalamata), stones removed

salt and black pepper to taste

chopped fresh parsley or basil

parmesan cheese, to serve

Prepare the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add anchovies, garlic, onion and chili. Let simmer constantly stirring until the anchovies have “melted” in the oil, about 5 minutes.

Crush the canned tomatoes and add them to the skillet. Let the sauce simmer while you boil the pasta according to the package instructions.

Drain the cooked pasta. Add capers and olives into the tomato sauce, heat up and toss with the pasta.

Serve immediately with chopped herbs and grated parmesan cheese.