I have a good news and a bad one.
The bad news is that, the pictures in this post are nothing to rave about and it is not doing justice to this dish. There was barely any light and I was battling the rains and thunderstorm at 9pm while taking pictures. And that too, while trying hard not to dig into the pasta and messing it up. I was tempted for 66 times at least.
The good news is, I have yet added another delicious pasta to my repertoire!
I am a huge fan of tomatoey pasta. I do enjoy a good creamy pasta, but when it comes to the red sauce ones, I can eat loads! Yes, red sauce pasta + me + damage control does not go hand in hand.
I personally think that pasta dishes are mostly easy to cook. I love cooking pasta and it is my “go-to-dish” for busy days. Pastas are mostly very versatile and you can easily get dinner on the table in 30 minutes. Although cooking pasta isn’t rocket science, I have noticed that people are not getting the basics right. Some tend to either overcook the pasta or not seasoning the pasta well enough. Below, I have included a couple of tips for cooking pasta.
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This Spaghetti alla Puttanesca is a really delicious Pasta dish. If you didn’t already know, puttanesca means whore in Italian. At least, that is what my friend, Wiki told me. It is believed that this pasta is a fast snack “between clients”. Ahem. I was just clearing my throat. For real not.
Now I wonder who actually came up with this name? We will obviously stick with puttanesca. It sounds so fancy! I am not someone who uses the F-word or the B-word, but I am actually liking this P-word because it is so delish! I was very surprised with the flavors of this pasta. It was just yummy! Since there are three bold flavor ingredients, every ingredient was screaming out for attention.
Preparing this pasta was a breeze. I just had to saute a couple of ingredients and then letting the sauce reduce down for a bit before adding the spaghetti. Easy peasy. If you want to make it completely vegetarian, just skip the anchovies.
Spaghetti alla puttanesca is a very flavorful pasta and it really deserves a round of applause from those who make it and those who cook it.
- 500 grams spaghetti (cook according to package instructions and reserve ½ cup of the pasta water)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 8 anchovies - drained (omit if you are making a vegetarian version)
- ½ cup black olives, sliced
- 3 fresh chilies - sliced
- 4 cloves garlic - chopped
- 1 tsp chili flakes (or to taste)
- 1.5 tbsp small capers - rinsed and drained (Omit if you do not like capers)
- 700 g fresh tomatoes - peeled and diced (or use 1 x 400 g can diced tomatoes)
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Parmesan for topping
- In a pan, heat the olive oil.
- Add the chili and fry for about 2 minutes
- Mix in the garlic and anchovies and fry till the anchovies have almost melted.
- Add in the chili flakes and stir for another 30 seconds.
- Mix in the tomatoes, olives and capers and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every now and again.
- By which time it will thicken, add salt and black pepper and taste for seasoning.
- Add the spaghetti to the sauce in your pan, adding a little reserved pasta water.
- Scatter with chopped parsley and Parmesan
You might also like the following recipes.
Better than Pastamania Spaghetti Bolognese with Meatballs
A Classic Lasagne Recipe
Interesting pasta esp the name. Ha ha. I have seen niigella making this. I should try this out asap. Thanx.