Spaghetti with Puttanesca Sauce

This is a very easy recipe and one of my all time favourites. Don’t let the ingredients turn you away; in combination this dish tastes delicious.

For you vegetarians out there, if you don’t eat fish either, you can remove the anchovy and add either a few more capers or olives.

Spaghetti Puttanesca

*4 garlic cloves, minced fine
*Salt
*1 pound spaghetti (look for the real Italian stuff…100% Semolina
*2 tablespoons olive oil
*1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
*6-8 anchovies chopped
*1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes (again, good Italian ones, check the ingredients and    make sure there are no additional sugars or spices in them)
*3 tablespoons capers (see note), rinsed
*1/2 cup purple or black olives such Kalamata, (usually buy in bulk section of the deli or Safeway etc) pitted and chopped coarse
*1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, minced

Bring a large pot of water and salt to rolling boil in large stockpot. The amount of salt is important somewhat. Most Italians will tell you that the water should be as salty as the Mediterranean Sea. Don’t be shy with the salt, as pasta on its own has no taste. For approximately 4 litres of water I would use about 2 tablespoons of salt.

When water is boiling, add pasta; stir to separate pasta. Turn the heat down to medium to maintain a good simmer.

Immediately heat oil in a large frying pan; cast iron works well here. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and anchovies and cook over medium heat; stirring frequently, until garlic is fragrant but not brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Garlic becomes VERY bitter when burned and will spoil this dish. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes.

Cook pasta until al dente. The literal translation of Al Dente is “to the tooth”. This means that when you taste a piece, it will yield just a little resistance. This is important as well as pasta continues to cook when removed from the water, unless it is immediately cooled.

Drain, the pasta and immediately add it to the sauce you made. Add the capers, olives and parsley. Adjust seasonings with salt if required and serve immediately. Please do not cover this dish with Parmesan cheese…not this one  You may want to experiment with this one. The flavour profile can change depending on the saltiness of the olives used.

Note: Capers are the unopened green flower buds of the Capparis spinosa, a wild and cultivated bush grown mainly in Mediterranean countries (southern France, Italy, and Algeria) and also in California. Manual labor is required to gather capers, for the buds must be picked each morning just as they reach the proper size. After the buds are picked, they are usually sun-dried, then pickled in a vinegar brine. Capers can range in size from that of a tiny peppercorn (the petite variety from southern France, considered the finest) to some as large as the tip of your little finger (from Italy). Capers generally come in brine but can also be found salted and sold in bulk. Either way, rinse before using to flush away as much salt as possible. Capers can lend piquancy to many sauces and condiments; they can also be used as a garnish for meat and vegetable dishes.