Spaghetti alla putanesca (spaghetti with olives and anchovi

2 Servings

Ingredients

QuantityIngredient
4Garlic cloves, minced
½teaspoonDried hot red pepper flakes
¼cupOlive oil
cupMinced fresh parsley leaves
4Drained canned Italian tomatoes, chopped fine, including 1/3
1cupThe juice
4Flat anchovy fillets, drained and minced
6Mediterranean-style brine-cured black olives, minced
2teaspoonsDrained bottled capers
½poundsSpaghetti
2tablespoonsFreshly grated Romano or Parmesan

Directions

In a skillet cook the garlic and the red pepper flakes in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring, for 20 seconds, stir in the parsley, and cook the mixture for 10 seconds. Add the tomatoes with the juice and cook the mixture over moderate heat for 1 minute. Add the anchovies, the olives, and the capers and cook the sauce, stirring, for 2 minutes. In a kettle of boiling salted water cook the spaghetti until it is al dente, drain it, and in a bowl toss it with the sauce. Sprinkle the pasta with the Romano.

Serves 2 to 4.

Start timing when ingredients begin to sizzle. I use a cleaver to mince ingredients; I mince the anchovies and olives together. I chop the capers if they are large (approx .75mm) and leave them whole if they are small. If I use bottled capers it is very important to drain (I squeeze them) the capers, else they overpower everything; if I use salt packed capers I soak them in a strainer suspended in water to remove much of the salt. 1 tablespoon of garlic (minced) seems to do the trick "OK".

Recipe by: Grace Adams Posted to Kitmailbox by GAdams1350@... on Apr 28, 1997