Pasta Puttanesca (Tart's Spaghetti)
In Italian, a puttanesca is a 'lady of the night', which is why
at home we always refer to this recipe as tart's spaghetti. Presumably the
sauce has adopted this name because it's hot, strong and gutsy – anyway, eating
it is a highly pleasurable experience. If you are a strict vegetarian, replace
the anchovies with
another heaped tablespoon of capers.
Serves : 2
Ingredients:
8 – 10oz / 225 –
275g Spaghetti
(depending on how hungry you are)
A Few Drops of Olive
Oil
Salt
FOR THE SAUCE:
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic,
finely chopped
1 Fresh Red
Chilli, de-seeded and chopped
1 Level dessertspoon Chopped Fresh Basil
2oz / 50g Anchovies,
drained
6oz / 175g Pitted Black
Olives, chopped
1 Heaped tbsp Capers,
drained
1lb / 450g Tomatoes,
skinned and chopped
1 Rounded tbsp Tomato Purée
Salt and Freshly
Milled Black Pepper
TO
GARNISH:
Chopped Fresh Basil
Lots of Freshly Grated Parmesan
Cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)
Instructions:
- To
make the sauce, heat the oil in a medium
saucepan, then add the garlic, chilli and
basil and cook
these briefly till the garlic is pale
gold.
- Then
add all the other sauce ingredients, stir and season with a little pepper – but no
salt yet because of the anchovies.
- Turn
the heat to low and let the sauce simmer very gently without a lid for 40
minutes, by which time it will have reduced to a lovely thick mass, with
very little liquid left.
- While
the sauce is cooking, take your largest saucepan, fill it with at least 4
pints / 2.25 litres of hot water and bring it up to a gentle simmer.
- Add
a few drops of olive
oil and a little salt
and then, 8 minutes before the sauce is ready, plunge the spaghetti into the
water.
- Stir
well to prevent it clogging together, then time
it for exactly 8 minutes.
- After
that drain it in a colander, return it to the saucepan presto pronto,
and toss the sauce in it, adding the basil.
- Mix
thoroughly and serve in well-heated bowls, with lots of grated Parmesan to
sprinkle over – and have plenty of gutsy, 'tarty'
Italian red wine to wash it down.
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