Spaghetti With Olives and Tomato (Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca)
"A famous Italian painter often improvised dinner parties for his friends in his small rustic house on the picturesque Ischia Island, outside Naples. Fresh and light local wine was offered together with this dish of spaghetti. It's also been dubbed that the Ladies of the Evening would prepare inbetween clients."
photo by Caroline Cooks
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 11
- Serves:
-
4-6
ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1⁄8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (add for more heat)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons anchovy paste (1/2 tsp = 1 anchovy fillet)
- 1 1⁄2 cups tomatoes, diced (or 14 oz can)
- 1 tablespoon capers, lightly washed and drained
- 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 1⁄4 cup black olives (or Greek olives)
- salt
- 1 lb spaghetti
- 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
directions
- In a pan put olive oil, red pepper, and garlic and sauté briefly.
- Add anchovy paste to the pan before the garlic starts coloring.
- Stir quickly with a wooden spoon for few seconds to dissolve the anchovy paste. (Avoid burning both garlic & paste) Eventually remove the pan from the stove if you feel the temperature of the oil is too high.
- Add tomatoes, capers, 1 tablespoon parsley, olives, and cook for about 10 - 15 minutes.
- Cook pasta following manufacturer's instructions, drain, and pour in a salad bowl. Dress with the sauce and top with the rest of the chopped parsley.
- Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if preferred.
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Reviews
-
OH YES! Made this as a sauce to go with KittenCal's meatballs. YUM! The capers added another dimension. Made for Mediterranean Cruise event in Cooking Photos. BTW, I love your intro description.:) -
very good and very flavorful! I made it for a group before a hockey game and everyone raved. Thanks for posting! -
Excellente! I give this recipe 10 stars for taste and ease of preparing. Had with a nice salad and garlic bread and it was enjoyed by all! -
Excellent recipe! We absolutely loved it! -
Fantastic!!!! Thanks for the great recipe!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Southern Lady
East Texas, 0
<p>I live with my husband of 20 years and two high school teenagers in the rolling hills of East Texas. We have 22 acres outside several small farming/ranching/oil communities, with 1-1/2 acre pond, 5 big dogs that swim the waters (and 1 who's old and sleeps all day inside), and a mama doe who has a set of twins each year. I'm a movie enthusiast and my passion is writing (novels and screenplays). Over the past 2 years I've picked up painting and love it. When my kids are out of college in 6 years, my husband and I plan to travel extensively. I'd love to relocate temporarily to different ares of the USA and world, just so I can absorb the culture (and write about them). My whole life has been centered around food to show love and to socialize, so when I travel I'll search for the best foods and absorb the richness of the people. In the book Beach Music by Pat Conroy, you can taste the foods and drinks of the piazzas in Rome down to the detail of the Southern cuisine in S. Carolina. When I grow up, I want to write as beautifully as Mr. Conroy. My favorite cookbooks are those put together as church or other fundraisers. There's nothing better than a church potluck dinner, so you're almost gauranteed excellent recipes. I love cooking but hate the clean up, so my plans are when I earn the publishing $$big bucks$$, I'll hire a full-time housekeeper so I may cook to my heart's delight and not get frustrated over a messy kitchen. I love experimenting and trying new recipes, but my DH is a meat & potatoes man, thus prefers the basics. One of my children has been a self-professed vegetarian for 11 years, making dinner time a real treat to prepare. I've read somewhere that your pet peeve is usually something of which you're frequently guilty, so I'm a little hesitant to say; however, mine would be inconsiderate people. So, I try on a daily basis to put a smile on someone's face by doing the right thing and setting a good example for children.</p>
