PUTTANESCA SAUCE for SPAGHETTI
Serves 4-6
Another simple classic – I cooked this for 6 Italians who came for dinner, and was worried that it wouldn’t meet ‘Momma’s cooking standards’, but they all gave it a big thumbs up. The further south you go from Rome to Naples, the more chilli flakes you can put in, so it tingles the lips but doesn’t spoil the flavour
DO NOT USE CAYENNE PEPPER!! I tried once and it was horrible…
You can use the anchovy tomato base as a a starter for other dishes too
The ingredients are good things to keep in the cupboard and they don’t go off
Ten anchovy filets
Half dozen cloves garlic
2 tins of tomatoes
A sprinkle of chilli flakes (1/2 teaspoon)
some black olives
capers
3 or 4 tablespoons olive oil
Chop and crush garlic finely
Warm up olive oil in heavy pan on a low heat
Fry garlic, anchovies and chilli flakes slowly until a rich mush – but careful not to burn – you can even take the pan off the heat
Add the tins of tomatoes
Reduce the sauce slowly for about 20 minutes, until it gets thicker
Add chopped black olives and capers at the end and stir
Add some lemon zest (grated Lemon peel) if u like
While you're reducing the sauce, boil a large pan of water so it's going like the clappers
Throw a little salt in, add 50-75g of spaghetti per person, cook for 9-12 minutes (depending on the spaghetti)
Normally i throw a piece of spaghetti at the wall after 9, 10 minutes – if it sticks it's ready, but try it just in case
serve with pasta and some fresh parmesan, drink some red wine from Puglia too
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