Spaghetti All' Puttanesca
This Italian dish's name has a very unusual translation for a food, one you wouldn't expect: According to Merriam-Webster, "puttanesca" means "in the style of a prostitute," which is why this is also referred to as "whore's spaghetti." It's somewhat salty, given the olives and capers, and usually has garlic and hot pepper as well. It's quite good, particularly served with a nice glass of wine. You learn something new every day!
Notes
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Cooking Time35 min
Ingredients
- 1 pound spaghetti
- 2 1/2 tablespoon olive oil or less
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 dried red pepper
- 1 medium red onion
- 1 28-ounce can tomatoes, preferably Italian plum tomatoes
- 4 tablespoon tomato paste
- 15 oil-cured olives (or more)
- 2 tablespoon capers
- 3 sun-dried oil-packed tomatoes or 3 anchovies
Instructions
- Chop the garlic and red pepper; set aside.
- Chop the red onion.
- Over a medium flame, heat the olive oil.
- Add the garlic and red pepper.
- In a minute or so, add the onion. Stir occasionally.
- Pit and chop the olives, and chop the sundried tomatoes or anchovies.
- When the onion is soft, (about 5 minutes), add the tomatoes, tomato paste, olives, capers, and sundried tomatoes or anchovies.
- With your stirring spoon, break up the canned tomatoes a bit.
- Get the water going to cook the spaghetti, and cook it while the vegetable mixture is cooking, per package directions.
- Cook over medium to medium-high flame until most of the moisture is gone and the sauce looks a little darker, 20-30 minutes.
- Serve over spaghetti, with a small amount of Parmesan.