Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca Italian Style Recipes

SPAGHETTI ALLA PUTTANESCA

Steps:

• Start boiling water for the spaghetti. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again.
• Meanwhile prepare the ingredients. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Peel, de-seed and chop the tomatoes. If anchovies and capers are salted rinse them under cold water. Then cut anchovies into small pieces. If they are large, remove the spine. Remove the seeds from the red chili pepper (if you are using it) and cut into small pieces.
• Heat some olive oil in a frying pan large enough to hold the cooked pasta later. Add the garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes (peperoncino).
• Cook over a medium heat until garlic is very lightly golden and the anchovies have melted, about 5 minutes. (Adjust heat as necessary to keep it gently sizzling.)
• Add capers, a bit of parsley and olives and stir to combine.
• Add the peeled and chopped tomatoes, stir and bring to a bare simmer.
• Cook pasta to just under al dente (about 1 minute less than the package recommends).
• Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.
• Add drained pasta to the sauce.
• Add a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water and increase the heat to bring the pasta and sauce to a vigorous simmer.
• Cook, stirring and shaking the pan and adding more pasta water as necessary to keep sauce a little liquidy until pasta is perfectly al dente.
• Sprinkle with some more parsley.
• Season with salt and pepper as required.
• Serve immediately.

SPAGHETTI ALLA PUTTANESCA, ITALIAN STYLE

Steps:

• Put all but 1 Tbs of the olive oil and the anchovies in a large skillet over a low heat and cook, stirring and mashing the anchovies until dissolved into a paste.
• Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, taking care not to brown it (garlic gets bitter if browned).
• Raise the heat to a medium-high and add the tomatoes and juice, with a pinch of salt. When the sauce comes to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer until the tomatoes have reduced and separated from the oil. This will probably take 20-40 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and set aside. If you want, you can now refrigerate the sauce and save for the next day.
• Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, add 1 tbs of salt, and drop in the pasta all at once, stirring until the strands are submerged. If you have a smaller pot, you can use less than 4 quarts of water, but you must constantly stir the spaghetti for one minute.
• When the pasta is almost done, return the skillet with the sauce to a medium heat, adding the oregano, capers, and olives. Simmer 3-5 more mins, no more. Cooking too long after capers and olives have been added will make sauce taste less fresh and more salty. (Trust me.).
• When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain and toss with 1/2 cup of the sauce, to pre-flavour it and prevent it from sticking. Ladle pasta into serving dishes, taste sauce for salt, pour sauce over each serving bowl and serve at once.
• This dish is also great when served with penne or fusilli.