Puttanesca

Nigella saucily calls her Puttanesca recipe “Slut’s Spaghetti” (puttana in Italian means whore) but we could never be that suggestive! Here is a puttanesca recipe to transport you to Italy. But no, not the quiet little village you were envisaging. Think bustling street cafe.

Puttanesca ingredients:

1/3 Cup Olive Oil

1 Garlic clove, peeled and lightly crushed

1/4 tsp Chilli flakes

3 Anchovy fillets

750ml Tomato Passata

3/4 Cup Black olives, pitted and roughly chopped

3 Tbsp Capers, rinsed and roughly chopped

500g Spaghetti pasta

1/4 Cup Italian parsley, chopped

1/4 Cup Shaved Parmesan

Method:

In a large frypan over a low to medium heat, heat the olive oil, then gently fry the crushed garlic, chilli and anchovies. As this cooks, mash the anchovy fillets with a wooden spoon so they mall apart completely.

Add the tomato passata, olives and capers. Cook over a low heat for 20 minutes.

In a saucepan, cook the pasta until al dente (with a bite). Drain and add the cooked pasta to the frypan with the sauce, tossing and heating gently for a few minutes.

Serve your puttanesca in a large bowl, sprinkled with the parsley and parmesan.

Serves 4

Extra tips:

– Passata is a basically a thick tomato paste but this can be exchanged here for two cans of chopped or crushed tomatoes.

– Serve with a crusty rustic bread to mop up the sexy sauce!

– Bucatini can be used as the pasta, instead of the spaghetti. This is just a thicker pasta with a hole through the middle.