Pasta Puttanesca

Pasta puttanesca is proof that you don’t need to be a star chef, have fancy ingredients, or impressive kitchen skills to put something ridiculously tasty on the table. This is the kind of dish you make when you’re hungry, don’t want any fuss, but do want flavor. Spicy, salty, sultry, quick to make, and anything but boring. All you need is a handful of ingredients (that you probably already have at home) and a good pan. And the proof is in the pudding…uhm pasta

For 2-3 people

• 200 g spaghetti (or other pasta if you prefer)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 6 anchovy fillets
• 1 tsp chili flakes (more or less, your call)
• 2 tbsp capers (drained)
• 100 g Kalamata black olives (roughly chopped)
• 400 g diced tomatoes (canned, good quality goes a long way)
• Salt and black pepper
• Handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• Optional: a bit of lemon zest

Preparation:

• Bring a large cooking pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions. Drain and save a cup of the cooking water.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Sauté the garlic over low heat until it starts to smell. Add the anchovies and stir until they dissolve in the oil.
• Add the chili flakes, capers, and black olives and cook briefly. Then add the diced tomatoes. Let the sauce simmer gently for 10 minutes.
• Season with black pepper. Add a splash of the cooking water if the sauce is too thick.
• Add the cooked spaghetti to the sauce and mix well. Serve with parsley and optionally some lemon zest.