Pantry Puttanesca

If you can’t make pasta from what you have in your pantry, you need to go shopping. My friend, Geoffrey, from the health department caught a ride into Seattle with me after work this evening, to hang out with old Baci dog and me, and have a bite to eat. We couldn’t decide whether we should go out or just fix something at my place, so we agreed that we’d let the contents of my refrigerator dictate our dinner plans. What’s amazing about my refrigerator is that it’s always packed and it rarely contains anything to eat. It’s a palette for creating a meal, but never the meal in itself. And the top shelf is devoted to culinary inspiration, in 750 ml bottles.

A half of a cucumber, a few carrots, an avocado… not much in the way of dinner was presenting itself. But no matter what’s in the house, there’s always a pasta dish waiting to be concocted. Geoffrey’s a big fan of Pasta alla Puttanesca, so I checked the pantry for salty stuff and tomatoes, turned on the red light, and got cooking. There is controversy in the culinary world over how the pasta dish got such a shady name- Pasta in the style of the Prostitute- but I’ve heard that got its name from being quick to prepare with ingredients you’d always have around. If you’re a busy Neapolitan prostitute, that is. And regardless of reputation, I would recommend the prostitute’s pantry to anyone who likes to make quick and delicious pasta meals on the fly.

Pantry Puttanesca

12 ounces spaghetti or long skinny noodles

2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 tin of anchovies in oil, drained
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1- 28 ounce can whole peeled plum or Roma tomatoes, unsalted, pulsed in the food processor until rustically chopped
½ of a 12 ounce jar of marinated artichoke hearts, chopped (capers are traditional but I didn’t have any)
¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
3 small sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped
1 or more teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
3 large sprigs (or more) freshly chopped Italian parsley
Freshly ground pepper
A healthy splash of olive oil
Salt if it needs it (all of the ingredients are pretty salty so only salt at the end if it needs it)

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the anchovies and mash them, cooking until they disintegrate into the oil. Lower the heat if it’s splattering too much. Add the garlic and cook it until it is fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and maintain the heat to simmer the tomatoes for about 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens some.

Meanwhile put a large pot of water on to boil. When the water comes to a boil, add a generous tablespoon of salt and bring to another boil. Add your pasta and cook until al dente- check the package for directions.

Then to the sauce, add the artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, pepper flakes, and rosemary. If you like the consistency of the sauce, turn off the heat until the pasta is done cooking. If it’s a bit runny, continue to gently simmer the sauce while the pasta cooks. When the pasta is al dente, drain it in a colander and then toss it in with the sauce, along with the parsley, black pepper, and a healthy splash of olive oil. Toss to coat the pasta with the sauce and divide onto pasta plates. Cheese is not traditional with this dish but it is good with a hard grating cheese.

Serves 3 to 4.

Along with the pasta, I made a simple salad of sliced avocado and cucumber with carrot ribbons. I sprinkled it with a quick vinaigrette of olive oil, Dijon mustard, and balsamic, salt and pepper, and some freshly chopped dill.