Wednesday 18 August 2010

Pasta Puttanesca

Despite of its translation, meaning: prostitute's pasta - this is one of my all time favourite pasta dish. It's rough, rustic and feisty, really lives up to its name. I was only a teenager when I first had this pasta in an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. I read the description of the dish and with my curiosity I was lured into ordering it. And I was not left disappointed.

A typical pasta puttanesca recipe recipe would include ingredients such as anchovy, chilli, garlic, capers and black olives. And the sauce is also as exciting as its name suggests. It's a tomato based sauce with a generous amount of olive oil and a hit of red wine vinegar.

You really get all the flavours... the saltiness from the anchovy and black olives; spicy chilli and a lovely fresh sourness from the capers and red wine vinegar in the sauce.

I added some sausages to the pasta this evening to add some meatiness although there's no need to. I just happened to have some in the fridge. In fact, if you're a vegetarian, simply leave out the anchovy and just add a little bit more capers and black olives.

I am not so sure where the original pasta puttanesca recipe came from. One theory says this pasta was a quick, cheap meal that "ladies of the night" could prepare between customers. But whatever its origin, one thing for sure, it's delicious.

8 comments:

  1. This is a great dish, and a lovely version :)

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  2. Michael, your version sounds delicious, and did you know that this is one of my favorite pasta dishes too? I love the sour-spicy taste of it!

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  3. I love pasta puttanesca... looks so yummy!

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  4. Wow, this pasta dish sure sounds so yummie, it is almost time for my lunch, wish could have some of this pasta ;-)

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  5. This pasta looks so good! I remember the characters from a series of unfortunate events always eat this.

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  6. This looks really good!Never thought of adding the sausage before...but it may be a very good idea to use up meat at home or just add a hint of meat as you said.
    Gooood!!!!
    :) The ingredients are PERFECT!
    Annalisa

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  7. Look at that!!!
    I'm hungry now...

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  8. thanks for your comments on my blog earlier. i love pasta puttanesca... it is my favourite pasta dish!! it so simple yet hearty... great pics... i'll have to try it with sausage next time...

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