Apparently I have to get back into the habit of posting about dinner right after eating dinner or I don't actually get it done. I've got a back log now of food to write about, so don't worry, I hope to have a bunch of stuff up over the next 24 hours. (I've got to unload a few photos off my camera as well.)
One of the few things that I wish I could change when I cook is the amount of time it takes to make food. Most of my repertoire involves a least an hour to make, usually a little more. Admittedly I'm really bad at multi-tasking so I do all the prep work and then move to the cooking stage with my mis-en-place. But there are few go-to meals that I can get done in under 30 minutes, I just don't seem to cook them very often.
But after a long day work last Wednesday the last thing I wanted to do was spend an hour and a half cooking and not sit down to eat until 10 PM, so I decided to make one of my very favorite Napoli dishes, Pasta Puttenesca. It's got such a good earthy brine taste to it what goes so well with bitter greens and a sharp big red wine. (Like this Chianti).
Cavatappi Puttenesca
- 4 anchovy fillets (oil or salt packed, if they're salt packed, soak them in 2 changes of water for 12 hours)
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup capers (salt or brine packed — do the same thing you do for salt-packed anchovies for salt-packed capers)
- 1/3 cup pitted olives (black and green), rinsed and roughly chopped
- 2 tbls olive oil
- 1 lbs pasta (I like cavatappi because the corkscrew shape holds olive, tomato and capers.)
- 1 can peeled whole tomatoes, hand crushed and seeded, liquid reserved. (Summertime? Use about 4 or 5 fresh, peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes)
- crushed red pepper flakes and black pepper
- Heat up the oil in a pan over high heat and add the anchovies. You'll want to put a splatter guard over this, and reduce the heat to medium.
- Once the anchovies disappear, add the garlic, olives, capers and tomatoes and let the tomatoes release some of their liquid.
- When things start to stick a little, add the reserved tomato juice until the sauce is loose, but not liquid.
- When the pasta is done and drained, add it to the sauce and toss to coat.
- Grate on some good hard sheeps milk cheese (I really like cacho cavallo).
« categories:
tomato sauce
left-overs
|
12:15 PM
I'm no chef. I'm barely a cook. And certainly not in the professional sense. I work in mobile for a living, but I enjoy cooking almost as much as I love 
