Pasta alla Putanesca

CSA box day, yeeeee! I was waiting for it so I could make more pasta. We planted tomatoes but they are really slow this year. We have enough only for salads.

Well, got a lot of great stuff today, including Anaheim peppers, cipollini, corn, spinach, zucchini, eggplant, cucumber, lettuce, carrots and much more. Doesn’t this list of ingredients sound like Italian food????

In my opinion, Putanesca sauce is one of the tastier sauces in Italian cuisine. It’s simple, honest, no drama. Just delicioso!

I served it with super fresh super simple straight from the farm baby greens, cucumber, sesame salad.

Sasha is very curious: what are you cooking?




Pasta alla Putanesca !

8 servings 

Ingredients

4 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup finely chopped onion

4 cloves minced garlic

12 medium tomatoes, crushed with juice or two 28 oz cans of tomatoes, crushed by hand

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup pitted quartered Kalamata olives

2 tablespoons drained capers

2 tablespoons minced anchovy fillets (about 8 fillets)

¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes

Kosher salt

1 pound spaghetti or spaghettini pasta, cooked to al dente

Directions

If you are cooking the tomatoes from scratch, place a saucepan 3/4 full of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Dip tomatoes that need to be peeled in the boiling water for 1 minute. Remove tomatoes and set aside to cool enough so that you can handle them. Gently pierce, just barely, the skin of the tomatoes with the tip of a sharp knife. Loosen the skin with the knife and peel away. Repeat with all the tomatoes. Cut peeled tomatoes in half lengthwise. Hold tomato half in your hand over a small bowl. Gently squeeze tomato half so that seeds drip into the bowl. Put the seeds and their juice through a strainer. Discard seeds, add the strained juice to the bowl of tomatoes. Crush the tomatoes with your hands leaving big pieces. Add the balsamic vinegar. Stir.

In a large pot heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute until soft. Add the garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the ingredients up to pasta and simmer in low for about 20 to 30 minutes. Adjust seasoning, to taste. Add parsley and cook for a couple minutes more. In a warm serving bowl, put the cooked and drained pasta, add the sauce, basil, and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately. Cheese is usually not served with this dish.