“There’s nothing quicker or easier than a spaghetti alla puttanesca,” says award-winning Italian chef Anna Del Conte. “Grab a big bowl, turn on the television and you can be done in less than 10 minutes. It’s hard to match wine with pasta, but with this I’d go for a frascati, a dolcetto or a light chianti.”
Cooking time
10 minutes or less
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 500g ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped, or 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 5 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
- 350g spaghetti
- 1 small fresh chilli, seeded and finely chopped (or more, depending on strength and taste)
- 4 salted anchovies, cleaned and chopped, or 8 anchovy fillets, drained and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tbsps capers, rinsed and dried
- 100g black olives, stoned
- 2 tbsps chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
- Sea salt
Method
Step 1: If you’re using fresh tomatoes, fry them in a saucepan in atablespoon of the oil for 5 minutes. If you’re using tinned tomatoes, fry them for 3 minutes, turning them frequently.
Step 2: Drop the pasta into a pan of fast-boiling, salted water and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan large enough to hold the pasta later, add the rest of the oil, the anchovies, chilli and garlic then fry over a low heat for 2 minutes, mashing the anchovies to a paste with a wooden spoon.
Step 3: Spoon in the tomatoes and, after 2 minutes, add the capers and olives to the sauce. Taste to check the seasoning. It might need a little extra salt. Mix well and, as soon as the pasta is done, drain it and throw it in the puttanesca pan. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, shower with flat-leaf parsley, mix and serve.
Cooking With Coco by Anna Del Conte (£18.99, Chatto & Windus)
