Who Are They Anyway?

You know how 'They' say that you shouldn't go grocery shopping on an empty stomach? Well, you shouldn't cook when you're hungry either. (Wait. What?) OK obviously you should cook when you're hungry, but just not famished. Like I was. Tonight.

When I got home from work tonight I was so hungry I had the shakes. It could have been that coffee I had with lunch (I don't really drink coffee...long story) coupled with the mere 500 calories I had all day (yeah, yeah...probably still more than LiLo consumes all week). Whatever it was, I wasn't going to be satisfied with a bowl of cereal.

Thankfully, I keep a messy stack of recipes that I print out because I intend to make them...eventually. Once again my favorite column Recipes for Health came to the rescue. I found a recipe for Puttanesca that I had printed out back in October. Yes, I'm sure that I have 8 other versions of this recipe in my cookbook collection, but sometimes I don't know what I want to make so if I've already pre-edited a stack of recipes, then great.

I don't normally cook pasta for myself but I like to keep it around, just in case. And since I was simultaneously hungry and worried about overeating, I used whole wheat pasta, because the extra grams of fiber cancel out calories, right? And yes, I actually had all of these ingredients in my apartment (or thought I did until I realized I was out of capers...whoops).



Here is my version of:
Martha Rose Shulman's Spaghetti With Tomatoes, Olives, (Capers), Hot Peppers and Anchovies

1 (28 ounce) can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 anchovy fillets (to taste), soaked for 15 minutes in water to, then rinsed and chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
(2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed with cold water)
12 black olives, such as kalamata, pitted and roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound spaghetti (I used a 13.25 ounce package of whole wheat spaghetti)
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (optional)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (optional)

1. Pulse the chopped tomatoes in a food processor fitted with a steel blade or pour the tomatoes and their juice into a medium bowl and use an immersion blender (like I did) to puree until almost smooth. (I think you can skip this step if you don't have the tools and the sauce will still be great.)

2. Heat the oil and anchovies together over medium heat in a large wide non-stick skillet or saucepan. When the anchovies begin to sizzle, stir and crush with the back of a wooden spoon until they fall apart and dissolve into the oil. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds to a minute, until the garlic is translucent and begins to smell fragrant, and add the tomatoes and their juice, salt, and oregano. Stir and turn up the heat. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, add the capers and olives, lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until thick and fragrant, 15 to 25 minutes. (I used a lid to partially cover the sauce to control the splattering.) Taste, add freshly ground pepper and salt.

3. Once the sauce is cooking, heat a large pot of water for the pasta. When the water comes to a boil, add a tablespoon of salt and the spaghetti. Cook the past until al dente, about one minute less than the instructions on the packaging. When the spaghetti is done, drain and transfer to the pan with the sauce with the parsley if using, and toss together until it is well coated with sauce. Serve with the cheese as desired.


(I don't advise taking food photos when it is dark and rainy :)