I have always been a Puttanesca fan, although I’ve never made it.  Over the holidays, sitting in a rental house in Vermont, I was perusing one of the house’s cook books – one which is most likely on your own shelf (as it is on mine) if you enjoy cooking at all.  In Rosso & Lukins (Silver Palate) The New Basics Cookbook was this fabulously delicious and simple puttanesca recipe.  My friend even commented that the sauce was better than the puttanesca sauce that her favorite local Italian restaurant serves.

So for those of you who don’t have this book on your shelves, here’s the recipe. (For those who do, p.133).  It’s a great wintry pasta sauce to drink with a robust red wine in front of a fire!  And it was a nice little discovery for me, as I hadn’t picked up this cookbook in at least a couple of years.

Here it is:

Puttanesca Sauce

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 can (2 ounces) anchovy fillets, undrained

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 can (35 ounces) plum tomatoes, drained

1 jar (2.5 ounces) capers, drained

1 1/2 cups pitted imported black olives, coarsely chopped

Coarsley ground black pepper, to taste

1.  Place the oil, anchovies, and garlic in a heavy medium size saucepan.  Mash thoroughly to form a paste

2.  Add the tomatoes, capers, and olives.  Stir, and heat to simmering over medium heat.  Reduce the heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Season with pepper.

2 portions (I think you can stretch it to 4); enough for 8 ounces capellini (I think you can stretch to 16 ounces)

Enjoy!