Dateline: October 19, 2020 Post Wedding Puttanesca with the Spellbergs

What a weekend, the most glorious wedding and the weather gods smiled on Claire and Jon.  

Dianne, Phil, and Jack were looking for a simple, nothing fancy dinner, so Bill and I went to a local supermarket and picked up supplies for puttanesca sauce.

I love puttanesca sauce, the briny bite of the olives and capers along with the deep umami flavor of the anchovies and garlic.  How can you go wrong!

Ingredients

1 tin or jar of anchovy fillets

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 t hot pepper flakes

olive oil

1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes 

1 28 oz can of pureed tomatoes

1/2 bottle of left over red wine, or white, in a pinch

1 large bunch of parsley, stems chopped separately from leaves

1 T salt packed caper berries, rinsed

1 large handful, at least 20 or more, oil packed olives, pitted and chopped

Method

1.  Heat a large sauce pan and when hot add oil.

2.  When oil is hot add garlic, hot pepper flakes and anchovies.  

3.  Mash up the anchovies so they mix with garlic and pepper flakes

4.  Add tomatoes, rinse cans with the red wine and add that.

5.  Add chopped parsley stems.

6.  Combine well and bring to a simmer.

7.  Add caper berries and olives.

8.  Cook over medium heat until it is the consistency that pleases you.  You want it to coat the pasta without being too loose.

9.  I know this is supposed to be a "quick" pasta sauce, but I like to cook it a longer time, and add more wine if it gets too thick.

10.  Add chopped parsley leaves.