Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Spaghetti alla puttanesca is a recipe I originally heard of on Nadia G's cooking show, Bitchin' Kitchen. It's a spicy, salty, delicious dish that is quick to put together and has become my go-to dish when I want something made from scratch but don't have a ton of time to do it. I've made it so much since I first heard about it that I've made the recipe my own. I just looked up Nadia G's actual recipe and it's very different. Funny how things evolve the more that you make them!

I am a huge salt fiend, and absolutely love olives, so my version is a little olive-heavy. I like having a lot of olives and capers in each bite of spaghetti. You won't need to add any extra salt for seasoning to this dish because of the olives and capers. Feel free to experiment about the proportions and ingredients that you like best, like the types of olives you use and the seasonings. If you're not crazy about too much salt, cut down on the olives and capers. This the type of dish that you don't need to be overly finicky with when it comes to the proportions of the ingredients - you can experiment and eyeball the amounts and still come out with something delicious.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/4 red onion, chopped
• 1 50g tin of anchovies, chopped
• 1/2 cup of pitted green olives, chopped
• 1/2 cup of pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of capers
• 1 22 oz. jar of strained tomatoes 
• 1/2 a teaspoon of chili flakes
• Italian herb mix
• 450g of spaghetti

If you have some time to simmer the sauce, start it first. If you are short on time, you can use a canned or prepared sauce. Chop the garlic, onion, anchovies and olives and saute them with the capers and chili flakes in the olive oil for several minutes. I like to use a bit more olive oil than I usually would to saute something because it adds body to the sauce.

Once the ingredients have browned, add the strained tomatoes. Add in a sprinkle of Italian herb mix (or use whatever herbs you usually like in your sauce, like basil, which I always wish I had on hand but never do). Stir everything together and let it simmer for 20 minutes or until the flavours come together and the sauce is the consistency that you like.

In the meantime, bring a pot of salted water to boiling and cook the spaghetti. Drain. When the sauce is done simmering, toss the spaghetti and the sauce together until the spaghetti is well coated.

Enjoy!

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