You’ve got to believe this. Here is an all-time pasta classic, so potent it usually appears as a high-priced specialist item at superior Italian restaurants, yet so simple, that you – the beginner kitchen mechanic – can make it at home, in a flash, just like that. Fettuccine putanesca is an outstanding combination of tastes and textures. Most of the tastes are powerhouse flavours, stronger than 90-year-old imported corrugated iron, yet in this compelling combination, something like a kaleidoscope in the mouth. And this is how you make it …
To feed four diners, you will need:
• 500g fettuccine
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 can of tomatoes
• 200g black olives
• 3 tablespoons of capers
• 15 anchovy fillets
• Fresh parsley
• Fresh oreganum
• 1 fresh chilli (or a dash of red Tabasco)
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Tiny, tiny pinch of salt
OK, dudes and dudesses: time to roll up the sleeves, wash the hands and assemble the tools of your kitchen. First, set a 4â„“ saucepan of lightly salted water on the hob. While it slowly rises to a rolling boil, get moving on the putanesca sauce. Select the best cloves of garlic from your garlic collection, crush them with the flat of a heavy knife, discard the now easy-to-remove peels and chop very finely. Prepare the fresh chilli by chopping it as finely as possible, removing the pips first if you prefer a more moderate chilli experience. If you lack a chilli, a non-traditional but very successful alternative comes in the form of a couple of drops of red Tabasco.
Arrange the anchovy fillets on a chopping board and with your sharpest knife cut each fillet into small pieces. Strip the oreganum leaves off the stems and chop them finely to release the latent aromas. By hand, remove and discard the pips from the canned olives and coarsely chop the olive flesh that remains. In a heavy-bottomed stainless-steel frying pan, bring a couple of tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil to a medium heat and sweat the chopped garlic. As soon as the garlic becomes light brown, add the chopped oreganum, the chopped, depipped olives, the three tablespoons of capers, the minced chilli or dash of Tabasco and the can of tomatoes. Take care as water-based food liquids hit the hot oil.
Stir vigorously to evenly distribute the ingredients. Use a fork or spatula to break up the soft canned tomatoes in the mix. On a low heat, let this cook for 10 minutes. By now the pasta water has hit a rolling boil. Add the fettuccine and cook it for the time suggested on the packet or until it reaches the degree of doneness you prefer. Drain and serve immediately on four preheated plates. M eanwhile back in frying pan, add four tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil plus the chopped anchovies. Add a little pepper if required, stir well, then serve on top of the pasta already on the plates. Sprinkle a little freshly chopped parsley as a garnish. That’s it! light white wine gives this dish one hell of a send off. – David Basckin
