What to eat?

Is anybody else forgoing meat on Fridays in honor of Lent?  I am, and this year I'm craving more than the usual grilled cheese sandwiches and boring pizza.  I long for exciting, tasty meatless dishes.

Being a good Catholic girl, this past Friday I made pasta alla puttanesca, which in Italian can roughly be translated as pasta the way a whore would prepare it.  Yay whores!

I absolutely adore this dish and recently tried to research its name.  Legend has it that prostitutes favored this dish because:

a) the zesty, pungent smell lured in gentleman callers.

b) it was a quick dish to prepare and scarf down in between romps.

c) the gals had only one day a week at the market and this recipe calls for ingredients they often already had in the brothel. 

Phew!  All this talk about whoring has worked up my appetite.  Let's get cooking.

   

1 handful chopped cherry tomatoes

1 can crushed tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 Shallots, chopped

1/4 cup olives, pitted (I use Kalamata)

2 tablespoons capers

2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Fresh basil and arugula, julienned (1/4 to 1/2 cup each)

1 teaspoon dried oregano, a healthy pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, a grind of black pepper

1 teaspoon anchovy paste (I sometimes omit this ingredient since Hubby doesn't like it.  Plus, the capers and olives already add lots of zest.)

Parmesan cheese (for garnish)

Pasta (My favorite is orrechiette: it's little and ear shaped.)

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce.  In a deep pan, pour in one tablespoon olive oil.  Toss in garlic and shallots to caramelize.  Add the capers, olives, parsley, chopped tomatoes (not the can), red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and a grind of black pepper.  Cook for two to three minutes, then add the can of tomatoes.  Simmer for about five minutes, then stir in the basil and arugula.  Add the cooked pasta and toss.  Garnish with freshly grated parmesan. 

And that's it!  Could it be any more simple?

 

I just finished eating my bowl as I wrote this.  It was zesty and delicious.  Who said meatless Fridays during Lent have to be boring?  (I don't think it was a whore.)

XOXO

Comments

[Weinerdog]

Really? Puttanesca means that? I always thought it meant(pertaining to a food dish)a little of everything.

But actually if the whores made it w/ ingredients they had around the brothel then there was a little of everything.....

Cool!

[The Odd Broad]

It's a slutty pasta with a heart of gold.

[Sissy]

I like what you've done here.

[Sissy]

Perhaps I will make this when I am feeling whorish.