Pirate Pat Pattersons Pirate Recipes

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Pirate Pat's Burning Skillet

Recipe of the Week!
Eat like the Pirates Do!
(anti-acid not included)

Pasta Puttanesca

Recipe 000305 © Pirate Bill "Turtle" Patterson - used with permission

"Pasta Puttanesca " Generally served with pasta, this sauce is a spicy melange of tomatoes, onions, anchovies, black olives, oregano and garlic, all cooked together in olive oil. The name is a derivation of 'puttana' , which in Italian means "whore". According to one story the intense fragrance of this sauce was like a siren's call to the men who visited such "ladies of pleasure"

....... Sharon Tyler Herbst

What follows is my interpretation of this Southern Italian classic.

You will need the following (mise en place):

1 large skillet. Stainless preferred, non-stick is just fine. NO aluminum or cast iron.
Olive oil. Extra Virgin or better yet, First Cold Pressing.
Fresh Garlic. 2 TBSP sliced thin. NO powder. And forget that jarred crap.
Red pepper flake. A healthy pinch or more to taste.
Fresh onion. 2 TBSP minced, plus 1 cup sliced rather thin into long strips.
Bell pepper. Red and or yellow. NOT green. 1 cup sliced rather thin.
Imported black olives. About 1/3 cup or to taste, sliced.
Anchovies. 3 or 4 or to taste. Grade 'A' , minced.
Capers. 2 TBSP. The 'non pareilles' variety from Southern France work just fine.
Tomatoes. RIPE, fresh, coarsely chopped. About 2 cups.
Pasta. Cooked Penne, about 4 cups.
Oregano. FRESH, finely chopped but not minced. Basil also works nicely.

First Sauté (soffrito):

Put about 1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil in a COLD skillet and put over medium heat.
Add minced onion, pepper flake and garlic. This mixture is called the batuto and is the basis of most Italian cooking.
Cook until the batuto "perfumes" the kitchen tossing or stirring constantly. You will know!!
DON'T brown or you've ruined it and you will have to start again.

Second Saute: (The first step must be finished before you add the remaining ingredients).

Add the sliced onion and bell pepper and continue tossing or stirring until the veggies are cooked but still quite firm, about 2 minutes.
Add the olives, capers and little fishies. Continue tossing.
Add Tomato. Continue tossing until the tomato is good and hot.
Add the pasta. Continue tossing until the pasta is heated through.
Add the oregano and toss until well mixed and serve.

Notes on Puttanesca:

Never use aluminum or cast iron when cooking with fresh tomatoes. They will impart nasty flavors. In addition, aluminum cook ware has been linked to Alzheimer's.

Certain ingredients are critical to this dish: Nothing in the batuto may be omitted.

The flavors derived from the anchovy, capers and olives are also critical. You may substitute Spanish olives or maybe California black olives, but the Cal. black olives don't have much flavor.

If you don't like anchovies then don't prepare this dish. You don't have to put a lot in; it just isn't the same without them. You may not omit the capers. If you can find the larger Italian or Sicilian capers, use them instead of the non pareilles. Do not, however, use the great big capers from Spain.

If you cannot find ripe tomatoes, don't bother with this dish at all. DON'T USE CANNED. Instead, buy those over-priced tomatoes that are still on the vine at places like Larry's Market or QFC. Don't use spaghetti or linguine for this dish, they just aren't the same. Serve with a hearty red wine from Southern Italy or Sicily. My personal favorite is Salice Salentino.

....XOXOXO TURTLE


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