Pasta Puttanesca

[Jinmyo]

But then again, all words have their origin in the Greek language.....

Feh.

[maggiethecat]

But then again, all words have their origin in the Greek language.....

Feh.

Even "kimono?"

[Savour Chef]

But then again, all words have their origin in the Greek language.....

Feh.

Even "kimono?"

Why yes, even "kimono". Winter in Greek is hee-mon-a. Winter is cold. You wrap yourself up from the cold. There you go.

(Please rent My Big Fat Greek Wedding for further word explanations.....)

[Rachel Perlow]

Loved that movie.

Anyway, for those wanting Puttanesca without making it yourself... I recently participated in a focus group panel for the marketing of a new line of "gourmet" pasta sauces. It included a tasting and I liked their puttanesca sauce the best. For part 2 of the tasting you compared your favorite flavor of their sauce to a few other brands versions of the same flavor. I still liked the original brand, but Whole Foods 365 brand was a little bit better. More whole olives, more capers, more flavor.

[budrichard]

Roland Anchovy Paste. It dissolves very easily with your olive oil mixture. -Dick

[babka]

probably not authentic, but I drain the pasta pre-al dente and then drop it in the sauce for the last couple of minutes of cooking.

and if you're making it for a strict veggie, a friend tipped me off to miso instead of anchovies--adds a similar richness to the dish.

[SobaAddict70]

I prefer to sauce the pasta directly in the pan.

I'm one of the anti-cheese people.

In the summer, I sometimes make the uncooked version of this sauce.

Soba

[badthings]

Pierre Franey suggests an interesting variation -- simply adding small neck clams in the shell. It tastes great and makes a fine visual presentation that enhances the rustic quality of the dish. My favorite version when I can plan ahead.

A decidedly un-italian college roomate made an inauthentic version with calamari that was delicious. But probably superfluous.

[PopsicleToze]

I've always added tunafish (the imported kind packed in olive oil) to mine. I thought that was a required ingredient. Oh, well -- at least I had the "lady of the evening" context firmly in place.