By Fredrica Syren:
I’m a huge pasta fan and have loved cooking it ever since my 3-week driving trip in Italy with my husband before we got married. I love all varieties of a really good pasta sauce with developed flavor.
This is a very kid friendly recipe for a puttanesca sauce, which is a tomato based sauce with flavors of chili, olives and capers. Even if, like my husband, you don’t like olives, you will like this sauce because the olives are there mainly to add flavor. My kids absolutely love this recipe, and I always serve it with a side salad and some garlic bread.
Spaghetti for 4 people, cooked according to directions. (Reserve some of the pasta water.)
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- I can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tsp. capers
- 1 tsp. fresh oregano
- 1 tsp. chili flakes
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 8 black olives, pitted
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Sauté garlic, oregano, chili flakes, olives and capers for 5 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and sugar, and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper and parsley, and toss with drained pasta until completely coated. If sauce seems dry, add a bit of the reserved starchy pasta water.
