Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar
This beautiful book holds a culinary trip to Italy, with a little bit of France thrown in. Try this pasta dish that is easy to throw together and get on the table. There is also a recipe for torta pasqualina that is right out of my childhood. I remember my eighty-year-old cousin, Grace, cutting one open to reveal Swiss chard or maybe escarole, with a perfectly cooked hard boiled egg in the center of each slice. It was so beautiful that you barely knew, as a child, you were eating a green vegetable. I never asked her for the recipe, because I was afraid of her. Now, thanks to this book, I have it!
Reprinted from Old World Italian. Copyright © 2020 by Marie-France Thorisson. Photographs copyright © 2020 by Oddur Thorisson. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.
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SPAGHETTI ALLA PUTTANESCA
Serves 4 to 6
oil-packed anchovy fillets
2 tablespoons salt-packed capers, rinsed
¼ cup / 60 ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 fresh peperoncini or other hot peppers, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 can (16 ounces / 450 g) crushed tomatoes
16 oil-cured black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound / 500 g dried spaghetti
chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving
1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat.
2 Drain the anchovies, pat them dry with paper towels, and coarsely chop.
3 Rinse the capers under running water, soak in fresh water for 10 minutes, then squeeze and drain.
4 In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the anchovies, peperoncini, and garlic and cook until the anchovies start to sizzle (you can hear a crackling sound) and the garlic is lightly golden. Add the capers, tomatoes, olives, and oregano. Increase the heat to high and cook until the sauce starts to bubble and thicken, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Set aside.
5 Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook to al dente according to the package directions. Reserving ½ cup / 120 ml of the pasta water, drain the pasta.
6 Heat the sauce over high heat. Add the pasta and some of the reserved pasta water. Toss the pasta until it’s coated, adding more pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed. Serve immediately with a drizzle of olive oil and some parsley on top.
Tracey Zabar's Chocolate Chip Sweets: Celebrated Chefs Share Favorite Recipes is available here.
A delectable collection of innovative chocolate chip recipes by world-renowned chefs, pastry chefs, and bakers
Tracey Zabar's One Sweet Cookie Cookbook is available here.
A delicious collection of cookie recipes from extraordinary chefs, pastry chefs, and bakers. A great gift sure to delight anyone who loves to bake.
