Slut's Spaghetti

About this dish Nigella says (copied from her website): 

--"Well, how could I resist this translation of pasta alla puttanesca, 'whore's pasta' as it usually is described in English? The general consensus seems to be that this is the sort of dish cooked by slatterns who don't go to market to get their ingredients fresh, but are happy to use stuff out of jars and tins. I hold my hands up to that. Or maybe one should just attribute the name gamely to the fiery tang and robust saltiness of the dish? But, anyhow,what better recipe to start off this section devoted to the fruits of the larder. Please fire up the sauce if you want, but do know that even though the first mouthful might seem not quite hot enough, the heat builds as you eat. I sometimes go a little cross-cultural in my chilli-case and use hot red pickled jalapenos from a jar found on the Tex-Mex shelves of the supermarket. And while you're there, do look out for the tiny French nonpareil (or nonpareilles) capers: they may be smaller but they pack more of a pungent punch than the larger capers."--

This one was super easy to veganize; I simply left out the anchovies it calls for at the beginning of the recipe.  For my version I just gathered together the following: 1 can (14.5 oz) whole tomatoes, non-pareil capers, pitted kalamata olives, garlic, parsley, olive oil and crushed red pepper flakes.  

I got the spaghetti boiling (about 3 servings worth/6 oz.) because the sauce doesn't take long to cook.  Heat 3 tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat in a good-sized frying pan.  Add 2 cloves minced garlic and probably about 1/4 teaspoon of the crushed red chili flakes.  Cook just until the garlic starts to gets the tiniest bit golden, then add your can of tomatoes (with the juice) and crush them up with your spoon.

Rinse out the tomato can with about 1/4 cup of water and add it to the pan along with about 10 whole olives and 2 tbsp. of the capers.  Let it simmer away over medium-high heat until slightly reduced.

Toss it with drained spaghetti and top with a handful of chopped fresh parsley.  Voila!

This recipe (as I said earlier) is almost exactly the same as Nigella's.  If you wanted the 100% completely authentic version, just add 6-8 chopped anchovies to the oil at the beginning before adding the garlic.  Cook them until they virtually melt away, then follow as above.  It's really yummy, but very flavorful.  I didn't even bother trying to feed it to Blake (he hates olives anyway).

Okay, so I've still got Coconut Rice & Peas and Petits Pois a la Francaise to come, so stay tuned!

Oh, this is off subject, but a dove decided to make its nest in an empty hanging basket in my backyard.  Thought it was kind of cute, so I snapped a couple shots the other day.  Crazy bird! :)