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Pasta Puttanesca Experiment
Posted by Jenn on 6-28-09 in Jenn's Blog
So, I was hungry. I looked in my refrigerator, and came up with nothing good. But then I realized that I had dry penne pasta in the pantry, just waiting to be boiled to al dente perfection. The pasta would likely need something fresh and flavorful to make it fabulous. And then I also realized I had a few other key ingredients... and perhaps I could make my own version of Pasta Puttanesca! Without consulting a recipe, and just working from the memory of recipes I have read in the past, I decided to experiment. And it worked!
So, to start with, while the pasta was boiling, I diced up a few canned green Graber Olives that I had received from my parents last Christmas, reserving some of the broth/brine that the olives were packaged in. Those olives were pretty mild, but then I found an unopened jar of jalepeno stuffed green olives in the refrigerator. I pulled out the jalepenos (and quickly discarded them) and diced a couple of those olives up, too. Even without the jalepenos, those olives still had a decent kick.
Then I set out to cook. I put some olive oil in a warm pan, and added a tablespoon or two of crushed/minced garlic from a jar. (I didn't measure the entire time I was doing this, because it was an experiment.) Then I discovered some anchovy paste in my pantry, and I added a bit of that for flavor. I opened up a can of petite minced tomatoes, and poured the whole can into the pan with the garlic and the olives. Sauteed all of the olives, garlic, and tomatoes for a bit... and then I discovered I had a tin of anchovies with capers in my pantry! Diced those up, and added them in. Just so things wouldn't get too dry with all the simmering going on, I added some of the reserved olive broth/brine into the mix, too.
Around this time, I started to look around for meat... but there was none of that to be found. I don't buy meat very often, and I certainly don't keep it stored and ready to go in my refrigerator. Instead, I found a sealed pack of albacore tuna in the pantry. I figured I was already venturing into sea-food territory, what with the anchovies and anchovy paste, so I took a chance and tore open the pack of tuna, and added that into the mix, breaking it up and incorporating it into the sauce.
It smelled heavenly.
I let it all simmer while the pasta finished cooking. And then I put a serving of pasta into one of those wide-but-shallow bowls, sprinkled it with a bit of shredded three-cheese Italian blend (NOT grated -- the shredded stuff melts in a more interesting way over warm pasta), and then spooned a bit of the sauce over the top.
Heaven, I tell you. I'm enjoying the leftovers today. It's a bit salty, so next time I make this I might add low-sodium chicken broth instead of the reserved olive brine/broth. But then again, I liked the salty/briny/anchovy effect coupled with the tomatoes and the al dente pasta.
I'm loving how it all turned out. And especially loving that I improvised as I went along.
Oh, and my tummy is happy, too.
So, to start with, while the pasta was boiling, I diced up a few canned green Graber Olives that I had received from my parents last Christmas, reserving some of the broth/brine that the olives were packaged in. Those olives were pretty mild, but then I found an unopened jar of jalepeno stuffed green olives in the refrigerator. I pulled out the jalepenos (and quickly discarded them) and diced a couple of those olives up, too. Even without the jalepenos, those olives still had a decent kick.
Then I set out to cook. I put some olive oil in a warm pan, and added a tablespoon or two of crushed/minced garlic from a jar. (I didn't measure the entire time I was doing this, because it was an experiment.) Then I discovered some anchovy paste in my pantry, and I added a bit of that for flavor. I opened up a can of petite minced tomatoes, and poured the whole can into the pan with the garlic and the olives. Sauteed all of the olives, garlic, and tomatoes for a bit... and then I discovered I had a tin of anchovies with capers in my pantry! Diced those up, and added them in. Just so things wouldn't get too dry with all the simmering going on, I added some of the reserved olive broth/brine into the mix, too.
Around this time, I started to look around for meat... but there was none of that to be found. I don't buy meat very often, and I certainly don't keep it stored and ready to go in my refrigerator. Instead, I found a sealed pack of albacore tuna in the pantry. I figured I was already venturing into sea-food territory, what with the anchovies and anchovy paste, so I took a chance and tore open the pack of tuna, and added that into the mix, breaking it up and incorporating it into the sauce.
It smelled heavenly.
I let it all simmer while the pasta finished cooking. And then I put a serving of pasta into one of those wide-but-shallow bowls, sprinkled it with a bit of shredded three-cheese Italian blend (NOT grated -- the shredded stuff melts in a more interesting way over warm pasta), and then spooned a bit of the sauce over the top.
Heaven, I tell you. I'm enjoying the leftovers today. It's a bit salty, so next time I make this I might add low-sodium chicken broth instead of the reserved olive brine/broth. But then again, I liked the salty/briny/anchovy effect coupled with the tomatoes and the al dente pasta.
I'm loving how it all turned out. And especially loving that I improvised as I went along.
Oh, and my tummy is happy, too.
