Spaghetti Puttanesca

Ingredients

• 400 g spaghetti
• 8 anchovy fillets
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 100 g black olives, torn off the stone
• 2 tbsp capers, rinsed
• 1 tin of plum tomatoes
• a handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. Get the water on

   Salt the pasta water less than usual. Anchovies, olives and capers are all salty, and this is one of the few sauces that can genuinely be over-seasoned before you have added any salt at all.

2. Melt the anchovies

   Warm the oil with the garlic, chilli and anchovies over a low heat, pressing the anchovies with a spoon until they dissolve completely into the oil. Whole, they taste fishy; dissolved, they just taste savoury.

   4 min

3. Add the salty things

   Stir in the olives and capers for a minute, then crush in the tomatoes by hand and simmer until thickened and glossy.

   15 min

4. Cook the pasta

   Boil the spaghetti to just short of al dente and reserve a mugful of the water.

5. Toss together

   Drain the pasta straight into the sauce with a splash of the water and toss hard for a minute so it emulsifies and coats. Add the parsley and taste before you reach for the salt.