Spaghettini is the thinner cousin of regular spaghetti. And spaghettoni is the thicker. For this recipe, use whatever you wish. The only difference between the three is texture, for they all have an identical taste. The love of the many variations of pasta is in the eye of the beholder, so I don’t want to give too many recommendations here. Use whatever version of spaghetti you like the most.
The Recipe
When I make pasta on a regular basis, I don’t salt the water the pasta cooks in. I think people eat too much salt as it is, and I’d rather not be one of them. I try to keep my salt intake down. As I was preparing this dish last night, I decided to salt the water. After the pasta was finished cooking, I tasted it and, well, I think I should start salting the water. Wow, what a difference it makes. It tasted so good.
I absolutely love this dish. It’s simple, but it bursts with flavors. I’m not sure you can get away with adding a caper, black and green olive, olive oil, salt, pepper, anchovy, garlic, shallots, etc…sauce to any type of pasta and not have a flavorful dish. This is the real deal. I’m still smiling as I write this because I haven’t eaten something so tasty in such a long time. It feels great to be in the kitchen once again. And the best part of this dish is that it’s a whiz to make. It takes no time at all. Before you know it, you’ll be “tasting” out of the pot like I was last night. I tasted far too much.
I pulled this recipe from one of my cooking bibles. The book is called The Complete Italian Cookbook and it was written by Carlo Bernasconi and Christian Teubner. It’s probably my favorite cookbook because, first, I love Italian food, and second, it’s got hundreds of recipes in it with awesome photos for each one. I don’t like using cookbooks that don’t offer photos. I never have any idea if I prepared the dish correctly.
This pasta dish is a medley of flavors between the capers, garlic, and olives. The heat added by the chili peppers is absolutely necessary and wonderful. It heightens the flavor experience. It’s no wonder this dish originated in southern Italy. That’s where most of this sort of thing comes from.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
For the Sauce
3 Tablespoons Salted Capers, Chopped
1/2 Cup Black Olives, Chopped
1/2 Cup Green Olives, Chopped
12 Anchovy Fillets in Salt, Chopped
6 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Garlic Cloves, Minced
2 Shallots, Chopped
1 Pound Plum Tomatoes, Chopped
2 Chili Peppers, Chopped (or to taste – if you don’t like hot, a pinch of cayenne pepper will do)
For the Spaghettini
1 Pound Spaghettini or Spaghetti
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Ounces Parmesan or Pecorino, Shaved or Shredded
Cook the Pasta
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the salt to the pot and then the spaghettini. Cook until al dente; around 10 minutes or so. When finished, drain and remove from heat.
Prepare the Sauce
Try to shake off as much salt that’s attached to the capers and anchovies as you can. Then, pit the olives if necessary and soak the anchovies for a few minutes. Chop the above ingredients.
Warm a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, shallots, peppers, and olive oil. Cook until these ingredients have a bit of color to them. Then, add in the capers, olives, anchovies, and tomatoes. Cook, while stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes.
When finished, combine the pasta with the sauce and stir everything together well.
Plate & Serve
Use tongs to take hold of some spaghettini and then twist the tongs and release the pressure as lowering the pasta onto the plate. Doing it this way will give you a restaurant style look. When plated, sprinkle some cheese on top of each serving and enjoy. Please give this recipe a try and let me know what you think. I love it. Thanks!
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