← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 350 g Spaghetti
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
• 5 anchovy fillets in oil, chopped
• ½ tsp Chilli flakes
• 2 cans tins of peeled plum tomatoes (400 g each), crushed by hand
• 100 g pitted black olives (Gaeta or Kalamata), halved
• 2 tbsp Capers, rinsed
• 1 handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• salt, for the pasta water

Method

1. Put a big pot of salted water on to boil. Warm the oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat and add the garlic, anchovies and chilli. Stir for 2–3 min until the anchovies melt into the oil and the garlic is pale gold.
2. Add the tomatoes, olives and capers. Turn the heat up to medium and simmer for 10–12 min, stirring now and then, until the sauce is thick and no longer watery.
3. While the sauce cooks, boil the spaghetti until just al dente. Keep a cup of the cooking water.
4. Drain the pasta and tip it into the sauce with a splash of the water. Toss over the heat for 1 minute until glossy, then stir through most of the parsley.
5. Taste for salt (it may not need any), scatter over the rest of the parsley and serve.

Tips

• Rinse salted capers well, or the sauce can turn too salty.
• For a vegetarian version leave out the anchovies and add an extra spoonful of capers.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food GialloZafferano Pasta Grammar