For dinner tonight, I made this classic Italian pasta sauce recipe but added my own little touches. Instead of using the traditional long pasta (i.e. spaghetti or fettuccine), I used a medium-size tube-like pasta called gomiti, a ridged elbow like shape. I bought a small bag of this dried pasta while on vacation last month in Lecce, Italy, which is down on the heel of Italy’s boot-shape. The town was lovely and full of wonders of architecture, religious zeal, art, and Italian food.

Pasta Store in Lecce, Italy ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

To the puttanesca sauce I made tonight, I added a mild Italian sausage (I’m not a big spicy food fan so skipped the hot version). I also added some red bell pepper that I needed to use up in my fridge. Finally, I dusted the whole thing upon serving with some freshly grated Grana Padano cheese. I heated up the end of a loaf of foccacia and served it alongside. The meal was satisfying, very flavorful with the pepper, herbs, and garlic and not too heavy on the sauce, which I prefer. I think I did justice to my 1 of only 2 bags of precious Italian dry pasta I brought home. Here’s my Pasta Puttanesca:

Pasta Puttanesca ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

Pasta Puttanesca

Recipe from: Gourmet Magazine, June 2008

Serves: 3 (2 with leftovers)
Hands-on Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound dried pasta
• 1 mild or hot Italian sausage, casing removed*(See Note Below)
• 3 garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press
• 1 tsp/ anchovy paste
• 1/4 tsp. hot red-pepper flakes
• Optional: 1/2 red bell pepper, diced per EverydayCookingAdventures)
• Salt and black pepper
• 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice (preferably Italian)
• 1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives
• 1 tablespoon drained capers
• Pinch of sugar (optional)
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley or basil

Directions
1. Cook spaghetti in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (1 1/4 Tbsp. salt to 3 quarts water) until barely al dente.

2. While pasta boils, cook sausage, garlic, anchovy paste, red-pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper in the olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and pale golden, about 3 minutes. Break up the sausage into crumbles as it cooks and browns.

3. Purée tomatoes with juice in a blender or using a hand immersion blender. Add tomato purée to garlic oil along with olives and capers and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is ready. Stir in sugar if desired.

4. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Simmer, turning pasta with tongs, until pasta is al dente, about 2
minutes. Sprinkle with basil.

*Sausage Prep Tip from Everyday Cooking Adventures: Use a sharp knife to slice through just the thin top casing layer of the sausage from end to end lengthwise. Peel back the casing and remove only the sausage meat. Throw out the casing.