Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Ingredients

• ~200g spaghetti (or whatever long pasta you have)
• 4–6 anchovy fillets (more if yours are small or mild)
• 3–4 garlic cloves, sliced or smashed
• A good handful of pitted olives — kalamata, black, or a mix — roughly torn
• 1–2 Tbsp capers, rinsed if very salty
• A pint of cherry tomatoes, halved (or 1 can / ~400g crushed tomatoes for a heavier sauce)
• ¼–½ tsp red pepper flakes, to taste
• Splash of dry white wine (optional)
• Olive oil
• A handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Parmesan or pecorino, grated, to serve (optional — puttanesca is traditionally served without, but a little cheese is fine)
• Salt, black pepper

Method

1. Get a big pot of well-salted water on for the pasta.
2. Warm a generous glug of olive oil in a wide pan over medium-low. Add the anchovies and garlic and cook gently, mashing the anchovies with a wooden spoon, until they dissolve into the oil and the garlic is fragrant — 2–3 minutes. Don’t brown the garlic.
3. Add the red pepper flakes and the olives and capers; stir for a minute. Splash in the wine if using and let it bubble off.
4. Add the cherry tomatoes (or canned). Cook over medium heat, smashing the cherry tomatoes as they soften, until you have a loose, jammy sauce — about 8–10 minutes for cherries, 15 for canned. Taste — it should be salty enough from the anchovies/olives/capers; only add salt if it really needs it.
5. Cook the pasta 1–2 minutes shy of al dente. Reserve a mug of pasta water before draining.
6. Drag the pasta into the sauce with tongs. Toss over medium-high heat, splashing in pasta water as needed, until the sauce coats the noodles glossily — 1–2 minutes.
7. Off heat, stir in most of the parsley. Plate, top with the rest of the parsley, a grind of pepper, and cheese if you want it.