Pasta puttanesca or: pantry gastronomy

OK, maybe not quite gastronomy, but pretty amazing flavour without having to go to the market for fresh ingredients -just what you already have at home. This is actually where the name of this pasta sauce originated; pasta puttanesca means whores' pasta. The story goes that the ladies of the night couldn't go to the market to get fresh ingredients, and so used mainly preserved ingredients in their cooking. This is genuinely an instance of arte povera, in my humble opinion. Here goes my base recipe that you can adjust and experiment with to create great flavour in the easiest way.

Ingredients -the general idea:

This is what I used last time, but you can play with this recipe and adjust it to your preferences and, well, the contents of your cupboard.

As you can see, I replaced the anchovies used in the traditional recipe with sardines. And I omitted the olives, but you can use either green or black ones.
I added some crushed marcona almonds -pine nuts would also be nice, but nuts are not necessary at all.
I also used some rosemary which I absolutely love, but a scattering of fresh basil just before serving is another great option -the traditional version also includes capers.

Use fresh or dried chili to make it a little spicy.
Add a scattering of parmesan to serve if you like...
Use canned tomatoes, passatta, fresh tomatoes, or a mixture of the above.
You can also add other preserved foods such as sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, grilled peppers...

Or just enjoy it simple: garlicky, the salty notes from the fish complimented by the aromatic herbs and a lingering hint of spice after the last mouthful of saucy, explosively flavourful pasta has been consumed.

You can use whatever kind of pasta you prefer -here I used wholegrain spaghetti, but I quite like the screw-shaped rotini kind, too. The only imperative of this dish, as with any type of pasta, is to enjoy it warm!


How-to -adjust as desired:

-Heat some olive oil in a pan on low heat and add some chopped garlic. You don't want to burn it, just very gently fry it so it releases its aromas.

-After a couple of minutes, crank up the heat a little bit and add your fish, squashing it with a wooden spoon as it fries until it dissolves into the oil. Careful if you're using anchovies, they have a very strong flavour, so use them sparsely! Go ahead and add the rosemary and some chilli, too. Put on a pot for your pasta.

-After another couple of minutes, when the kitchen has started to smell amazing, add the tomatoes and bring to a gentle simmer. Add any other ingredients you have except for fresh herbs, and adjust the consistency with some boiling water if necessary.

-After about ten minutes, during which your pasta should also be al dente (reserve some of the cooking water before draining it), add a splash of balsamic vinegar --some red wine would also be nice if you have it-, season, add your herbs, maybe some extra olive oil if you want to, and marry the sauce with the pasta.

-Add a little bit of cooking water to the pasta if it's too dry, maybe scatter some parmesan on top and serve immediately -pasta waits for nobody, and the Italians know it well. In fact, they only start boiling the pasta once everyone is already sat at the table. Another thing they do is accompany this dish with some red wine -it would be a pity not to, really.