HungryForever

PASTA WITH TOMATOES, ANCHOVIES, AND CHILES

Pasta and tomato sauce has become a midweek standby in every home. In this classic Italian dish, we are taking that basic sauce to another level by adding a few pantry staples—chiles, anchovies, olives, and capers. Ready in the time it takes for the pasta to cook, and utterly delicious.

Servings

Ingredients

1pound dried spaghetti or linguine
olive oil
2–3 garlic clovespeeled and finely chopped
1 dried red chilecrumbled or chopped into small pieces
in One 2-ounce tin anchoviesoildrained and finely chopped
8ounces pitted black olivesroughly chopped
3 Tbsp capersdrained and rinsed
8ounces cherry tomatoeshalved
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
basil leavesto garnish

Instructions

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente, according to the package instructions.
Meanwhile, heat a wide high-sided frying pan or sauté pan over medium heat and add a glug of olive oil. Sauté the garlic, chile, and anchovies for 1–2 minutes until the garlic is aromatic and the anchovy is beginning to melt into the oil.
Add the olives, capers, and tomatoes to the pan and stir over medium heat for 4–5 minutes until the tomatoes have collapsed and everything is well combined.
Drain the pasta and toss in the pan with the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary (you probably won’t need any salt because of the saltiness of the anchovies, olives, and capers).
Serve drizzled with a little olive oil and garnished with basil leaves.

HOW TO COOK PASTA

Always use well-salted water to cook pasta because it is impossible to season later. The Italians always use 2 teaspoons salt for every quart of water. Adding olive oil to the cooking water is helpful, but if you really want to make sure that your pasta doesn’t stick as it cooks, use plenty of water and twist the pan from side to side a few times to get the pasta swirling around just after you’ve put it in.