Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

According to the powers that be (ie: Wikipedia), spaghetti alla puttanesca is literally called "whore's spaghetti". Charming. I don't know why it's called whore's spaghetti, possibly because it's a little tangy and salty.

This pasta dish is pantry cooking at its finest. I always tend to have pasta and a tin of tomatoes in the pantry, a three-quarters-used jar of olives in the fridge and a lemon that's looking a bit worse for wear in the fruit bowl. This meal is very quick and easy to cook which makes it the perfect mid-week dinner.

But please note, you don't have to be an Italian whore to enjoy this!



Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
(Serves 4-6)

350g dried spaghetti
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp capers
1 red chilli, finely chopped (take out the seeds if you don't like much heat)
1/4 cup olives, sliced (green, black, stuffed, pitted, whatever you have you can use!)
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Pinch of dried oregano
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 130g tins of "no drain" tuna (optional)
A small handful of fresh parsley or basil, roughly chopped (optional)
Lemon juice

Put the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions.

In a large pan (I use a heavy-based frying pan), heat the olive oil over a medium heat and add the garlic, capers and chilli. Fry for a minute to release all those aromas and flavours.

Then add the olives, cinnamon, oregano, tomatoes and (if using) the tuna. Cook for a couple of minutes until the sauce has thickened a little and then season it generously with salt and pepper.

When it's cooked, drain the spaghetti and add it to the sauce. Stir well, add the fresh parsley or basil and squeeze over a bit of lemon juice, then serve with a green salad, some fresh crusty bread and a glass of chilled white wine.

Nicoise Salad

Nicoise salad is one of those wonderfully robust French salads that can be a complete meal, rather than just a bit of decorative greenery on the side of your plate. You know, next to the 300g slab of beef, the barbequed sausages or the chicken kebabs.

This is my take on a Nicoise salad. Traditionally, the salad contains tuna and anchovies and never contains any leaves (such as lettuce or baby spinach leaves). I prefer mine slightly untraditional.



Nicoise Salad
(Serves 4-6)

6 baby potatoes
150g fresh green beans
1 packet of washed leaves (lettuce or spinach) from the supermarket
1 punnet of cherry or grape tomatoes, halves
4 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
1 cup of black olives (preferably pitted)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tspn dijon mustard

Boil the baby potatoes (whole - no need to peel them either!) until they are tender. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Briefly blanch the green beans and also rinse them under cold running water.

In a large salad bowl combine the salad leaves, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, eggs and olives.

If you have a small container with a lid, use that to make the salad dressing by tipping in the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard and some fresh cracked black pepper and shaking the whole lot really well until it's combined. (If you don't have a little container with a lid, put the ingredients in a jug and whisk until emulsified.) Dress the salad then enjoy as a main meal or a side dish.

Note: If you'd like to add tuna (or even smoked salmon or chicken) to this salad, then I would suggest using approximately 500g.

Chicken, Olive and Lemon Tagine

I recently bought my partner, Pete, Jamie Oliver's book "Jamie Does" for Christmas after he'd seen Jamie's TV program of the same name (which was released in conjunction with the book) and really enjoyed it, especially the Moroccan and Italian parts of the program.



So over the Christmas break, he made one of the recipes from the book: a chicken, olive and preserved lemon tagine. He made one alteration to the recipe though - he couldn't get hold of preserved lemons so just used a little lemon zest instead. The meal is also supposed to be served over cous cous but we served it over white rice instead.

Overall, it was a beautiful meal! The chicken was succulent, the olives added saltiness, the lemon was fresh and tangy and the coriander (or cilantro to some) gave the dish colour and that beautiful flavour which is so distinctive (to me at least!)



The recipe is in the book "Jamie Does" by Jamie Oliver, published by Penguin Books, and is available from www.bookdepository.co.uk for AUD$37.73. It contains recipes from Morocco, Greece, Italy, Sweden, France and Spain. In my opinion, it's a great book with easy to follow recipes and ingredients which are generally already in my pantry (or easy enough to buy).