Nigella Lawson posted her take on the classic pasta putanesca (whore’s pasta), which she renamed Slattern’s Spaghetti; more or less a literal translation.
The thing is… Nigella kept the anchovies and, yeh, I know they are supposed to dissolve in cooking and just leave a lovely bit of umami in the pot, but, yeh, NO.
Anchovies do not work for me (other than in Worcestershire Sauce), so I swapped out a drained can of clams.
I also, somehow, was out of capers but, who knew? Green olives are a good substitute option; so, let’s see, clams, garlic, black olives, green olives, tomatoes, and hey, what’s this? I had an extra jar of sliced peperoncini in the fridge, so let’s toss some of those in as well!
Perfection.
And fast, too; but then, I guess that’s the whole point of the name.
INGREDIENTS
•3 tbsp olive oil
•1 (6.5 oz) can chopped clams, well drained
•4 cloves garlic, minced
•1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
•14 oz can diced tomatoes
•1/4 cup sliced black olives
•3 tbsp sliced green olives
•1 tbsp sliced peperoncini
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
•1 lb spaghetti, cooked and drained
•3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (to serve – optional)
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.
Note: I added the Worcestershire sauce to add a bit of anchovy oompf to the sauce, since I used clams in place of the more traditional anchovies.
While the spaghetti is cooking – yeh, this sauce comes together that fast – heat the olive oil in a pot large enough to eventually add the cooked spaghetti over medium heat, then add the clams and cook, stirring, for about three minutes.
Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and cook for another minute or two before you add the tomatoes, olives, peperoncini, Sherry Peppers and Worcestershire sauces.
Cook, stirring often, for about five minutes, until the sauce has reduced a bit.
Remove from the heat, add the drained spaghetti and toss to mix well.
Serve with freshly chopped parsley and, if you like, a bit of grated Parmesan.
Note: save a bit of the pasta cooking water and add to the pasta and sauce if you think you need to; I added mebbe one tablespoon.