Pasta Puttanesca and Valentino The Last Emperor
I really love documentaries especially ones centered around the work of an artist, in this case Valentino Garavani. Understanding the vision and talent along with an old world knowledge in craftsmanship behind each gown was incredible especially when the next day I stumbled upon a Valentino sample sale and had the chance to touch an $8,000 blouse.. with very clean hands. The documentary was an interesting little window into Valentino’s world, seeing at times his vulnerability and human qualities we all suffer from. We talked after the film about how it would effect our ideas of artists in the past— our heroes that worked before movies and documentaries and 24 hour YouTube. What would Coco Chanel have showed us about how she worked? How about seeing Michelangelo throw a temper fit painting the Sistine Chapel? How would it change the way we study them? In our modern day, is it better to have that kind of access? Who knows if I’ll ever have the rare opportunity to wear a red Valentino gown but I can at least know I’ll always appreciate the beauty of it.
And for the dinner, I got to use my new retro can opener sent by my Aunt Deb! Yes, it still works! And what’s a red dinner watching a signature red designer without red lipstick! Another gift sent by Aunt Sherry, what can I say – my family wants to make sure I eat good and look good.
Pasta Puttanesca
Ingredients:
Coarse salt
1 pound spaghetti, or linguine
*we use fresh pasta
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
10 anchovies, crushed
1 (28-ounce) Italian plum tomatoes, seeded, chopped, and strained, reserving juice
3 tablespoons capers, drained
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, (3 ounces),
pitted and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh
flat-leaf parsley
*I used anchovy paste in subsitute of anchovies
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt in preparation for cooking the fresh pasta. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, red-pepper flakes, and anchovies. Cook, stirring, until aromatic, 1 to 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, reserved juice, capers, and olives. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
While it simmers cook the fresh pasta which happens much quicker than when cooking dry pasta. Follow package instructions. I personally love the flavor and texture of fresh pasta and want to learn how to make it myself at some point.
Stir pasta into sauce. Cook, stirring, until sauce clings to pasta, about 2 minutes. Stir in parsley. Serve immediately!