My First Post: Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

You might ask, why am I writing this blog?

Here is my answer: I love good, homemade food, especially Italian. I love cooking. And I love talking about recipes and food.
My close friends know well that I can talk about cooking for a long time!

So, I would like to share my passion for cooking, some of my recipes, secret ingredients and cooking tips with more people.

Cooking is a fun way of expressing my creative side. And it is very relaxing: while listening to some nice music, the whole big kitchen to myself, just me and lots of ingredients to choose from ...
Well, this is the way I like to imagine my cooking experiences.
As a mother of  two young boys, most of my dinner preparations are done while checking math homework, looking for Lego pieces, quizzing for science tests, listening to violin practice, playing tickle monster ... I'm sure you got the idea!

Even with a busy life, as all of us have, I like to find the time to prepare a homemade dinner for my family, because sharing a meal with my loved ones is a tradition that I find very important.

A lot of the recipes that I will write about, are simple and fast to prepare. I hope to inspire you, or at least some of you, with my step-by-step pictures and directions.

You will be amazed by how fun and easy cooking can be.

The first dish I would like to talk about  is a very traditional pasta, the Spaghetti alla Puttanesca. With its spicy flavor and Mediterranean aroma, you will be very proud to be able to prepare this classic of the Italian cuisine.

Ingredients - serving 4 people:

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 6 anchovies fillets, cut in small pieces
•  (I did not have any, so I used 1/2 tablespoon of anchovy paste)
• 1/2 tablespoon of capers, chopped
• 2 hot peppers
• 1/2 cup of Kalamata olives, sliced
• 14 oz of crushed tomatoes
• 12 oz of spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh Italian parsley

Directions:

Step 1: In a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil, garlic, anchovies, capers, hot peppers and olives. Saute' for a couple of minutes. In the meantime, bring to boil a large pot of salted water.









Step 2: Add the crush tomatoes, half of the parsley and salt. Cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes. At this point I like to remove the hot peppers and garlic from the sauce. Cook the spaghetti as in the box instruction. Al dente, right?










Step 3: Drain the pasta, add it to the sauce with the remaining parsley. Toss over low heat for a couple of minutes.  Serve and eat immediately.





Wasn't this simple and quick? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Buon appetito!