What to Cook Tonight: Simple Spaghetti

Simple Spaghetti

Spaghetti alla San Giovanni

This spaghetti dish would be one that I would choose to make as a speedy supper. It’s the kind of dish I would cook on a night when I have limited energy and think ?takeaway?, or when all of my four children are chirping like little birds that need feeding immediately. This dish would be on the table within 20 minutes and bowls would be licked clean within 2 minutes. It’s just delicious.

Preparation time 5 minutes

Cooking time 20 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients
400g dried spaghetti
3 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
2 anchovies, in oil, drained
1 x 400g tin plum tomatoes
25g capers, roughly chopped
60g black olives, stoned and roughly chopped
1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
pinch of oregano
salt and pepper to season
70g pecorino, grated (optional)

Method
Pour the olive oil into a saut? or shallow pan. Add the garlic and fry off on a low heat for 3 minutes. Tumble in the drained anchovies and stir.

Pour in the plum tomatoes along with the capers, olives, chilli and half the parsley. Stir, sprinkle in the oregano and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes.

Place a large pan of water on to boil for the spaghetti. Once boiling, salt well. Add the spaghetti, cook and drain when al dente.

Add the spaghetti to the sauce along with the remaining parsley. Stir and serve with an optional scattering of pecorino.

Extracted from A Passion for Pasta by Carmela Sophia Sereno (Robinson, approx €23). Photography by Helen Bailey.