Italian-American Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• onions, chopped
• garlic, finely chopped
• 4 ounces (110 g / 2 small tins) anchovy fillets or anchovy paste
• capers, thoroughly rinsed
• 1–3 fresh or dried hot chile peppers, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 standard, American-sized can (6 ounces / 170 g) pitted, black or kalamata olives, quartered
• 3 standard, American-sized cans (43.5 ounces / 1.23 kg) tomatoes, diced
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 1 gallon water
• dry spaghetti or linguine

Method

1. Fill a large pot with water and add a handful of salt.
2. Set heat on high to boil water.
3. Heat 4 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
4. Add onions to skillet and cook until soft, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to burn the onions.
5. Add garlic and anchovies to skillet. Cook for 1 minute maximum, stirring to break up the anchovies.
6. Add capers, chili peppers, olives, tomatoes, pepper and 1 tablespoon of salt to skillet.
7. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste to see if you want to add more salt.
8. Boil the pasta until al dente while the sauce is simmering. This should take about 12 minutes.
9. Drain the cooked pasta in a colander and replace it in the same pot.
10. Pour the sauce on top of the pasta and toss over low heat until it's thoroughly coated.
11. Take it off the heat and top with parsley and 1 tablespoon olive oil.
12. Serve hot.