Easy Spicy & Flavorful Spaghetti

Spaghetti sauce doesn't have to have 25 ingredients and cook for 10 hours. Sometimes... simple is more than adequate. This is my own recipe, but Italians have so many pasta sauce recipes, there is certainly a chance that this is a close match to some other recipe, but I use pitted Kalamata or Niçoise olives in brine, where Italians would likely use one of their own types of olive, of which they have several.

Ingredients:

1 pound spaghetti
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic
1 chili pepper (seeded and chopped) or for more heat, 1 red chili pepper and 1 green chili chopped
8 to 10 pitted Kalamata olives with 1 teaspoon brine (halve the olives)
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 14 to 16 ounce can tomato sauce

Cook the spaghetti per the instructions on the brand you use. Don't let it overcook, but keep it with a little firmness when you bite into it; that is, "al dente," as the term goes. In a large skillet, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Slice the garlic into pieces and add it to the hot oil (keep the garlic slices big enough that you, your family or your guests can use a fork to move it to the side of the plate if eating garlic directly is not desired). Let it cook for about 30 to 40 seconds (shake the pan a time or two), and then add the chili pepper (I use both red and green hot chilies, and the sauce was not mouth-scorching). (NOTE: If you don't like much heat, just add a little sprinkle of red chili flakes or a pinch of cayenne pepper.) Add the olives and the teaspoon of brine and 1/2 teaspoon of thyme. After about 1 minute, stir in the tomato sauce, and cook until the sauce is hot, about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the spaghetti. I put it into the skillet and mix it with the sauce. While I'm a lover of grated cheese on pasta (I especially love Pecorino Romano), I don't use cheese on this spaghetti and I've found that I much prefer it that way with this sauce. 

WORD HISTORY:
Duo-This word is related to "two," a native English word from its Germanic roots, whose relationship to "duo" is from Indo European. "Duo" goes back to Indo European "dwoh/dwah/duwo," which meant "two." This gave Latin "duo," which also meant, "two." This continued into Italian as "duo," with the same meaning, and it was borrowed by French as "duo," but with the somewhat altered meaning, "two things together, two items combined." This was borrowed by English, with likely reinforcement from Latin, in the latter part of the 1500s, initially with the meaning, "song for two people, song written for two singers." The meaning expanded to just about any activity done by two people working together.

Mushroom Ragout & Spaghetti

The basis for this recipe is from a recipe I cut out of the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer quite some time ago, but exactly when, is unknown. The newspaper noted, "adapted from Everyday Foods via Associated Press." The word 'adapted' is important here, because I found what seems to be the original recipe, and there are differences. So this is my version, although heavily based upon the two other versions. This may appear to be a lot of mushrooms, but remember, mushrooms cook down. For those interested, this is the link to what seems to be the original recipe:

https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1454228

Ingredients 6 servings):

4 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 lb. cremini mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
1 lb. white mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
4 tablespoons tomato paste
3 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 cups water + 1/3 cup water with 3 tablespoons flour mixed in
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 lb. spaghetti
shaved parmesan

First, in a 5 quart saucepan, with lid, cook the bacon over medium heat, without the lid. Cook until crispy and then remove to a paper towel to drain. Add the onion to the hot bacon fat, cook until browned, which should only take a couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pan, cover and reduce the heat a bit, removing the lid to stir regularly. Cook for about 15 minutes, by which time the mushrooms should be cooked down substantially. Add the tomato paste, thyme and the 1 1/2 cups of water, mix well. Cover and cook another 5 to 10 minutes. Add the parsley and red wine vinegar, mix in well. Add the flour/water mixture gradually, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and to cook out the raw flour taste. Add the bacon and mix further. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to the instructions of the brand you are using, making sure not to overcook the pasta, drain. Either in a large serving bowl or in the pot used to cook the spaghetti, mix the ragout and the spaghetti together. Serve individual portions topped with shaved parmesan cheese.

With some shaved pieces of cheese atop the ragout and spaghetti

WORD HISTORY:
Ragout (Ragu)-This is something of a compound, although the first part is really a prefix, rather than a stand alone word. The main word goes back to Indo European "gews-tu," which had the notion of "taste, sensation of taste, pleasure of taste." This gave its Latin offspring "gustus," which meant "taste." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "goust," with the same meaning, which then became "goût." ^ The Latin prefix, "re-," meant "over again, once more, repeat," ^^ and this gave French "ragoûter," meaning, "bring back the taste, revive the taste." It was borrowed by English as "ragout" in the 1600s. Italian borrowed the word from French as "ragù," and English borrowed this, without the accent mark, as another spelling of the word, although an American commercial pasta sauce uses the spelling with the accent as its brand name.

^  The "^" mark used by French, called a "circumflex," is a more modern way of showing that there is a missing letter from the original spelling of a word, often an "s."

^^ The origin of the Latin "re-" prefix is uncertain.

Arrabbiata Sauce

First published September 2015


Arrabbiata means "angry" in Italian; thus, this sauce is intended to be "spicy." It is especially good with fresh ripe tomatoes and fresh chilies, like serrano peppers. If you have an herb garden, use basil from the garden, or even store bought fresh basil, as so many produce shops and supermarkets now have fresh herbs available. Of course, if you do not have access to fresh produce, perhaps because of the season, use canned tomatoes, dried chilies, and dried basil. Italians tend to use fresh ingredients, but if you use canned and dried ingredients, you will not wake up to find a horse head in your bed. Ahh .... not that I can guarantee that.

Ingredients 

(for 1 pound of penne or rigatoni pasta)
about 3/4 pound of fresh Roma tomatoes, seeded (if using canned tomatoes, 1  28 oz. can of drained diced tomatoes, or drained whole tomatoes broken up; in either case, save about 1/4 cup of tomato juice)
1/4 cup of tomato juice, if using fresh tomatoes
2 serrano chili peppers, seeded and diced (or 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of dried red chili pepper flakes, depending upon the level of heat you want)
1   6 oz. can tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic, chopped/minced
4 or 5 basil leaves, chopped (or about 1 teaspoon dried)
1/4 cup olive oil
Romano cheese
You should not need to add salt to the recipe, because of the Romano cheese and the pasta should be cooked in salted water.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the brand you use. In a skillet add the olive oil and the chopped garlic, saute just about a minute (don't let the garlic burn, as it can have a nasty taste). Add the tomatoes and chilies and cook until they soften. Stir in the tomato paste and juice from the tomatoes (you can actually mix the juice and tomato paste together and then pour it in), then add the basil leaves. Drain the pasta and mix it into the sauce, serve with grated or shaved Romano cheese, preferably Pecorino Romano (this is made from sheep's milk).

Rigatoni with arrabbiata sauce, with serrano chili pepper and freshly shaved Pecorino Romano cheese.

WORD HISTORY:
Pasta-The ultimate origin of this word, very closely related to "paste," is unknown. It goes back to the Greek verb "passein," meaning "to sprinkle." This produced Greek "pasta," a type of porridge, perhaps from the notion of "sprinkling the grain into hot liquid" (or perhaps the reverse)? Latin borrowed the word as "pasta," but it took on the meaning "dough, paste" (grain or ground grain mixed with liquid). Italian inherited the word from Latin and it came to mean "dough formed into various shapes and then cooked in hot liquid" (whether this was in any way tied in with the Greek meaning of "porridge" (grains cooked in hot liquid) is unclear, but it's perhaps coincidence). English borrowed the word from Italian in the second half of the 1800s. Americans tend to pronounce the first part of the word as if "paw," and in England and other parts of Britain the first part usually rhymes with "last." 

Puttanesca Sauce And Its Real Meaning

Puttanesca sauce is something of a famous Italian pasta sauce, seemingly developed in the 1950s, but in my opinion, no one really knows, and like most recipes, there are variations, often regional. The word "Puttanesca" is derived from the Italian word "puttana," which means "prostitute, whore." The sauce is spicy, so you can draw your own conclusion, although I read somewhere that some of the "ladies" made such a pasta sauce for their "clients," so some theorize it received its name from that. But how did they all know the same basic recipe? Did they attend cooking school in their "off time?" Whatever the case, it is a great pasta sauce, but then again, any dish with chili peppers will pretty much earn that accolade from me. I believe spaghetti was the pasta of choice for this sauce originally, but you can use just about any pasta and I'm sure, if you ever go to Rome, you won't be banned from entering the Vatican or singing "Arrivederci Roma."
   
Puttanesca Sauce
quarter cup olive oil (if you want to add some 'irony' to the sauce, use 'extra virgin' olive oil)
5 cloves garlic, chopped
6 to 8 anchovy fillets, chopped (please don't be afraid to use anchovies, as they add a great flavor to the sauce, but are not strong, like you might associate with the time you bit into one on your pizza)
1 or 2 fresh small hot peppers, finely chopped, or 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (you can make this as hot as you want, or less so, but use at least 1 fresh pepper or 1/2 teaspoon pepper flakes to keep to the authentic side of the recipe)
about 14 to 16 pitted olives, halved or coarsely chopped (Kalamata olives are good, or cured black olives, or the larger green olives, or better yet, use some of each) 
3 tablespoons of capers, drained
1 28 oz. can chunky or diced plum tomatoes with some juice
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce
tablespoon chopped parsley
(variations: some use onion, some use chopped basil or dried, some use dried oregano, some add a little red wine)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, saute the garlic, peppers and anchovies until the garlic and peppers soften a bit and the anchovies begin to melt and mix in. Add and mix in the other ingredients, except the parsley, and simmer for about ten to fifteen minutes or so, letting the sauce thicken a bit. Stir in the parsley. Italians do not typically serve any kind of cheese as a topping for this sauce, so be careful, or no "Asti Spumante" for you!

This time I had fettuccine with Puttanesca sauce and
a small cucumber salad and Italian bread

WORD HISTORY:
Sauce-This word goes back to Indo European "sal," which meant "salt." This gave its Italic/Latin offspring "sal," a relative of English "salt," but the English form was derived from Germanic, which had also gotten its form from Indo European, its parent language. From Latin "sal" came the adjective "salsus," which meant "salted," and from that was derived a noun form "salsa," which meant "brine," but later the more general "flavoring agent." This was passed on to Old French, a Latin-based language, as "sauce," and this was then borrowed by English during the 1300s.