Yotam Ottolenghi’s One-pot Orecchiette Puttanesca
This one-pan vegetarian orecchiette puttanesca is as easy as an Ottolenghi dish gets and with no compromise on his signature bold flavours. The perfect midweek meal, Ottolenghi style.
From the book
Ottolenghi FLAVOUR
A guide to unlocking the complex flavour in simple vegetables
With a focus on creative cooking processes and clever ingredient pairing
Including recipes for everything from midweek meals to weekend feasts
Introduction
This is a sweetened version of puttanesca – the famous pasta sauce from Naples ‘in the style of the prostitute’ – minus the anchovies, plus chickpeas and spices. It’s quick and super practical to make because the pasta actually cooks in the sauce. Try it, and you may not feel the need to boil pasta ever again.
Ingredients
| 50ml | olive oil, plus 2 tbsp to serve |
| 6 | garlic cloves, crushed |
| 1 x 400g tin of | chickpeas, drained well and patted dry (240g) |
| 2 tsp | hot smoked paprika |
| 2 tsp | ground cumin |
| ¾ tbsp | tomato paste |
| 40g | parsley, roughly chopped |
| 2 tsp | lemon zest |
| 3 tbsp | baby capers |
| 125g | Nocellara olives (or another green olive), pitted and roughly chopped in half (80g) |
| 250g | small, sweet cherry tomatoes |
| 2 tsp | caster sugar |
| ½ tbsp | caraway seeds, lightly toasted and crushed |
| 250g | dried orecchiette |
| 500ml | vegetable or chicken stock |
| salt and black pepper |
Method
1. Put the first six ingredients and . teaspoon of salt into a large sauté pan, for which you have a lid, and place on a medium-high heat. Fry for 12 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the chickpeas are slightly crisp – you may need to turn the heat down a little if they start to colour too much. Remove one-third of the chickpeas and set aside to use as a garnish.
2. In a small bowl, combine the parsley, lemon zest, capers and olives. Add two-thirds of the parsley mixture to the saut. pan, along with the cherry tomatoes, sugar and caraway seeds, and cook for 2 minutes on a medium high heat, stirring often. Add the pasta, stock, ¾ teaspoon of salt and 200ml of water, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium, cover with the lid and cook for 12–14 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente.
3. Stir in the remaining parsley mixture, drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and garnish with the fried chickpeas and a good grind of pepper.
