I just put my favorite summer recipe, Pasta Puttanesca, out to "cook" in the sun. I hope it's hot enough for it today. Isn't that a strange thing to be concerned about in OK in July?
Here is the original recipe:
http://www.today.com/id/9123617/ns/today-today_food/t/ann-currys-favorite-recipe/#.U8ruOkCGlJU
And my here's adaption (because I watched her make this and there's no way it was only 2 cups of tomatoes and 3 cups of oil.)
I'm giving measurements, but I rarely measure this recipe. I just throw stuff together, and it come out good every time.
Pasta Puttanesca
fresh basil, unwashed leaves, sliced (1 or 2 handfuls)
1 to 1 1/2 cups olive oil
6 cups tomatoes, chopped (good homegrown ones are always best)
1 or 2 tbsp. anchovy paste (Often I don't use this. If omitted, definitely add the capers.)
1 bulb garlic or to taste -- sliced (I like it sliced so I don't have to eat chunks of garlic. The sauce will have plenty of garlic flavor.)
2 cups Kalamata black olives - -- pitted (don't use canned.)
1 jar capers, rinsed (I added this to recipe.)
1 box shell pasta
parmesan cheese -- freshly grated
(directions from Ann's recipe)
Mix garlic, olive oil, olives. I like to smoosh the olives with my fingers to bring out the flavor. Add tomatoes, anchovy paste (and/or capers) and basil leaves.
The best way to cook is to do all of this in the morning, cover and let it sit in the warm sun on a summer day for five hours. When it's time for dinner, pour over cooked pasta, add parmesan cheese and serve.
If you don't have a warm window, you can put it in a warm oven, making sure it is warm and not hot. But it will not be quite as good. There is no way to hurry this dish, and no replicating what an afternoon in the sun can do to bring out the flavors. Shell pasta is best because it catches the sauce, which is so good you want a lot of it. But other pasta types can work too. This is a rich, flavorful dish, not for the weak at heart. If you are a garlic lover, you will love this dish.
Note: She says "warm window." I put mine outside in direct sun. For leftovers, I put the cold sauce over cold pasta and heat very briefly, to just barely warm, in microwave.
