Summer Puttanesca Pasta Salad
As food history lore goes, few stories are as, er, saucy as the origin of Puttanesca. A pasta dressed with pungent anchovies, capers, and olives with optional tomatoes, garlic and red pepper flakes, this sauce is most often associated with prostitutes (“puttanesca” roughly translates to “ladies of the night”) said to lure their customers in with the recipe’s powerful aroma. In its original form, this is the perfect dish for winter when you are cooking from your pantry. For summer, the flavors still work especially when lightened up with the ripest summer tomatoes, briny Castelvetrano olives and handfuls of fresh herbs, served at room temperature on a sticky hot day. Add in some roasted eggplant cubes for a satisfying vegetarian meal or try endless variations with chopped grilled chicken or sliced artichoke hearts.
Pairing Notes:
While a cooked sauce would call for an earthier red wine pairing, perhaps from Southern Italy, this lighter pasta salad calls for a wine with a gentler touch. Look for medium bodied reds with good acidity like the Stellenrust Cornerstone Pinotage, to pair with top notes from the olives and anchovies. A sparkling rosé would be a nice balance for the creaminess of the roasted eggplant. Or try a coastal white wine like the Deusa Nai Albariño from the northwest of Spain or a crisp Assyrtiko from Santorini, Greece, for a healthy dose of salinity to match the food.
Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
2 medium globe eggplants, about 700 grams
4 T. olive oil
Salt
Pepper
500 grams penne pasta*
2 spring onions
3 medium, ripe tomatoes
10 Castelvetrano olives
2 T. roughly chopped mint
½ cup basil leaves
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup Meyer lemon juice
18 marinated white anchovies
*Try with high quality gluten free pasta like Jovial brand, as the absence of gluten means the pasta is unlikely to stick together in the salad.
Preheat oven to 205°C. Trim and discard both ends of the eggplants. Cut into 3 cm round slices. Cut each slice crosswise to form cubes approximately 3 x 3 x 3 cm. Spread cubes out onto 1 or 2 baking sheets so they are in a single layer. Drizzle with the 4 T. olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes, stirring 2-3 times during cooking, until cubes are soft and have begun to collapse. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil. When at a rolling boil, add some salt and the 500 grams of pasta. Cook until just past al dente. Should be soft through but not mush. Drain pasta well in a colander and rinse in cool water to stop the cooking.
While pasta cooks, prep the remaining salad ingredients. Dice tomatoes. Finely slice the green onions, whites and green tops. Pit olives and slice. Roughly chop mint and chiffonade basil. Add tomatoes, green onions, olives, eggplant and pasta to a large bowl. Toss with ½ cup high quality extra virgin olive oil. Mix in the lemon juice and herbs. Adjust seasoning with extra lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature.