Tag Archives: olives

Tasty Nicoise Salad

Hello readers!

The other day, I was going through an extreme food slump phase. I was very hungry, but not really craving anything in particular. On those days, I usually opt for refreshing things such as fruits or vegetables. Anyways, I remembered a particularly tasty salad K and I had at a restaurant in NY which consisted of all things good: tuna, greens, eggs, potato, green beans, olives, capers, etc! All of my favorite things that taste good. :) It is very difficult to find such salads in Korea so I decided to look up a recipe for this Nicoise Salad. I hit the jackpot with none other than Julia Child’s recipe! For the most part, I stuck to the original recipe. Read on for more!

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Tasty and Simple Puttanesca Pasta

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Here is a tasty first: Pasta! We have pasta frequently at home because it is easy to make in bulk. :) This is a pasta dish that we are currently obsessed over: puttanesca! We first had it at a tiny Italian restaurant at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. We had it again at a lovely place during a trip to Santa Barbara….and had it again in restaurants in LA…and again at home….and again at home…and, oh you get the idea! We are puttanesca crazy. Why? It is full of our favorite things: olives, tomato, anchovies, garlic, capers, and spicy heat! :) :) This dish is definitely not a boring one for sure! Surprisingly, it is not too difficult to make as well! Yay! Let’s get started!

*NOTE: We made this dish for dinner, and the pictures came out very yellow and dark under our crappy kitchen lights. We tried to brighten it up a little, but it didn’t come out all too pretty. Our sincere apologies!

What You Need:

  • Box of pasta (any kind will do)
  • 28 oz can of whole tomato
  • ~20 pitted olives (we used mostly kalamata olives)
  • 4-5 filets of canned anchovy
  • 1 tbsp of red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup capers
  • white wine (just a ‘splash’)
  • olive oil
  • 3 garlic-sliced
  • dry oregano
  • salt and pepper
  • parmesan cheese
  • optional: fresh basil

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What to Do:

First, slice the olives in half, length wide. Next, in a large pot, heat up about 1 tbsp of olive oil. Saute in the garlic slices. Then, add in the pepper flakes.

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Then, add in the anchovies, capers, and olives and saute.

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Next, add in splash of wine and deglaze the pot.

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Then, stir in the can of tomatoes. Add about 1/2 a tablespoon of oregano.   Try to break up the tomatoes with a spoon. Bring to boil and simmer.

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While the sauce is simmering, boil the pasta in salted water. Once the pasta is done, add it to the pot of sauce and stir!. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with basil and parmesan cheese. You’re done! Easy, eh? :)

Enjoy!

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