Spaghetti alla puttanesca — tomatoes, olives, capers and anchovies

Weigh the olives without their pits or brine. Halve the larger ones and leave smaller ones whole. Briefly rinse the capers with cold water, drain thoroughly and only then weigh the listed amount. Drain the anchovy fillets of oil and roughly chop them; do not add the packing oil to the sauce. Thinly slice the garlic and finely chop all the parsley with its tender stems. Put the tomatoes in a bowl with all their juice and crush with a fork into irregular pieces. Have ready a wide skillet about 28–30 cm in diameter.

Pour all 35 g measured olive oil into the skillet. Add the garlic and chili, then heat over medium-low heat for about a minute, until fragrant. Do not brown the garlic. Add all the chopped anchovies and stir for about 1–2 minutes, pressing the pieces with a spatula until they almost melt into the oil. If the ingredients start frying vigorously, lower the heat. All the garlic and olive oil stay in the sauce.

Add all the capers and olives to the fragrant oil. Stir for about a minute, then carefully add all the crushed tomatoes with their juice. Stir, scraping the flavorful residue from the bottom. Bring to a gentle simmer. Do not add salt at this stage: the anchovies, capers and olives already provide plenty of saltiness. Do not add sugar or prepared stock.

Simmer uncovered over low or medium-low heat for about 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes should break down and the sauce thicken enough for a spatula drawn through it to briefly reveal the bottom of the skillet. Do not reduce it to a dry paste. Halfway through the sauce cooking time, start bringing the spaghetti water to a boil. If the pasta will be ready later, turn the sauce down to the lowest heat; you can loosen it with reserved cooking water if needed.

Bring all 2500 g water to a boil in a pot and dissolve all the salt in it. Add the spaghetti and stir at the start so the strands do not stick together. Cook for about 2 minutes less than the al dente time on the package. Just before draining, reserve about 200 ml cooking water in a cup and discard the remaining water. Do not rinse the pasta and do not add a separate portion of olive oil. Transfer the spaghetti straight into the hot sauce.

Toss the spaghetti with all the sauce over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until the pasta is al dente and the sauce coats the strands evenly. If needed, add water from the cup 1–2 tablespoons at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. You do not need to use all the reserved water; discard any unused water. The sauce should cling to the pasta, without a watery pool underneath. Take the skillet off the heat, add all the parsley and mix gently.

Divide the pasta, all the olives and capers and all the sauce among four plates. Serve immediately, without extra cheese or bread. Cool any leftovers quickly, transfer to a closed container and refrigerate until the next day at the latest. Reheat thoroughly until hot throughout, adding a little water if the sauce has thickened considerably; the pasta will be somewhat softer.