Recipe: Puttanesca for One

Puttanesca is a traditional Italian tomato sauce, traditionally made with tomatoes, olives, capers, olive oil, chilli and garlic. In the Neopolitan region, it is also traditional to add lots of anchovies and oregano to the sauce. I've used worchester sauce because I don't like anchovies (too fishy for me) but worchester sauce is made with anchovies and I quite like that taste of it so i thought it made a good substitute. The sauce is said to have been invented in the 50s, and has been very popular in Italy from the 60s onwards. I have used wholegrain spaghetti this time- but that's what I just happened to have in the house, use white if you'd prefer.

Spaghetti Puttanesca (serves 1)

100g spaghetti
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
100g passata (or tomato juice)
30g black olives
20g capers
2 tsp Worchester sauce
Pinch chilli flakes
Pinch garlic salt
Pinch dried oregano
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (plus extra for garnish)
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

1. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the pasta, and cook according to the packet instructions.
2. Put all the other ingredients in another smaller saucepan, and cook on a medium heat for 6 minutes.
3. Drain the spaghetti, stir in the sauce, and put back on the heat until most of the excess liquid has evaporated and the sauce becomes thick (this normally takes 1-2 minutes).
4.Serve with some freshly chopped parsley on top!