Corkscrew pasta puttanesca

Fusilli is a corkscrew shaped pasta and is conduscive to absorbing pasta sauces. It was paired today e fagioli (with beans) and broccoli rabe in a porcini-puttanesca sauce. Puttanesca orginates from southern Italy and is known for being spicy, tangy, and somewhat salty, and typically has anchovies. Of course no anchovies were used in this adaptation of the sauce.

Fusilli with broccoli rabe and borlotti beans in porcini-puttanesca

The sauce was made from extra-virgin olive oil, yellow onions, garlic, red chili flakes, minced Nicoise olives, capers, tomato paste, dried oregano, fresh basil, diced tomatoes, and hydrated porcini mushrooms. The fusilli was tossed with grilled broccoli rabe, simply cooked borlotti (also known as cranberry) beans, and sauce. The dish was earthy and balanced: a bit bitter from the broccoli rabe, a tad sweet from the beans, and salt, spicy, and tangy from the sauce. And the anchovies weren't missed.