for lunch: pasta puttanesca

Rain is streaking down our windows again. How many days in a row now? Oh well, I can't complain. We need the water (the big "we" -- as well as the little plants out back). And besides, the streaky windows make the view out to our little valley a vaguely tree-filled, misty abstract painting.

On cozy indoor days like this, I've been opting for soup. Lots and lots of hot brothy soup. But today, I reached WAY back and pulled a lunch out that I haven't made for... oh, nine years? Pasta Puttanesca, which means "working girl" pasta. Apparently it was a cheap and satisfying dish Italian ladies of a certain profession would make between clients*. Nine years ago, I would make this delicious lunch while working freelance from home, unmarried and unencumbered. A working girl of another sort.

Today, I updated the dish for a little more nutrition: quinoa pasta for more protein, and some of last night's baked salmon.

Method (for 1 working girl or boy): Cook 2 oz pasta (I used quinoa fusilli) according to package directions and drain. Set aside in the warm pot. Meanwhile, sauté a few chopped garlic cloves with a good shake of dried red pepper flakes. When fragrant, add a few oil-packed anchovy filets, chopped. Sauté until garlic is lightly golden. Tip in 7 oz (1/2 small can) whole tomatoes and their juice. Raise heat to high and break up tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Add a spoonful of capers, a small handful of chopped oil-cured olives. Cook on high to reduce tomato juices. When thickened, add a few ounces of cooked wild Alaskan salmon, broken up by hand, and a bit of chopped Italian parsley. Stir in cooked pasta, mix well. Plate, garnish with more chopped parsley. Dig in and watch the raindrops.

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*Hellooo garlic breath! -- right?!