The recipe chosen two weeks ago for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's book The Food You Crave, (yes, I am running a bit behind, so thanks for being patient) was selected by Jen from What Jen's Cooking and was Pasta Puttanesca, found on page 158. Jen also has it posted on her site.
This is an excellent recipe, tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes, olives, capers, oregano, argula (I used fresh spinach instead), and I did put on Parmigiano Reggiano after the photo. I did not use the anchovy paste. Guys would flip if they knew that was in there so I just left it out. I followed the instructions, except that I simmered it longer as I had learned from cooking with the Marcella Hazan book how to do that so that it really brings out the flavor of the tomatoes and ingredients in a deep and lovely way. Ellie has it simmering for just a short time, five minutes, but I took it as far as it needed to go, about 30 minutes, to have all the water and juices reduced down to where it looks like the photo here...hard to describe, you just know it when you see it as you are cooking.
It's thick, juicy, and yet not runny. This adds so much richness and taste, each flavor being distinctive, yet an overall blending of the ingredients together. It was good after the recommended 5 minutes, but it was heavenly after the longer simmering time. Try it, you will see what I am talking about in this regard.
A winner of a recipe. We all just loved it. Thanks, Jen, for a wonderful pick.
This week's recipe (and I hope to get to that sometime over the weekend): Marinated Chicken & Grape Skewers, recipe found in Ellie Krieger's book, So Easy, on page 185.