Make Ahead

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Variation onĀ Puttanesca)

by:
July  3, 2011
4.3
3 Ratings
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

It was a very, very hot day. Tomatoes, anchovy, summer. I decided to make this one using freshly grated tomatoes, crudo-style, chilli, salt-preserved capers and no garlic, to really emphasize the hot, salty, tomatoey July night of it all.

And then the cat almost-- almost but not quite! -- got to it. —nogaga

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 medium-sized super-ripe summery tomatoes
  • 6 anchovy fllets, in olive oil, drained
  • 2 tablespoons good olive oil, plus a little more
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 heaping tablespoon tiny capers in salt, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tablespoons medium minced parsley
  • 1/2 hot chilli pepper, cut length-wise, deveined, deseeded and finely minced
Directions
  1. Using an old-fashioned box grater, grate tomatoes onto a plate that will hold their juices.
  2. In a small pan, gently heat the olive oil and butter. Add the chilli and the anchovy fillets, slowly mixing until they have pretty much dissolved. Mash the capers in a mortar. Add the capers and tomato slurry to oil mixture, making sure to keep it on very low heat.
  3. At this stage, after two minutes or so of all the ingredients (except the parsley) cooking together, turn the burner off. Leave the pan on the burner to take advantage of the residual heat and mix. When the sauce has cooled, add the minced parsely. You want it to retain its freshness completely.
  4. At this stage you can make toast and serve this as a bruscetta topping, jar it and keep in the the fridge (it is better the next day) or, as I did, place the sauce in a large bowl, cook up some delicious egg linguini, and pour them, still dripping and hot, over the cold sauce. If this is what you do, add more or less another two teaspoons olive oil, to help spread the goodness around. Mix well, lift a good glass of red, and enjoy!

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • boulangere
    boulangere
  • nogaga
    nogaga
  • Sagegreen
    Sagegreen

5 Reviews

boulangere July 4, 2011
Love the hot pepper addition
 
nogaga July 4, 2011
:-)
 
nogaga July 4, 2011
Thank you both! I had forgotten a crucial ingredient so this recipe has now been amended...
 
boulangere July 3, 2011
And more than one of mine, too. I love that it cooks up quickly, given these hot summer nights. I'm going to be out under my big shade trees out back with a crisp glass of white wine, scooping this up with some grilled focaccia. I'll lock the cats inside first.
 
Sagegreen July 3, 2011
My cat would have made it in there! Great flavors!