Creamy Dreamy Green Putanesca
I get a New York Times digest every days, with the heading what to cook this week. I do not always end up cooking things, but, it does spark ideas. One of the things that caught my attention was this blond putanesca. Shaped around this comes this Creamy Dreamy Green Putanesca.
And then there was all the wonderful fresh basil that I had picked up this weekend at the White Plains Farmers Market. And creamy, dreamy, green putanesca was born.
My Green Putanesca Story
I wanted to improvise and use that as well. In short, I was looking for a simple dish that would serve as a festive dinner of sorts for my husband’s birthday. Pasta always works when nothing else does. We love our carbs! Pasta is simple (especially these instant pot days) and well there are so many possibilities. Now, the truth be told, the name does sound strange, or maybe not. A putanesca is a bold and bright pasta creation, in the style of a whore or a puta. Now, the suggestion of a creamy, dreamy whore does sound a tad strange… What do you think?
At any rate, this pasta is certainly a winner. The name can be just my placeholder until I think of something different. My daughter is terribly skeptical of capers as they are very salty. In this dish, they infuse it with a deep briny flavor. After some hesitation, she agreed to stop picking them out. Eventually, she agreed that they did add a nice and nuanced flavor to the mix. Basically, I cooked this sauce with garlic and capers (no anchovies, because I did not have any) and an oil packed can of tuna. While the pasta did its thing, I made a basil cream sauce. A spicy basil cream sauce. This got tossed towards the end with some fresh lemon juice. Some shavings of Parmesan and a new star was born.
A more classic Putanesca recipe can be found here and a great one pot streamlined pasta recipe is this creamy pasta with broccoli.
If you like this recipe and want more ideas, do join my Indian Instant Pot Facebook group and Legume Love Group. Of course Instant Indian is ready for pre-order, joining its siblings The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles and Spices and Seasons.
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A spicy and indulgent green take on Putanesca. Perfect for the still fresh basil found in Farmers Markets.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 cloves of fresh garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons capers
- 2 cans of tuna in olive oil
- 8 ounces dried linguini
- 2 cups of baby arugula
- ½ cup cream
- 1 bunch of fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 small green chili pepper
- Shaved Pecorino cheese
Instructions
- Turn the instant pot onto the sauté mode. Add in the olive oil and the minced garlic. Cook for about a minute or so stirring until the garlic is fragrant and is a golden toffee color.
- Add in the crushed red pepper flakes and the capers.
- Lightly drain the tuna and stir into the mixture. Turn off the sauté mode.
- Break in the linguini and add in 1 cup of water. Use the water to gently deglaze the bottom of the instant pot.
- Cover and set on 2 minutes of high pressure.
- While this is cooking, place the cream, basil, salt and green chili and puree until smooth.
- When the pressure cooker is done, do a quick release. Stir the pasta well, there should be some liquid with the pasta. Stir in the arugula.
- Stir in the basil cream sauce and serve topped with shaved Pecorino cheese.