🍝 Carrot Noodles alla Puttanesca! An Italian "Whore's" CLassic with a Healthy Twist

According to Italian tales, Pasta Puttanesca - which literally translates to whore’s pasta - was invented by prostitutes hoping to lure customers in with its rich aroma. While other stories claim that this Italian dish thanks its name to the uber-busy lifestyles of a hooker who doesn't have time to shop. So she cooks with what's available in the pantry! Whichever it was, it seems to have its origin in the red light district. No doubt about that!

Since we have so many vegan foodies here on steemit I'll also tell you a little trick to make this vibrant, salty dish! It actually only needs one salty swap to make this dish completely vegan.

Since the anchovies are mashed in the sauce, they make up the greater part of the puttanesca taste. If you leave them out you just have a tomato sauce with olives and capers, not quite the same salty taste. However, if you swap the anchovies in this recipe with a salty mashed up seaweed or sea vegetable, you will have something that comes pretty close.

And of course, to make this dish a little, actually a lot less heavy on the carbs or grains, we used spiralized carrot noodles, which worked out great!

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

4 carrots spiralized
Vegetable stock
1 cup chopped red onion
2 clove of garlic
1 to 1.5-ounce anchovies or salty seaweed for vegan
2 cups chopped tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes we used half-half since that was what we had left in the fridge)
1 chopped Thai chili pepper or chili paste (or more to taste)
1 cup green olives
1/4 cup capers
1 cup chopped fresh parsley (garnish)
1 tsp dried oregano
Black pepper to taste

Click here for more info on how to spiralize veggies.

Directions

1. Cook the spiralized carrot noodles in vegetable stock until softened. This will take about 3-5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Keep the cooking liquid.
2. Heat cooking oil over medium heat and saute onion and chili for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, oregano, black pepper and 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
4. Using mortar and pestle mash anchovies or seaweed with the cloves. Add olives and mash until they are broken up. Stir in the capers and add to the tomato sauce. Then add cooked carrot pasta. Cook, while stirring, until heated through.
5. Serves with fresh chopped parsley.

Enjoy ;-)

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL!
PICTURE(s) TAKEN WITH FUJI X-M1

---

If you enjoyed reading this post, make sure to follow my news feed here

Or check out my health and recipe blog for more yummy recipes!